Page 237 of The Villain We Tempt

“I mean does she know how you feel abouther?”

“She does.”

My pulse spikes when I feel something sharp pressing to my ribs. I glance down, and my eyes widen at the sight of Cillian’s switchblade,open, slightly digging into me.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” I hiss under my breath.

“Several things,” he shrugs. “But never mind those. You're avoiding the question. Do you love her?”

“Cillian—”

The blade presses a little harder.

“Yes,” I snap. “I’m fucking in love with her, okay?”

He grins. “Good. And have youtold herthat?”

My brow furrows. “No,” I finally respond. “I haven’t.”

Cillian sighs as he pulls the blade away, folds it back up, and tucks it into his jacket pocket as I glare at him.

“You’re fuckingcrazy, Cil. You know that?” I snap.

“Indeed I do,” he grins. “Honestly, I don’t know how people do reality without it.”

I laugh at that, chuckling as I take another sip of whiskey.

“So, to review: she walked away from you, and you haven’t bothered to mention to her the little fact that you happen to bein love with her, because you’d rather act like a right twat. Is that more-or-less correct?”

My brow furrows. “I mean, aside from the twat part, yes. Mostly.”

“Oh, no, the twat part stays,” he chuckles. “Lochlan,whyon God's green Earth have you not told this girl you’re in love with her?”

“Because…” I growl. “Because I didn’t before, and I'm not saying it now that she’s gone.”

He frowns. “What?”

“I love you is not super glue or a tool,” I mutter.

He starts to laugh, loudly.

“Thanks for stopping by, Cil,” I grunt, sliding off my stool. “It’s been a blast?—”

“Sit the fuck down, boy-o,” he says, grabbing my arm and yanking me back down onto the stool with a strength you wouldn’t expect in a man his age. “There’s more to that saying, you know.”

I frown. “What do you meanthat saying?”

“It’s a saying,” he grins. “It’smysaying, which is where your dad heard it first before he stole it like a cheeky little cunt and passed it off as fatherly advice to you.”

When I stare at him in confusion, he sighs heavily and clears his throat.

“Never tell someone you love them unless you truly do. I love you is not super glue. It's not a tool.”

Well,fuck.

Cillian laughs when he sees my brows knit. “Christ! Is that why you haven’t told her?”

“Yes!” I snap. “Saying it now would be using it as a tool to try to?—”