Page 27 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

Well, no. No, I wouldn’t have.

After that encounter, I was haunted by who the Vigilante could be. But I had ruled out Hunter.

“You pad your suit,” I realized. “And wear bigger boots.”

“Listen, I can explain all the details, but the bottom line is this.” He gestured around the room, with its earth-scented walls, stone floor stained with Franco’s blood, and the wall of weapons. “This is who I am, and now that you know it…” Hunter’s fingers twitched at his side, his usual confidence replaced with vulnerability. “Do you think there’s any chance you could still love me?”

I struggled to reconcile the man before me with the enigma of Hunter Lockwood—a soul lost in shadows.

“I love you, Luna. I don’t want to be in a world without you. It’s like asking me to survive without my soul.”

I didn’t want a crack of empathy to open up for him, but I couldn’t deny a sense of understanding. As a child, officers tore me from my father’s last embrace. Their cold grip, my screams—it all consumed me.

But it didn’t give me a free pass to do whatever I wanted in life.

“Many people experience pain and trauma, Hunter. It’s what we do with that pain that defines us. You used that pain as a justification to kill people.”

The last glimmer of hope in Hunter’s eyes vanished.

“And that’s not something you’ll ever accept,” he said in a low voice.

“No,” I said. “I’m sorry, but no.”

Hunter couldn’t look me in the eye anymore.

My ribs ached, seeing the pain consume his face as solemn silence stretched between us.

Hunter’s voice broke, his eyes distant as he whispered, seemingly to himself, “At least, for a moment, with you, I got to feel heaven.”

My eyes burned. How could this feel so wrong, pushing him away? How could I still feel love for him when his actions were so deplorable? How could I understand what he had done? He had murdered people!

Hunter stood up and stepped back, creating distance between us. “You deserve better, Luna.”

Hunter’s posture slouched, and the light in his eyes dimmed. Watching Hunter’s soul collapse in on itself was like witnessing a devastating crash in slow motion.

How could I want to condemn him and hug him all at the same time? This was so confusing.

But then, it was confusing because the love we shared was real. Hunter was in there somewhere behind the mask, but it didn’t change that he was also a killer.

“Mmmmmm,” Franco groaned, his eyes threatening to open.

As Hunter glared at the man who’d abducted me and driven a knife into my now-bandaged forearm—the man who’d intended to kill me in a heinous way—his jaw ticced.

“Let me ask you this.” Hunter tilted his head, challenging me with his gaze. “Do you believe Franco Hopkins deserves to live after what he did to you?”

CHAPTER15

Hunter

“That’s not a fair question,” Luna said. “Do I think he deserves to live? No. But do we have the right to end his life? No.”

It would seem that Luna and I would forever be in a stalemate. I didn’t feel an ounce of remorse for Franco Hopkins, who still sat bleeding in that chair. Matter of fact, I looked forward to killing him after what he did to Luna, but my eyes swept over the love of my life, my stomach wrenching from the sight.

Look at her. Gashes beneath that bandaged arm, split lip, bruises, eyes red and swollen from tears of terror. She looked so damn fragile right now, so exhausted from the trauma she went through with Franco. And then what do I do to her? The man who promised to protect her?

I tied her up, terrorized her, and imprisoned her in a cold, damp room, zip ties digging into her soft flesh.

I clenched my fist until my nails stung my skin.

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