Page 100 of Heart of a Villain

She shook her head.

Right now wasn’t the time for interfering, logical thoughts.

“I see what I meant to you,” she added.

“And I see what I meant to you,” he countered. “I see you still don’t understand, and I’m done trying to explain it to you.”

“Why are you acting like I did something wrong?”

“Sayeda, you’re pissed at me for caring about you.”

“I’m pissed at you because I thought you’d have my back.”

“Have your back in turning your soul black? I won’t do it, and I won’t let you do it.”

“Why not?”

“Because I love you, and you know it.”

A knot tightened in her throat.

She forced it down her esophagus, and it landed with a splash in her belly.

“I love you so much, I fell for you in someone else,” he went on. “This isn’t me ‘deciding for you’ what’s best for you. I know the kind of person you are. I know that’s still who you are.”

“I’m not.”

“What changed?”

“My power!”

He went motionless.

“Tonight, I felt powerful,” she said, chest heaving. “When I killed Rafael, I felt powerful. Every other time, there’s nothing. There are pops of joy here and there, but it’s nothing like what I felt tonight. For the first time, it was like I got my power back.”

“Back?” he asked, eyes narrowed. “Explain.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Tonight, you don’t have much of a choice.”

“How do you know I can’t do this?”

“Because you didn’t sleep,” he said. “I did. That’s the difference.”

For a moment, she couldn’t find anything to say. He was wrong about this. The fervor coursing through her was something she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Maybe ever.

“I don’t want to tell you, Adrían. I…I know you, too. You’ll be upset that I didn’t tell you before we…” She motioned to the bed and then to her nude body.

“Tell…me…what?”

His voice changed.

Before, it was frustration.

This was rage.

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