Alec took a few slow steps away from her, dragging a hand through his hair as if trying to hold himself together. His back was to her when he finally spoke again, his voice low but laced with venomous restraint.
“No,” he muttered. “Never.”
He turned halfway, just enough for her to see the sharp edge of his profile. His jaw was tight, the tendons in his neck strained like a man teetering at the edge of something monstrous.
“If I’d done any of those things I imagined… then there would’ve been no difference between me and some third-class, low-life criminal.” He let out a bitter scoff, shaking his head. “And that’s not who I am. I have a name in this world. I have reputation. I can’t stoop to the level of a tacky villain from some gutter film. But—” his eyes met hers again, cold and pierci
