Page 15 of Lethal Saint

“You killed all of them,” I said, unable to get away from it.

“I did.”

“Because they would touch me.”

“Yes.”

So he did. He killed a whole room full of people for me. My heart beat rapidly in my chest. I eyed my gun. I would have done it myself if I thought I’d survive it. If I’d had a weapon then.

“Why were you there?” I asked, and immediately apologised. “It’s not my business, I shouldn’t question—”

“Everything? Yes, you should.” He smiled, his black eyes bright. “As for why I was there—” He sighed, irritation thinning his mouth, killing his smile. “My uncle had something I wanted. Something that’ll help Rose—my friend, I mentioned her earlier.”

The maid who was his best friend. I still didn’t know how that worked, but I nodded.

“I’d rather peel my own eyeballs out than voluntarily go to something like that. It’s not my idea of a good time, and most of the time the women are desperate, taken advantage of even if they’re fully consenting.”

“Consent is permission,” I murmured.

“It is. And you didn’t give yours for what happened tonight. Anyone could take one look at you and see your father forced you to be there.”

Angrily, he transferred the cooked vegetables to a bowl and threw a dome of rice into the hot pan. Everything he did was angry. Was that normal, or only after he killed a hundred people in under thirty minutes?

“I’m glad I was there,” he said, glancing up at me. “I’m glad my bastard uncle dragged me along. I don’t want to think about what would have happened to you if I hadn’t been.”

I glanced down, thinking about my fiancée and what he’d promised the single time we’d met.

“I’m no one to you.” It wasn’t quite a question, and shouldn’t risk his anger.

The Saint was quiet, only the sound of frying rice filling the space. Finally he said, “My mum and sister were kidnapped, raped, and murdered.”

I recoiled, horror choking off my air. Oh, god. I knew it happened, knew there were people out there who would do just that—and that I was engaged to one of them—but hearing it said so bluntly…

“So I’m a little fucking sensitive to the same shit happening to anyone else.” He rocked the hissing pan with agitated motions and cracked an egg into the rice, stirring like he was trying to kill the food, too. “That’s why I killed them all. To stop that shit happening to you, but also—because I couldn’t stop it happening to them.”

Sympathy squeezed my heart until it hurt. I couldn’t imagine my brothers doing something like that in my memory. They’d be more likely to commit those atrocities.

I swallowed, tasting chocolate and hazelnut. “Are you going to kill me, too?”

That was the other question scorching my mind, refusing to stop until I had an answer.

“Never, little queen,” the Saint replied, piling food into two bowls. “Would I have killed those monsters and got you out of there if I was going to kill you?”

He wouldn’t. He’d have killed me there. And at least I understood his motive now. It wasn’t about me; it was about his family, whom he couldn’t save. It didn’t make me safe but…safer.

At least until my fiancée found me. Because he would. My father might not dare come for me while I was here, but a man like Armand Finch would kill even the Saint.

“You should have killed me,” I whispered.

CHAPTER 6

DAMIEN

You should have killed me.

Her words rang with the same impact and volume as a gunshot.

“Why the hell would you say that?” I demanded, trying to keep calm when alarm bells rang inside me.

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