Page 220 of Villainous Rise

And so I built the cuff to shut that chapter permanently. Once he put the device on his wrist, Annie’s lingering guilt would vanish. She would have no reason to check on him. She would have no reason to spare him a single thought.

There it was. That ugly feeling. Jealousy. I’d never had anything worth being jealous over before Annie. Now I found myself counting the ways she looked at others, measuring the warmth in her voice when she spoke about them.

“She’s a remarkable woman,” Helios said quietly.

“Yes,” I agreed, my voice clipped. “She is.”

I watched Helios’s expression shift, his face taking on that haunted look again.

“She saved me,” he said softly, his voice barely audible.

“She did,” I confirmed, unable to keep the edge from my tone. “And it nearly killed her.”

The sound of her screams still echoed in my nightmares. I’d lost my arm, but I’d nearly lost her.

“I never wanted—” Helios began.

“Look,” I cut him off, my patience wearing thin. “What’s done is done. Just put the damn cuff on so I can make sure it’s calibrated properly.”

I needed him gone. Every second he stood there with that wounded puppy expression made me want to test whether my left hook was as effective as my right had been.

Helios nodded. He slipped the cuff onto his wrist and the device automatically adjusted to fit snugly against his skin.

I reached out with my right hand to grab the calibration tool from the workbench⁠—

“Fuck!” I snatched up the device with my left hand instead, nearly knocking over a cup of tools in the process.

The look of pity that flashed across Helios’s face only intensified my irritation.

“Don’t,” I warned, pointing the calibration tool at him. “Don’t you dare feel sorry for me.”

Helios lifted his hands in a gesture of appeasement, his expression shifting quickly.

“I’d never feel pity for you,” he said, meeting my gaze directly. “I’ve seen what you’re capable of. Even with one arm, you’re still the most dangerous man I know.”

“Fucking good,” I muttered, adjusting my grip on the calibration tool. “Last thing I need is sympathy from someone who glows in the dark.”

I leaned forward, focusing on the cuff now encircling his wrist. The device hummed softly as it powered up, tiny lights along its edge blinking as the systems initialized.

“There,” I said after a few minutes of adjustments. I set down the tool and leaned back, studying my handiwork. “It’ll need periodic recalibration as it learns your specific patterns, but it should hold against anything Halcyon might try for now.”

Helios examined the cuff, turning his wrist. “This is... thank you, Cipher. I know you didn’t have to do this.”

“Like I said, I didn’t do it for you.” I turned back to my workbench.

“I understand.” He hesitated, clearly wanting to say more. “Annie is fortunate to have someone who cares for her the way you do.”

I kept my focus on the prototype in front of me, not bothering to respond. What was there to say? That I’d cut off my other arm too if it meant keeping her safe? That seemed obvious enough without verbalizing it.

“I’ll leave you to your work,” Helios finally said, backing toward the door. “And thank you again.”

I gave him a curt nod, not looking up until I heard the door slide shut behind him. Only then did I let my shoulders slump.

The timer in my head supplied that it was just another hour before Annie would be off work. I needed to wrap things up here and head back to the penthouse.

To our home.

I smiled despite my frustration with the prototype prosthetic. Annie would be there when I got home. Not at the Tower, not at her own apartment, but at our place. The thought still felt novel, precious in its unfamiliarity.

Not counting Menace, who had technically lived with me, but in his own wing of the penthouse, I’d never shared my space with anyone this way before. Never wanted to. But now I found myself hurrying through tasks that would normally consume my full attention, eager to return to a place made infinitely more valuable by her presence.

Annie would be there, probably curled up on the couch with a book, or sorting through case files, or simply waiting for me. The specifics didn’t matter, just the certainty that when I opened the door, I wouldn’t be walking into an empty space anymore.

THE STORY WILL CONTINUE IN BOOK THREE:

VILLAINOUS REIGN