Page 69 of My Vigilante Valentine

He didn’t move, just kept those intense eyes locked on mine like I was the only thing in his world worth paying any mind to.

And in that moment, standing in his apartment with the weight of everything pressing down on us, I realized something terrifying.

This was never pretend for me, and we all knew that.

But the bombshell?

Maybe it was never pretend for him, either.

16

neither was i

Luna’s voice shook as she stared at the first aid kit in her hands. “I’m not sure if I can do this. Should I call 911?”

The question jolted me from my pain-induced haze. “No hospitals.”

She blinked, and for the first time since the attack, a small, incredulous laugh escaped her lips. The smile didn’t last long before fading, but oddly… seeing that smile return seemed to right something inside me that I hadn’t realized was off-kilter.

“Of course,” she said, nodding frenetically, “because going to a hospital with a knife wound would require admitting that you got stabbed by a serial killer while pretending to be my boyfriend.”

I couldn’t help the tiny smile that tugged at my lips. “I wasn’t stabbed. It’s just a graze.”

She looked pointedly at where I still held my side. At the blood that coated my hand as I held back the flow.

“Either way… we don’t want the media attention,” I said, trying to draw her eyes.

“It’s not like we’d tell them that you’re The Blade…” She trailed off, biting her lip as if thinking it through. “Oh, you mean because we’re the first couple to survive an attack from this guy.”

I nodded, then watched as she processed that. Relief, guilt, and just a hint of anger danced across her face, and then the whole thing seemed to converge into steady determination.

She squared her shoulders and held up the kit. “Okay, then. Let’s do this.”

I couldn’t look away from her if I tried.

The way she bit her lip? Her new posture as she took charge of her spinning thoughts in favor of helping me?

Too much.

Also, not enough.

Knowing I needed to allow her access to the wound, I took off my suit jacket and tossed it on a kitchen chair. Then, I started unbuttoning my shirt. It meant using two hands, and each movement sent sharp stabs of pain through my left side. The fabric sticking to my skin where the blood had dried didn’t help matters.

I could’ve asked her to help me with the buttons, but… no. This was already not how I’d imagined my first time undressing in front of Luna, and that would only make it worse.

Not that I’d imagined that.Much.

I peeled the ruined shirt away with a grimace, letting it fall to the floor. I tried not to acknowledge how exposed I felt—and not just physically. The scars that marked my chest and abs revealed so much of what I’d been through, and it wasn’t pretty.

She’d heard there was an explosion, but seeing the aftermath?

I wasn’t sure I was ready to know how that would land for her.

And then, Luna made a sound somewhere between a squeak and a gasp, and I risked looking up.

Her eyes were impossibly wide, fixed on my chest. Then tracked lower.

Only… she wasn’t horrified.

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