A muscle in my neck ticked. I’d seen men beg for their lives, seen them break, seen them turn into hollow shells. But this…her silence, it made my pulse hammer in a way no enemy ever had.

“Turn around and close the door behind you.”

She didn’t move.

“Hazel, I need you to fucking leave this room right now, damn it!”

Jerking like a restarted engine, she scrambled out of the room with shaking hands.

Combing my fingers through my hair, I rose to my full height and handed Damir the blade. He didn’t look happy about her interference, but I didn’t fucking care.

“Take care of him. Don’t let him bleed out just yet until I handle her.”

“Miron, you know we have to—”

“I swear to God, I’m going to run my fist through your fucking chest, Damir! For once, just shut the fuck up and do what I say!”

I left him in the silence, barging out of the room with my heart doing strange flips in my chest when I saw her pressed against the wall, with her arms wrapped around her like a shield and tears flooding down her cheeks.

I took a step forward, and she flinched. A small movement, barely there, but I caught it. And I hated it.

I hated that she was afraid of me because I knew she had every reason to be.

“I need you to tell me how you got inside. Did someone tip you off?”

“W—what?” She had a hard time looking me in the face and speaking. “No. No, I came…I searched your file to know where I could find you. I wanted to see you. It’s a Friday; I guessed you wouldn’t be home. Miron, it’s a club. Believe me or don’t, but I just walked in here, and…I heard crying.”

“There was no one out front?”

“No one.” Hazel shook her head, and as if she suddenly remembered, her eyes grew wide again. “Miron, that man—what are you planning to do to him?”

“Hazel….”

“Oh, God.” She broke down, letting herself crumble and fold into a sobbing mess. “You were going to…weren’t you?”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to, and don’t stick your nose in business that doesn’t concern you.”

I was cold deliberately to push her far away from what her eyes had seen. I knew what this was going to do to her; it would break her, mess with her head, and give her sleepless nights. And I felt like a fool for being the one to cause that.

“Please.” She surprised us both by springing forward, close enough for me to smell the cinnamon shampoo in her hair. “Please, Miron. I know I have no right. I don’t know what he did, but I’m sure whatever it is, you can forgive him. You can report him to the police, just don’t…don’t kill him. Please.”

The way she still believed in mercy, in second chances. She had no idea that men like me didn’t grant them. When she mentioned the police, it dawned on me that she hadn’t understood the magnitude of what she’d walked into. We had more of the goddamn police force on our side than the side of the law. We were justice. Only a few people like Jeffery found their way around the lacunas to loop us into the civilian system.

Seeing the tears in her eyes disturbed me. Watching her cry touched me in places I didn’t know existed. On reflex, I lifted my fingers to wipe them away, and, again, she moved away; this time, her gaze brushed over the blood stains on my hands and shirt.

Silently, I backed away from her and walked into the room. Damir was holding the knife to the bleeding man’s neck, and his eyes met mine at the door.

“Let him go.”

I could count the number of times I’d seen Damir lose control. This moment was another one on the list. Without warning, he struck the man with his shoes. Again. And again.

“Damir!”

He stopped. “Do you want me to take him to a hospital, too?”

I knew Damir was being sarcastic, but that was what Hazel would have wanted. Her heart and entire soul were just too fucking pure, and somehow I knew I’d pick that instead of leaving her to believe I was a monster.

“Dump him at the nearest one.”