Page 11 of Ruined By a Devil

“Doesn’t make my point any less true,” I say, watching him struggle to take his shirt off. Now that the adrenaline is washing off, he can barely lift his arm enough to unbutton it. I let him struggle trying to unbutton it with just one hand, and then I push his hand down. “Let me.”

The warmth of his skin hits me immediately but I try not to care about admiring how good looking he is or how great of a physique he has. I unbutton it, barely even looking at him, and then gently roll it over his shoulders.

“Are you trying to make it worse on purpose?” He growls when the shirt slides over the wound.

“Yes,” I say, coldly, even though it’s not true.

“You need to understand that Nolan now sees you as part Kavanagh, as someone who’s on our side, and that makes you his enemy.”

He sounds incredibly put together for someone who has lost this much blood and it takes a minute longer than I’d like to admit to get my thoughts in order once his exposed torso is on full display. The thing that surprises me the most is the number of minimal tattoos he has hidden beneath his clothes.

“You’re staring.” His voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I look down at the first aid kit, hoping he doesn’t notice the sudden heat flushing my face. I swallow, a part of me wanting to kick myself suddenly for reacting to him.

I can’t really tell him it’s not only him that is distracting me but that it’s the first time I’m seeing a naked man. Sure, I stitched a wound or two on my cousins, but they didn’t require anyone to take their clothes off. And even if it had, they were my own cousins.

“I don’t really care about the beef between your family and his,” I continue, trying to sound as put together as I possibly can as I pour a decent amount of alcohol on the wound and start cleaning it. “I just don’t want my family to be in the middle of it.”

“You don’t know Nolan.” He doesn’t even flinch, his face remaining calm even as I continue rubbing the open wound. “The moment your father got involved with him, you were already in danger.”

I don’t know why, but I believe him. Ever since I first met Nolan, I knew he wasn’t good news. In fact, I hate the fucking guy. Every time he put his disgusting hands on my back, I wished for nothing more than to cut it off myself. Not that I would, but I had fantasized about it.

“Still,” I carefully drop my gaze to the coffee table. “Our deal is off.”

“Just like that?” He flinches when the needle pokes through his skin.

I continue to stitch the wound more carefully.

“Yes,” I say. “You hid your identity from me and used me in your little war against Nolan. That’s more than enough for the deal to be off.”

“I’m still a better option for you than he is. And if you marry me, you get a white marriage… Until you decide otherwise.”

I lift up my head, this time meeting his eyes and regretting it immediately when my chest tightens and a sudden rush of heat pools between my legs.

What is it about this man?

“I was not planning on marrying Nolan either,” I say, hoping to sound indifferent.

“Your father won’t allow you not to, and you know that.”

I do. “Papà can’t control me or what I do, I’ll just flee the country if it comes to that.”

“He’d find you,” Malachi insists, and I know he’s right. Papà wouldn’t stop until he finds me, he’d turn every rock if necessary, and he’d get to me. “My offer is your only escape. We’ll have separate rooms and we won’t act like a couple in private.”

“And why should I believe anything you’re saying?” I stop stitching his wound for a brief moment to look up at him again. His face looks serious. “You already lied to me once, you could easily be lying now as well.”

“I wasn’t lying before,” He responds. “I was just pacing the amount of information I shared with you.”

“Right.”

“Besides, I’m dying to make this deal.”

“Is that so?” I ask, sarcastically. “Because annoying Nolan doesn’t bring you any kind of pleasure?”

He smiles before adding. “Because living together creates a shitload of problems for me,” Malachi looks past my shoulder.

“You’re a crude,” I say, focusing on packing the first aid supplies back in their bag.

“I guess that’s an upgrade from crazy,” he says.