Page 129 of Ruin Me Gently

My body collided with his like a wrecking ball of fury. There was a brutal, bone-deep crack, his ribs giving way under the sheer force as I slammed him into the brick wall, knocking the air clean from his lungs.

He gasped, clutching his chest.

Knuckles pressed bone-white against my skin, muscles coiling, every nerve in my body buzzing with rage.

And then I swung.

His head snapped to the side, a strangled noise escaping him. He lifted a hand, palm out like that was going to stop me. “I didn’t mean—I wasn’t—”

Crimson flooded my vision. “You didn’t mean it? Is that what you were going to say?”Each word vibrated through my chest.

His mouth opened again, but he didn’t get a chance to finish whatever pitiful excuse he was about to spit out.

“Muori, bastardo!” My fist crashed into his nose.

His head slammed against the wall, blood spraying from his nostrils as he crumpled to his knees like a puppet with its strings cut, clutching his face with a choked, wheezing sound.

But I wasn’t done. Not even close.

I loomedover him, the world narrowing to only the two of us.

His hands were raised, shaking, like he thought he could stop me. Like he thought I’d show him mercy.

I cracked my knuckles, cartilage shifting with an audible pop. “Get up.”

He whimpered, knees digging into the concrete, cowering away from me.

“I said get the fuck up.”

He wavered on unsteady feet, his breath coming in shallow bursts.

“I warned you. Sooner or later, you hurt the wrong person!” Raw venom spat from my mouth.

“You—” he sucked in a ragged breath. “It’s you! The one who—who mugged me! I know you!”

“Shut the fuck up!” My fist drove into his jaw, the impact echoing in the narrow alley like a gunshot.

He staggered, slamming back against the wall, coughing—blood splattering across his mouth as he sputtered out apologies, denials, lies.

Goddamn coward.

The glint of something metallic sticking out of his arm caught my eye.

Oh. Good fucking girl.

He held up a shaking hand, face pale beneath the sheen of crimson dripping down his nose. “P-please, I—I swear, I didn’t—”

I lunged, grabbing him hard by the collar before driving my knee into his gut with every ounce of strength I had.

He dropped again, body curling inward like a crushed tin can, barely catching himself on shaking hands, coughing wetly, spitting red onto the pavement.

Not enough. Not fucking enough.

I spat on him. “Pezzente di merda.”

A soft cry came from behind me. I turned so fast the alley spun around me, the rage in my veins boiling into something worse.

Lilith.

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