Page 83 of Love's Ace

“Fuck, I thought I was the one who was supposed to make a mess. Look… you might need to torch the place after you clean up. The cops might still look into it, but at least the people who matter won’t.”

The people who matter—the people who could hurt Wren.

Did cupids even have fingerprints?

“Helpful. Really helpful.”

“If you’d really wanted my help, you would have called me before you killed people. I know how to make someone suffer without leaving behind blood and bones, you asshole.”

It took me a second to realize Gethin had hung up, and another second to process what he’d said.

Fuck, he really was a killer, wasn’t he?

Wren shoved his phone into his jacket pocket and looked around, his mouth setting into a line.

“What do you want to do?” I whispered. His gaze swept around the mess he’d made one more time before he grunted and headed toward the kitchen.

“I guess we see if they have garbage bags? Get up as much as we can… torch the rest and watch it burn. Gethin was right. If we clean up enough, the only people who are going to care are the cops, and they don’t really matter.” He paused, and I could almost tell the question on his tongue pained him. “Did this asshole have any cameras around or anything when you were here before?”

The sting I was waiting for didn’t come. The sharp pain that fluttered to panic when I thought about the time I’d spent here with Erin…

Maybe it was because I could see Erin’s head on one side of the room and one of his hands on the other.

Whatever the reason, the pain wasn’t there. I wondered if Wren realized, as monstrous as the deed had been, it actuallyhadaccomplished what he’d wanted.

I hadn’t exactly had time to tell him when I’d been trying to bring him back to himself.

“Hey.” I caught his hand as he stood, turning him to me. “Thank you.”

He paused, his dark brows snapping together in confusion.

“For what?”

The corner of my mouth lifted into a small smile. It probably wasn’t a normal thing to thank someone for, was it? But… “For this? For what you did? For literally tearing apart the demon of my past and giving me his heart? I never thought I’d be able to step foot in this house again without breaking down or feeling like the world was going to fall apart. It’s…” I wasn’t sure how to explain it, to really put a weight or measure to what it meant. “Just… thank you.”

Wren shook from my hold so he could slide his hand along my chest and press his fingers to the space there where I knew that darkness still lingered—the space where the thread connected us.

The touch made him sway, but he didn’t seem to mind it as much.

Maybe I didn’t have to find the words for what anything meant, because I could see the reflection of my emotions in his eyes, in the softness of his smile.

“Always, Theo.”

Always.

Every time he said that word, something in me felt like it was melting, like it waschangingeverything inside me.

Every time he said it, something inside me wondered how I’d ever thought I was even breathing before I met him.

I pressed forward and brushed my mouth against his like I could seal the word with a kiss, let it travel down to add another strand to the thread connecting us.

Instead, he swiped his tongue across my lower lip and pushed me back.

“We should really handle this before we get distracted.”

This. This being my ex and his many, many pieces.

“Right.” I grabbed the garbage bags and tossed one to him. “Okay. Though… I really should be careful. You might not be in any database, but I’m very human.” I lifted my hand to wiggle my fingers. “Fingerprints.”

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