Page 94 of Beautiful Villain
Archie hissed as she prodded gently.“Shame,” he muttered.“I fall in lust very easily.Occupational hazard.”
I crossed my arms.
“You can keep your eyes to yourself,” I said flatly.
Archie glanced up at me, unrepentant even now.“What?I appreciate beauty.It’s practically a character flaw.”
“Touch her,” I replied pleasantly, “and Atlas willnotbe able to save you twice.”
Tone shot me a look over her shoulder, unimpressed.“Can we not threaten the patient while I’m working?”
I didn’t hesitate.
“No,” I said.“We cannot.”
She snorted—a sharp, inelegant sound—and went back to her work, muttering under her breath about egos, idiots, and men who confused blood loss with flirting.
Archie watched her with open curiosity now, something quieter than lust settling behind his eyes.Interest.
And I didn’t like it.Not one bit.
Not because I cared what Archie Popovich felt—but because Tone didn’t belong anywhere near men like him.She was all sharp edges and steady hands, all competence and moral backbone.He was chaos and corruption, and I didn’t want her around that shit.
They were polar opposites.
And I’d lived long enough to know that sometimes, those were the combinations that burned the hottest—and ruined the most lives.
Tone finished stabilising him and sat back on her heels.“He’ll live,” she said.“Unfortunately.”
Archie chuckled weakly.“You wound me.”
“I’ve seen worse,” she replied, already pulling off her gloves.“And they complained less.”
For a moment, their eyes met.
It was just a moment.I cleared my throat.That was enough groundwork for one night.
I crouched in front of him one last time, drawing his attention away from her.
“You’ll live,” I said quietly.“But you leave Mikayla alone.”
His face was pale now, sweat clinging to his hairline, but his eyes were sharp.Focused.He nodded once.
“A deal is a deal.”
“And understand this,” I added, leaning in close enough that he could see exactly how little mercy I had left.“Every breath you take from this moment on is borrowed.You can thank Atlas Cavalho for the mercy you received tonight.”
Archie smiled faintly, the kind of smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.“I’ll send him flowers.”
I straightened and turned away before the urge to change my mind took hold.
Fate had intervened.
I didn’t like it.
But as long as Mikayla was free—and Archie remembered precisely who he owed—I could live with the bastard staying alive.
For now.
