AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She flies. The edge of her elbow connects with my jaw. I take the hit. It’s that or I let her get hurt. I do what I can to keep us both from getting killed and take the brunt force of her weight into my chest. I tuck her close and gravity does the rest.
It’s not the fall that hurts. It’s the fucking edge of the hallway table to the ribs that has the wind leaving my lungs. Glass cracks. Vases fall. Pink and orange lilies lay crushed all around us. Tiny little things my decorator put in all the flower vases scatter everywhere. And the insane amount of water my fire system is releasing nearly drowns us both.
I crash into the carpet but Lili is the one sputtering in the indoor waterfall of her own creation.
She wiggles against me, and I lock my arms in place. “Stop fighting me, Lili. You have no chance of winning here.”
She turns in my arms until she is facing me. Black mascara runs down her soft cheeks and I know she’s crying. She always does when she’s mad.
“I trusted you, you rat bastard. Let me go! I refuse to play your games. This ends today!”
I force us both to our feet. I keep my hand on her arm and level a hard look on her. Men have fallen to their knees under my punishing gaze. She just grows madder and shoots daggers into me. Given the chance, she’ll make good on her last promise to me so I stay between her and the jagged pieces of glass on the floor.
Her eyes drop to the guns in their holsters under either arm. They are both fully loaded and given her current state, the woman in front of me could do a lot of bodily damage.
I tip her chin up and grab her eyes off my weapons.
“Don’t make this any worse. Give me time and I’ll fix this. You need to trust me.” I have no right to demand that of her, but what the hell.
“You had your chance!” She gets a wrist free and uses her newfound freedom to bury her fist in my face. I take the hit and force myself to remain calm. What I really want to do is fuck her up against the wall, the water be damned.
She jerks her arm away and runs into the living room.
“Lili!” I reach for her, but my footing slips and she gets away.
I can’t stop her, but the gun to her head draws her up short.
“I see you’re already causing chaos, my new bride.”
My vision turns red at the sight of the Accandis in my penthouse looking like a drowned rat “Liam,” I say with disgust.
My mind flashes back to the darker times in my life when I killed men without questioning the full extent of the other man’s crimes.
“What are you doing here?”
For every step I take toward him, the man-child retreats in the opposite direction. The arm anchored around her throat pulls Lili along with him.
“Bastian,” she croaks, a look of fear in her eyes.
“It’s ok, Lili. Stay calm,” I reassure her.
I spy James’ crumpled body by the control panel. Liam must have snuck up on him while he was trying to fix the sprinkler system.
I take another step that puts me close to the mouth of the hallway. “Take the gun from her head or I will see to it you spend your wedding night with your dick shot off.”
“No, no, no. We have a contract signed, Irons. I’m here to take my bride and there’s nothing you can do about it. You want the war to end? Then give me my prize. I’m not good at waiting.”
I picture pulling the gun from my holster and burying a bullet between his eyes. I would before he got a shot off, but I’m not willing to gamble with Lili’s life.
I nod like I’m agreeing to his words. “Have you seen my enforcers by chance?” The change of topic throws Liam off kilter. “I received a message last night about them seeing you pulling off a deal in my territory.” I keep my tone deceptively casual like it’s no big thing.
The scrawny man lifts a shoulder and has the balls to look innocent and then lie in my face. “Don’t know what you are talking about. Besides, isn’t your territory our territory now that I’m taking your blood as a bride?”
He wags the gun at Lili’s head and my heart squeezes. Nothing in life has made me more nervous than seeing a loaded weapon at my step-daughter’s head.
Liam pulls her deeper into my living room and I follow.
“William. I see you’ve come prepared.” Liam’s father is leaning against the chair he sat in last night with a smug smirk on his face. He looks more annoyed by the water than what his son is doing.
