Page 40 of Madness & Mercy

He takes a step closer. Just one. Not enough to touch. But enough to feel.

“You’ll take the left side,” he says, like this is routine. Like I’m just another body in his bed.

I don’t argue. I don’t have it in me tonight.

So I kick off my shoes, peel off my shirt, and crawl into the space he’s offered me,hatinghow soft the sheets are, how easily my body sinks in.

Nico switches off the light and joins me a moment later, the mattress dipping beneath his weight.

In the end, he kept his promise.

We don’t touch.

We don’t speak.

But the heat between us is unbearable.

And in the dark, I lie awake, reminding myself that this is all part of the job.

That I’m here to kill him.

Notcravehim.

I don’t sleep.

Ican’t.

Not with Nico breathing so calmly beside me, like he hasn’t destroyed everything I thought I knew about myself.

He looks so different like this. Unarmed. At peace. No smirk. No sharp tongue or simmering violence. Just… stillness.

But it’s a lie. I know it is.

He’s a monster in silk. A devil in daylight. He’s killed for less than what I’ve done. What Iplanto do.

And now, watching him like this, unguarded and unsuspecting…

I could kill him right now.

My pulse picks up as my mind races. The knife is still tucked into the waistband of my jeans, just behind me. All I’d have to do is reach back, nice and quiet, and slit his throat before he can even dream of opening those eyes.

It’ll be fast. Clean. Painless… well, forme,anyway.

And once Silvio sees the job’s done, I’ll get everything I was promised. Everything I ever wanted.

No more pretending. No more lies. No morehim.

I move slowly, every muscle tight. My breath catches in my throat as I shift, careful not to make the mattress creak. One leg swings over his waist, my body hovering just above his. He doesn’t stir.

I reach back, my fingers brushing the hilt of the blade.

Just one cut.

Do it. Do it now.

But then, his eyes open.

And I freeze.