Page 48 of Vengeful Devotion
“You don’t trust me to keep you safe?”
I shake my head. “If he knows I’m in the city, I’m not safe. No one is.”
Stepping out of bed, I move past him to the closet and start packing up my backpack. I only unpacked last week when I decided I felt safe enough to stay here. It was a week too early. Declan’s body freezes. Absolute shock and horror paralyzing him, but only for a moment.
He grabs my backpack out of my hands, tossing it on the floor. He stares down at it like it offended him. He snaps his gaze to me. “You’re not going anywhere.”
I tilt my head. He’s really not getting it. “I have to, Declan.”
“Over my dead fucking body. And I’m not an easy man to kill.”
I barely stop myself from panting. Declan is oozing power and sex appeal. But I can’t waver right now. My feelings on the matter aren’t important. Even if it feels like there’s no one else out there, that can make me feel the way Declan does.
“If I stay, it’ll be my dead body. You don’t know who Lonny is, Declan. You haven’t seen the damage he can do.”
“I’ll handle the son of a bitch. I’ll deliver him to the devil himself.”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t work like that, Declan. I’ve seen him kill someone just for interrupting him one night. There’s no telling what he’ll do to get me back. Or what he’d do to someone hiding me.”
“Damn it, Gemma. When are you going to get it?”
“Get what?”
“There isn’t one goddamn thing I wouldn’t do to keep you. If that means I need to kill your fucking uncle, then so be it. I’d be honored to be the one to spill his blood. For you. Only for you.”
My heart melts. Dripping like a crayon that lost a fight with a hairdryer. I’m weak. I’m so weak for this man. If I could, I’d follow him to the ends of the earth. I’d spend every day of the rest of my life devoted to him. But I can’t. No matter what Declan says. He has no idea what he’s getting into. I know I saw him kill someone. But it was quick. Declan didn’t torture the poor man. Lonny wouldn’t have been so kind.
He trails his hand over my leg and up my body. “But if you really want to leave, there is one place you can go to.”
My eyes flutter closed, relishing in the way his hands feel. “Where?”
“My room.”
I blink at him. He can’t be serious right now.
“Don’t say things you don’t mean.”
“I never say things I don’t mean, Gemma. Never.”
“Declan, I can’t move into your room. It’s your room.”
“I wasn’t asking.”
“Oh? It sounded like you were.”
“No, I’m telling you that from now on, you will be inourroom.”
“Declan…”
“Give me this, Gemma. I won’t touch you; I swear. But I need you close. I need you safe. Please, give me this.”
His eyes hold a vulnerability I’m not used to seeing. His iron walls have crumbled. At least for now. His words replay in my head.
Only for you.
For reasons I can’t explain, I know he’s telling me the truth. Declan wants something more than stolen kisses. If I’m being honest, I desperately want it too. I want it all. But I can’t let him throw himself on the sword for me. Lonny is my problem. I brought him to Declan’s doorstep. I have to lead him away.
“O-okay,” I lie. Shame coats me like a slime I can’t remove. “I’ll move to your room. But you need to give me time to get ready.”
