Page 99 of The Devil's Weakness

“Are you sure? There are rumors all over town that heattacked—” He looks at me when he says this. “—you at Ellie’s earlier.”

“What? Oh, God.” She inhales a deep breath and steps out of his hold. “That’s not what happened.Iwas the one who slappedhim.”

Yeah, she fucking did.

“You slapped him? Why? What did he do to you?”

This motherfucker is pushing his luck.

“He didn’t do any—”

“Look here, the only reason you’re still standing right now is because Sasha would prefer that I don’t knock your ass out. She’s fine. Nothing happened to her. You can go now.”

“Don’t talk to him like that,” she screeches at me.

“He’s the one barging in here accusing me of shit that never happened, and you’re getting mad atme? Unfuckingbelieveable.”

“Maybe it’s you who ought to leave?” Boy Scout turns toward me, looking like he’s got her fucking honor to defend.

That’s my fucking job, asshole. I watch as he takes one step in my direction.

“You have two seconds to back the fuck up before I lay you out like an Oriental rug.”

“Stop it,both of you!Why don’t youbothleave?Thatwould be a treat.”

“You hear that big guy?” he says. “She wants you to leave.”

He must be some fucking kind of stupid because the next thing he does is try to grab my arm and escort me out of her house.

Big fucking mistake, Boy Scout.

In a flash, I pull my arm out of his reach and deck him harder than I ever remember hitting anyone before in my entire life. I didn’t hold back; I just let my fist fly. In a second, he was on the floor and unconscious, his eye already starting to swell.

He won’t be able to open it when he wakes up.

“Steve!”

It kills me to hear her scream his name. I’m going to pay for this one, but I don’t care. You don’t come in here trying to be a cowboy and saving something that isn’t yours to save. Especially when she doesn’t need saving in the first place.

“Oh my God, I think you killed him,” she whines.

“He’s fine. He’ll wake up in a bit,” I tell her.

She looks at me with disgust.

“Out!” she demands. “Get out! Right now!”

“Sasha,” I begin, but she cuts me off.

“No! Fuck you, Blade. You keep telling me you want to be the guy that I deserve, that I need… if this is what you think I need, an oafy caveman who’s going to punch anyone you deem a threat, then you’ll never be that guy. You were right about one thing, though. Youarebad for me. Thank you for helping me sort through my feelings for you. You’ve made it abundantly clear that taking this any further would be a huge fucking mistake.”

“Sasha—”

“Get. Out,” she demands.

I’ve never seen her this serious before. She has tears in her eyes, but they aren’t because she’s sad. She is enraged, and it’s all that motherfucker’s fault.

“Fuck this,” I say under my breath, waving both of them away.

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