Page 70 of Ravaged By a Devil

"Let me take a look at it, doll," I rumble quietly, stepping between her knees.

She pulls her hand away with a soft wince, letting out a sharp breath. I lean down, my broad hands carefully framing her shoulder as I inspect the wound. The glass tore clean across her skin, but thankfully, the cut isn't deep enough to require stitches.

Still, it's raw, jagged, and bound to hurt like a bitch the second the antiseptic touches it.

I pull a bottle of disinfectant and a roll of clean gauze from the box.

Every single time she winces—every tiny intake of breath or twitch of her shoulders as I clean the blood away—a fresh wave of dark rage slams into my chest.

My hands want to clench into fists; my jaw aches from grinding my teeth so hard. I have to physically force myself to loosen my grip, taking a slow, steadying breath to ensure my touch remains as gentle as humanly possible for a man built for destruction.

Alexis watches my face closely, her dark eyes tracking the vein throbbing in my temple.

"Nolan got away," she whispers softly into the quiet bathroom, her voice steady despite the pain. "He escaped with his brothers because you stayed with me."

I don't look up from her arm. I press a fresh piece of gauze against the wound, securing it with medical tape before finally raising my eyes to meet hers.

"I don't give a fuck about Nolan," I say, my voice low, absolute, and dark with a truth that frightens even me. "I'd make the exact same choice every single time."

She tilts her head, her dark eyes softening as she looks down at my hands. "You're so gentle," she whispers.

My hands shake—actually fucking tremble—as I smooth the edge of the tape against her skin. "No, I'm not," I pull back, my voice rough and jagged.

How the hell can she even say that?

How can she sit there looking at me with those soft, trusting eyes and call me gentle?

I’m the family executioner for a reason. I am the violent one. The angry one. The one my brothers send into the dark when something needs to be put down and erased from existence.

There isn't a gentle bone in my entire fucking body.

"No, you're gentle," Alexis insists, her tone quiet, unwavering, and entirely unbothered by my sudden retreat. “With me.”

"Alexis," I growl, taking a step back, needing space, needing the air between us to cool down before I suffocate in it.

Then, her small hands reach out, her fingers cupping my jawline, warm and firm, forcing me to hold her gaze.

"Tell me," she says softly, searching every line of my face. "Tell me where your pain comes from."

I freeze. The air leaves my lungs in a slow breath. I try to pull my face away, but her grip holds me anchored right where I am.

"I put a bullet in my own father's head," the words tear out of my throat before I can stop them, low, broken, and dark.

Alexis doesn't flinch. She just stays there, her hands on my jaw, listening.

"He was captured," I rumble, my eyes burning as the memory I've kept buried for years claws its way to the surface.

"Our enemies had him in a dark basement down near the river. I found him before Ezekiel and Elijah did. They were going to spend days tearing him apart, piece by piece, piece by agonizing piece, just to send a message to our family."

I swallow hard, the taste of ash in my mouth. "So I did what had to be done. We both knew that I couldn’t save him from there. I put a bullet right between his eyes before they could lay a single hand on him. Before they could torture him."

I lower my hands to the edge of the counter, my knuckles turning white as I brace myself. "My brothers... they never speak about it. Not a single fucking word. And I've lived every day since believing it proves what I've always known." I look back up into her eyes, raw and bare. "It proves I was made to be the monster."

Alexis doesn't flinch, doesn't draw back, and doesn't offer a single word of empty pity.

Instead, she pulls me down to her lips.

I freeze instantly. Every muscle in my back locks tight as her mouth presses against mine—soft, warm, and completely devoid of fear. My breath hitches in my chest, the sheer shock of her touch paralyzing me for one agonizing beat.