Severed by Vengeance (The Severed Signet, #1)

by Elle Maldonado

I was officially fucked.

I’d set a trap, lured her, and ended up falling headfirst into my own scheme. Now, there I was, wanting to share experiences and moments in life I never thought meant anything.

She was singing, calling to me, drawing me in like a goddamn Siren, leading me to ruin.

The hours away from Eva had felt like a lifetime. I wasn’t sure when, how, or why things had changed, but there was no going back.

But she was everything.

“God, I missed you,” I rasped

I’m going to ruin you the way you’ve ruined me completely.”

One look at her was enough to dispel my worries and the uncertainty of whatever fate awaited us. Damn it all to hell.

The realization of how utterly fucked we were dawned on me at that moment. This was it. We were too far gone. And I didn’t give a single fuck. It didn’t matter what awaited me on the other side of this proverbial shitstorm. As long as I was with this woman, nothing else mattered. I would die here. Die for her. Kill for her. Anything for her.

“If you lay one finger—” “I assure you I’ve done more than that, and she enjoyed every second of it. But it’s frankly none of your goddamn business.”

You empty your mag at anything that tries to come through this door.” “And what if it’s you?” His words held the undertone of a threat. A grin tipped the corner of my mouth. “Then you better not miss.”

She didn’t want to know the depraved things I was willing to do for Evangelina.

This woman. God, this woman. There was no doubt in my mind. She was mine. Made for me. Born to ruin me.

“So then, what are you waiting for, Derek Cain? Take what’s yours.”

“Close that pretty mouth and do as you're told.”

Everything with him was different.

Derek twisted in his seat, eyes searing through me. “I’m no hero, Eva.” He leaned in and grabbed the nape of my neck. “I’m something else entirely. Nothing and no one else matters to me. I’d bathe the whole goddamn world in blood for you.”

“What have you done to me?”

Eva, I’d give you the whole world. Just ask, and it’s yours.”

“I don’t want the world, baby. I just want you.”

“You have me,” I said,

At that moment, I decided I would never give her up.

And I’d be damned if I ever let her go. I would find a way to be the man she needed and deserved. No matter the cost.

She was staring at me like everyone else, and I couldn’t stand it. Not from her.

“You can yell, scream, hate me, Eva, but don’t be afraid of me. I’m a monster. I know that. I’ve killed in cold blood, and I won’t deny that. But you, I would never hurt you.”

The agony of losing her, of knowing she hated me, was a unique form of torture I’d never experienced. Not even the atrocities of my childhood compared. I’d live those horrors a thousand times if it meant I could unsee the hatred and sadness in her eyes.

“Bullshit, D. We’re fucking brothers. Before Eva, it was just you and me. And now, I’d do anything for her too, because you love her.” I loved her. I fucking loved her.

No matter what awaited us in the future, I’d always be there for her. And if her happiness was in the arms of another man… well, fuck that. I’d kill every motherfucker who would dare to breathe within five feet of her.

Sometimes the blood just calls to me, and yours is fucking singing right now.”

“It’s all that matters,” he murmured close to my lips.

I gripped the front of his shirt. “Where is she?”

Get him, baby.

“Hey, I’m not going anywhere… but if I do, you should know I love you. I love you so goddamn much. I didn’t even know I could feel this way about anyone. You have to know that. All of it was real.”

But couldn’t she see I’d done it for her? Always for her.

“But with you, angel, I want it all.”