Page 98 of A Heart So Savage

“In self-defense, Ava. It was either you or him,” Kingston said fiercely, tipping her chin to meet his gaze. “He signed your death warrant and would have profited from it. He deserved to die like he did. Slowly and in excruciating pain. I watched him take his last breath and reminded him who took his life and why. After all he took from you, what he did to your parents, it was only right that you got your vengeance.Youmade him pay the price for his actions, and I’m so proud of you for the strength it took to do that.”

Ava’s eyes watered, tears spilling over and wetting her cheeks. Kingston swiped at the moisture with his thumbs. “Don’t waste your tears on him, lamb. He’s not worth it. He never was.”

She cried anyway, despite his admonishment, and Kingston understood why. He said nothing more, simply held her while she wept until she finally took a shuddering breath and wiped her face free of tears.

“I’m okay now,” she whispered, a spark of survival glimmering in her eyes. “And—and you’re right, Kingston. I’m glad he’s dead.”

Kingston’s stomach clenched with pain-filled rage. Every time he saw evidence of the nightmare she had endured, murder danced in his heart.

Earlier this morning, while holding Ava’s body against his own in the bathtub and washing her hair, it was the sight of the bruises left behind when Carson strangled her. Right now, it was the raw, chapped skin of her wrists. Injuries that were caused by those monsters stringing her up like a freshly killed deer waiting to be butchered.

He wished each man was still alive so he could gut them himself. He’d drape their intestines around their necks like Christmas tinsel and set them on fire. Unfortunately, there was only one man was still barely breathing. Kingston had special plans for him.

“Is Oliver okay?” Ava’s voice hitched. “You didn’t hurt him, did you? He stopped them from raping me. I watched him kill the detective. And Drake, too.”

“He’s alive although I wish he’d left the slaughter of those two motherfuckers to me. I would have handled things much differently. It would not have been a quick death for either one.”

Ava’s eyes watered again. “He was helping you. And me. He knew he couldn’t control all of them once they learned he was no longer with them They would have torn us both apart. Are you angry with him?”

“I’m not sure how I feel about Oliver at the moment, to be honest,” Kingston said gruffly. “His motives are still a bit murky, although I cannot deny his involvement kept things from being so much worse. I don’t know why he changed his mind about hurting you… and hurting me, but he did. I’ve never understood him and probably never will. He is going away for a while. Of his own choice. Says he must work some things out for himself before we can try having a real relationship as brothers.” His hands clenched as he thought of how close he’d come to losing Ava. And Oliver. He’d been prepared and more than willing to put a bullet between his brother’s eyes. “I’ll probably never fully trust him, but if it wasn’t for him, I would have failed you, Ava. I wouldn’t have reached you in time.”

Kingston propped his back against the headboard and carefully pulled her beside him. “I should have never left you behind.” He raked a hand through his hair, torment twisting his features. “I knew it was a mistake the minute I got into the penthouse’s elevator.

“I should have trusted you to give me what I thought I wanted when it came to Carson,” Ava confessed.

“You had every right to do what you did, Ava, although I’ll likely take a riding crop to your backside at some point for disobeying me. You were so clever in planning your escape that I can’t help but feel irrationally proud.” Kingston let out a dry laugh, brushing her hair back from her forehead. “My heart is still shattered from seeing you at Carson’s. Bloody and bruised but still breathing. Still fighting. Still alive. Had it not been four on one, I think you would have taken them all down, one by one.”

“Does this mean you’ve grown one? A heart, that is?” Ava asked with a small smile. “You warned me before it did not exist.”

“Oh, it exists. The problem is I lost possession of it a long time ago. It hasn’t been mine since the day I saw you standing in your mother’s kitchen. You’ve owned it since then, and for as long as you want it, it’s yours. All of it. All of me. Everything I have is yours, Ava. Everything.”

“Oh, Kingston.” Ava’s voice trembled.

His hand slid into the waves of her blonde hair as they stared into each other’s eyes. “I adore you, Ava. You and your savage little heart. I love the way you kiss me. How you hold my hand. How you let me take care of you, not because you need it but becauseIdo. But all of that will never be enough to keep you here. I'm setting you free. You can go anywhere in the world. Do anything you desire. Be anyone you want to be. There are no debts to be paid. No obligations or responsibilities. No contract. I may have threatened you with it, but I ripped that damn thing up the day after you signed it anyway. For the rest of my life, I will make sure you are safe and taken care of.”

“I don’t understand.” Ava’s eyes widened with panic. “Where would I go without you?”

Kingston exhaled a shuddering breath. “I’m letting you go, lamb. I have to. Don’t you see? After hurting…” He choked on the word, hot tears stinging his eyes as he continued in a gruff voice, “After hurting you so many times that I’ve lost count, I can only say how sorry I am. I’m so fucking sorry, Ava. I hate myself for what I am… a monster. A beast who took something pure and innocent just so I could make her as filthy as me. But no matter how hard I tried to ruin you, I failed. You are so bright, so beautiful, Ava, so fuckinggoodit hurts my eyes just to look at you. You deserve so much, and I have nothing to offer you that isn’t drenched in blood and pain.”

Ava laid a hand along the side of his cheek. Kingston could not resist the urge to nestle into the warmth of her palm. Her touch soothed him. Calmed him. It felt as though a thousand lions were tearing his heart to pieces when he realized this was the last time they would share such an intimate moment.

“How did you find me, Kingston? How did you know to go to my parent’s house?”

Kingston clenched his jaw so tight he was in danger of cracking a tooth. “I’m confessing my sins, Ava, but I’m not ready to admit all of them out loud.”

Ava’s eyes narrowed the tiniest bit. “I know Oliver did not tell you. He specifically said he did not know how you knew I was there.”

A guilty flush crept up Kingston’s neck. He had nothing to be sorry for. Everything he’d done was for her safety. Not because he was a psycho who craved control over one savage, headstrong girl.

“Tell me,” Ava demanded. “Did you have cameras there? What?”

“I implanted a tracker in you,” he blurted out.

“Wait.” She stared at Kingston in shock. “You did what?”

“A GPS tracker. In the back of your neck. Oliver didn’t know about it. No one did.”

She immediately ran a hand over her neck, fingers searching for proof. When she found the tiny bump, her eyes widened in outrage. “You did that and never told me? You did it without my consent?”

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