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And my heart stops dead.
Oh god, no. No, no, no! Why is he here?
Has Vinny brought me back to watch another execution?
The thought wrenches my gut so forcefully, I think I’m going to throw up.
Because standing there, next to the now-bodiless red stain on Keoghan’s carpet, is Gleb.
In the company of the Irish boss himself, my dark knight has several guns trained on him.
Icy fear grips me as I relive the horror of Mr. Kelly putting a bullet between a man’s eyes. And my breaths come hard and fast as I picture the man I love suffering the same fate.
But Gleb, as always, looks perfectly at ease. Like this is just another Wednesday.
His eyes skim casually toward me. And he slowly takes me in.
Starting at my feet, his gaze lingers on each inch of my wedding dress.
And they don’t stop until they reach the top of my veiled head.
His expression remains calm, like the glassy surface of a still lake, but I can see the agony in his eyes. Then, a moment later, it’s replaced with sharp, unbridled fury.
31
GLEB
“Gleb,” Mel gasps. And the sound of her voice cuts deep enough to strike my soul.
It’s so soft, I could almost miss it, and yet it echoes through my body like an earthquake, rocking me to my very core. My body aches to go to her, to remove the space between us, but I can’t. Not if I want to keep my head. And right now, it’s working at full capacity to get Mel out of this situation.
Still, the sight of her opens an artery in my chest. And I feel like I could simply bleed out on the floor of Keoghan’s office. Just another stain on his carpet.
Because Mel’s positively breathtaking.
Filling out an elegant and intricately fashioned wedding dress, she wears it like it was made for her. I’ve never seen a more stunning bride.
And with crushing agony, it reminds me of our own wedding day. How rushed it was that she didn’t have time to find a proper wedding dress. Even so, she made the most beautiful bride I’d ever seen. Until now.
But this?
She looks like some kind of princess from a fairy tale. Her onyx eyes wide, her full lips slightly parted in surprise. Her breasts rise and fall dramatically over the low neckline as she breathes heavily.
Intense and conflicting emotions flood my veins. Envy at the thought of another man trying to marry her. Agony at the fact that Mel is here—apparently willing to go through with the arrangement. Fury that she lied to me. Again.
I’m sure she has her reasons, most likely to protect Gabby. Maybe even me.
But after all the times she’s said one thing and meant another, I can’t be confident in the truth. Doubt consumes my mind about where we really stand.
How much of her letter was true, and how much was a lie?
I don’t know that I can ever be sure.
But one thing is certain. I can’t let her marry Vinny.
Not when our marriage is legally binding.
God, if Keoghan had found out after they’d finished the ceremony, he undoubtedly would have killed her. My pulse hammers an erratic beat at the thought, my scalp prickling with a rare and intense sense of fear. I might be comfortable putting my own life at risk. But Mel’s? Her safety? The thought of her in danger fills me with frigid dread.
