Page 285 of Ruin Me Gently

“Come on, you think I wouldn’t recognise you?” He took a lazy step forward.

Silas shifted slightly, just enough to angle himself in front of me.

“Oh yeah,” Clark drawled, taking a swig of his beer. “You brought your guard dog.”

My grip tightened around the wrench.

Clark let out arough chuckle. “What’s the plan, huh? You gonna hit me again?”

Silas exhaled slowly, then tilted his head, lowering his voice. “Is that an invitation?”

Clark blinked, his smirk faltering for a split second before he plastered it back on, masking the tiny flinch with something oily as he tipped his bottle toward me. “Huh. That healed nicely.”

My stomach knotted, nausea roiling through my nerves as the scar on my temple prickled, like it remembered the person who put it there.

Silas shifted a little closer, his fingers brushing against my wrist. Just one small, grounding movement. A reminder that he was right there. I wasn’t alone in this.

I took in a heavy pull of air, keeping my shoulders squared.

Don’t react. Don’t run.

“No, no, look—it’s fine.” Clark lifted a finger tapping his forehead. “I have one too.”

I could barely see it in the dim light, but there was a scar slicing across his brow—jagged and mean, the kind that didn’t heal clean. It was ugly. Puckered and raised like it’d been pissed off the whole time it was trying to close. The edges looked like it had gotten infected at some point too, angry and swollen, probably painful as shit.

“Psycho over here did that one,” he said, flicking a glance toward Silas with a grin. “After he got in the middle of our little… misunderstanding.”

“And I’ll do it again,” Silas said as his fingers shifted, so he was lightly gripping my wrist now. “Maybe another one—to match the other side.”

Clark let out a chuckle, shaking his head as he took another slow sip from his bottle like this was nothing.

I ignored them both, ignored the burning in my chest, ignored the way the rusted wrench bit into my palm.

Instead, I pushed forward with the question that had been clawing at the back of my throat for way too long.

“How thehellhave you stayed off the grid this whole time?” I asked.

Clark’s lip curled. “Irrelevant. Better question. How did you find me?”

An answer for an answer.

I tilted my head. “Irrelevant.”

Clark just laughed. “Did you miss me? Is that why you came to find me, Lilith?”

My breath caught in my throat. He was trying to bait me—poke and prod until he found something raw, something he could sink his teeth into. I could feel it, the way he watched me, waiting for a reaction, waiting for me to snap.

Nope. Not happening.

I kept my face neutral, forced my shoulders to stay loose. “You are so damn predictable, it’s boring.”

His jaw twitched. Yeah, he didn’t like that.Good.

Silas’ fingers tangled with mine, warm and steady, the silent pressure keeping me anchored to the moment. I could feel how much he wanted to jump in. To end this right now. But he was holding himself back. For me.

Clark let out a huff through his nose, running his tongue over his teeth before plastering on another one of those slimy, condescending smirks. “You know, a few weeks ago, I might’ve taken you back. Forgiven you, maybe.” He let out a deep sigh, shaking his head. “But these last few weeks? They’ve shown me I deserve better than you. You’re nothing but a crazy bitch who couldn’t handle the truth and took everything from me.”

The air thinned, my pulse drumming hot against my ribs. “Don’t twist it.”

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