Page 197 of Kiss the Villain

“Gareth—”

“Shut the fuck up. Don’t call my name, don’t make me hear your voice or your fucking lies.” A puff of air blows out of his trembling lips. “I can’t stop thinking about you with her. I can’t stop thinking that your expression, your smile, your everything washers. The very thought fills me with revulsion. You were married to someone before me. You gave your heart, your body, and your soul to someone else. You touched someone so deeply, and it wasn’tme. And I don’t give a fuck that she came before me. It still makes mefucking sick.”

He sounds so broken and lost.

And for the first time, I can’t stop it. Can’t mend his wounds or smooth out his emotions.

And now, I wish I’d never known Cassandra or married her. Maybe she’d be alive and happy, and I’d naturally find my way to Gareth, because I would have.

He’s the one I share a soul with, not her.

Gareth drops his bandaged forehead on mine, as if he’s tired, and inhales sharply, sniffing me in that way he usually does.

I inhale, too, sucking him into my lungs. The scent of him binding me to reality.

His touch.

His breaths.

The way his upper lip twitches, how his eyes soften.

I’m obsessed with every inch of him, his joy, his anger, his body, and every word out of his mouth. Forget about making a hole the size of him inside me. That’s already done.

Along with him coursing through my veins.

But he’s not letting me speak, and I don’t want to agitate him any further. He doesn’t seem ready to believe a word coming out of my mouth.

“I shouldn’t have let myself be captivated by you, addicted to you,used to you.” His harsh breaths fan my dry lips. “I should’ve avoided you from the start. I sensed the obsession right away, and obsessions aren’t good for me. They consume me.Youconsumed me, Kayden. And the thought that you’re in my life because you were consumed by someone else makes my vision red. It provokes my murderous side—the one I swore to suppress so I wouldn’t get caught. But it’s too late. You’ve already caught me, hook, line, and sinker. And the only way to escape is for you to rip my head off.”

“Gareth, no, don’t hurt yourself. Hurt me. Okay? Shootme. Cut off my arm. Break my legs. Do whatever you want with me.”

“I can’t.” He releases me, his fingers trembling as he chuckles softly. “I can’t hurt you. It hurts me, too.”

“I will do it, then. I’ll mutilate myself.”

“No. I want you to live, Kayden. I want you physically healthy but mentally fucked up—just like you made me.” He turns on his heel, his voice sharp enough to slice through the tension. “I’m ending the obsession and amputating you.”

“Gareth…” I take a step toward him, but the look he throws over his shoulder stops me cold.

It’s a look that promises he’d destroy himself just to make me watch.

He’s that hurt. That confused. That suicidal.

And the last thing I want to do is provoke him.

So I let him go.

But as he walks away, I say softly, “My life is yours to take whenever you wish, little monster.”

He doesn’t pause. Doesn’t turn. Doesn’t even look back. But his voice is hollow when he speaks.

“It’s not about taking your life; it’s about wiping you out of mine.”

34

GARETH

For as long as I can remember, there’s been a void inside me.

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