Page 213 of Kiss the Villain

I’ll never have a normal life again.

Not after Kayden Davenport tore my delusions of normalcy to shreds.

36

KAYDEN

Ishould’ve tortured Declan more.

Scalded him alive.

Cut his skin slower.

Melted him in acid, piece by piece.

I did spend fucking hours torturing him, making him pay for every single cut he inflicted on Gareth’s body, but it still wasn’t enough. I could still smell his rotten flesh and see the smirk on his goddamn mouth when Jethro came into the basement and told me we had to go.

“My little parting gift for you, motherfucker.” That’s what he said.

He put Gareth in danger again. Because of me.

It’s always because ofme.

The stitches, the wounds, the internal and external hell he’s been going through are all because of me.

Declan laughed out loud as blood dripped all over his body, his face unrecognizable. One of his eyes was shut, but he still glared at me with the other one.

“You’re right, Davenport, I did torture that little psycho, but he was unresponsive, no matter how much we kicked and punched and threw him around. He had this unperturbed look and it pissed me the fuck off, but he got so angry when I said ye fucked him just because he has similar eyes to Caysie. Ah, you should’ve seen the rage and bloodlust in his eyes. Damn cunt would’ve killed me with his bare hands if he could. Since he seemed so jealous of her, I made him watch you happy together, playing with his mind, making him crazy because ye betrayed her with him. Ye tarnished her memory by being with her rapist’s grandson. Since ye couldn’t respect her in death, you should join her. See if ye can look her in the fucking eye!”

That’s when I put a bullet in his fucking head.

Silenced him for life.

I sit on a rock overlooking the ocean’s violent waves. The late afternoon sun casts a golden reflection on the water.

Cassandra never liked water since she couldn’t swim. It’s ironic that she was thrown into a lake, almost like a last fuck you of sorts.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, imagining her sitting beside me.

She’s stopped appearing in my nightmares now, replaced by Gareth being all bloodied and refusing to talk to me.

“Declan was right,” I murmur, my voice barely audible over the crashing waves. “I did grow fond of your rapist’s grandson. A boy I intended to kill, only to find myself captivated by him in ways I never thought possible.”

I exhale slowly, the sea breeze carrying a bitter chill that seeps into my bones. “You’d understand, wouldn’t you, Sandra? You were my friend, after all. You always understood me. Ma Jina says he’s changed me, and she’s right. He has. In ways I didn’t consent to, in ways I didn’t even realize until it was too late. I wanted…”

A small smile tugs at my lips, bitter and fleeting. “At some point, I wished I could be someone ordinary. A simple professor, free from the weight of the Davenport name, free from the chains of legacy and expectation. Just a man who could be with him without all of this hanging over us.”

The wind lashes against my face, and I close my eyes. “Sandra…what happened to you made me angry and vengeful. I wanted to give you justice, to give you closure. I made it my purpose. But maybe it wasn’t just for you. Maybe it was for me—a distraction from my own life, my obligations, from Grant’s ceaseless demands.

“But losing him…” My voice cracks as a violent wave hits the rocks, sending icy water splashing against my legs. “It’s unbearable. I haven’t been able to breathe, as if I’ve been walking around with a fireball lodged in my chest, suffocating me every moment of every day.”

I turn my gaze to the horizon, where the water meets the sky in a vast, endless expanse. “I’m sorry, Sandra. Truly. I can’t harm his grandfather, and I can never harm him. I killed your brother because he hurt him, and I would do it again without hesitation.

“I know it’s selfish. I know it betrays the purpose I claimed to have, but I’m letting you go. For good. If you can’t forgive me, I’ll accept that. Because the truth is, he’s my priority now. He’s the only thing that matters. Even if it costs me my life. Even if it costs me my soul.”

The wind howls, carrying my words away, but there’s no response, naturally, but I like to think she’s at peace now—at least one of us is.

Standing, I dust off my pants and trek down the jagged rocks. Jethro arranged our transport to one of my coastal safe houses, a location Grant has no clue about.

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