Page 131 of Make You Mine

I’m so messed up that I don’t even care that he killed two people. But he just told me he loves me, and I don’t know what to say to that.

Besides, I did stab him in the arm, and the simple sight of his slashed skin makes me nauseous. “If we don’t take care of the wound, it could get infected.”

“It won’t.”

I can’t believe I did that to him.

“You don’t have to say it back, you know?” Kayden says.

“Say what?”

“That you love me.”

He doesn’t wait for me to say anything before pulling out one of the chairs behind the receptionist’s desk and offering me the seat.

“And before you start spiraling about me killing innocent people, I need to tell you something.”

I take the seat, and he follows, grabbing the chair next to mine.

“I’m listening,” I say.

“Joseph wasn’t innocent. Neither was the idiot you met at the club.”

“What do you mean?” I raise my eyebrows.

“They were dealing drugs,” Kayden explains, leaning one arm against the desk by us. “And Joseph was spying on you because he thought you had something to do with that guy’s disappearance.”

“W-what?” I wince. There’s no way. What the hell is he talking about? Lucien and Joseph were dealing drugs? “How do you know that?”

“Dev—I saw him. That night at the club, the guy you thought stood you up? He went out to his car to grab the drugs. He was going to slip them into your drink. I had to stop him.”

The way he says the words doesn’t sound like him. It’s like he’s recounting something he’s been told; they’re not coming out naturally.

“They might have looked like good people, but you need to stop being so naive, Little Demon, and realize that sometimes, monsters look like good people, too.” His tone is serious and raspy. “I would know.”

“So you’re admitting it was you…”

“Y-yes.” He pauses. “I believe so. It’s complicated.”

“And you just expect me to believe you?”

“That’s up to you, Maddy. But I want you to hear me out.”

“You know that even if I hear you out and these people weren’t good, it doesn’t justify anything. What you did is a crime.”

He nods. “I’m not trying to justify my actions. I know what I did was wrong, and that there’s no coming back from that. I just don’t want you to think that these were innocent people’s lives.”

“The fact that they weren’t good people, and they meant harm to me doesn’t mean they deserved to be punished that way.”

“Do you really think so?” Kayden grimaces. “Do you think men who act that way should roam free in the streets harming more women? Would your conscience be weightless knowing that?”

I gnaw at my lip. “No. But it doesn’t mean I’d murder them.”

“You don’t have to. I’ll take the fall. My fault. Especially, if their plans involved you.”

“That doesn’t seem fair either.”

“Life isn’t fair, Little Demon.”