Page 41 of The Beast

This place remembered the lie. Remembered the artist who’d painted a piece like Caged. Who’d actually picked out flooring. Who’d argued about lighting angles. Who’d spent hours debating which pieces should go where.

He wanted to hate her for showing him that other self. For making him believe he could be gentle. Different.

Kind.

So, yes. He wanted to hate her.

But goddamn him all to hell—he couldn’t.

Because when he’d kissed her today—when he’d fisted his hand in her hair and crushed his mouth against hers—she’d kissed him back. Had pulled him closer instead of pushing away. Had made that sound in her throat, that soft, desperate moan that used to undo him.

And for one moment, one single, devastating moment, he’d forgotten why she was vile. Why she was the enemy.

Why he’d sought her out with vengeance on his mind.

That’s the reason he’d come to the gallery tonight. Not to remind himself of the vengeance he’d meant to wield. Not to stoke the flames of revenge.

No, he’d made this pilgrimage because he was losing the certainty that had kept him alive. Because now, when he looked at her, he no longer saw the monster. Now—again—he saw the woman.

And damn him all to hell—he still fucking loved her.

But he’d spent years becoming something cold and hard and merciless. The kind of man his father admired.

The man she’d once loved didn’t exist anymore, and maybe that was a good thing because that man had let down his guard and almost died from that mistake.

But this man—the Beast, the weapon, the thing his father had always meant him to be— this man had survived.

He needed to remember that.

At the door, Gabriel paused, then looked around. He should burn this place down. Should destroy every piece of evidence that he’d ever tried to be something other than what he was.

He wouldn’t, though.

Because even now, even after everything, some small and stubborn part of him couldn’t let go.

So instead, he locked the door behind him and walked away. Tomorrow would be different. Tomorrow, the hatred would come back. Tomorrow, he’d remember why she deserved to suffer.

But tonight…

Tonight, he let himself miss her.

Just for a moment.

Just until the sun came up and he had to be the beast again.