Page 117 of Royal Desire

He bellows, but I don’t let go and feel warm, sticky blood right before he wrenches my arm in the most unnatural way.

It cracks.

I cry out in agony.

He grips his face and climbs to his feet. I pull my arm to my chest and sob.

A shoe comes into contact with my ribcage.

“Bitch. Bitch. Fucking, bitch,” he chants with each kick.

I roll onto my side and draw my legs up when he stops. Silent tears wrack my body. When I pry my eyes open, he’s pulling a gun from his waistband.

He’s bleeding from one eye and glares at me with the other. “This is what you get for fucking with a Caruso.”

“I love you, Payne,” I whisper aloud when Enzo points the gun at me.

I scream when a shot rings out and echoes off the mountains. The sound penetrates my ears.

I freeze and stare up at Enzo.

His eyes widen and his tense frame relaxes. His head lists to the side before his body follows suit.

I gasp when he falls to the ground next to me.

That’s when I hear footsteps. Lots of them. So many shoes hit the gravel like they’re in a race. Voices fill the darkness—more than I can count. Some I recognize and some I don’t. But every single one is an answered prayer.

“There she is!”

“Is she okay?”

“Knock that gun away from him!”

“We’re going to have to get her down the mountain. There’s no way I can get an ambulance up here.”

That’s when I see him.

Payne falls to his knees on the rocky ground beside me. His touch is gentle, and his voice is laced with a different kind of hurt than I’m experiencing. “Baby, thank God. I thought I lost you. I wouldn’t have survived it.”

I reach up with my good hand as I sob. “He was going to kill me. I was so scared.”

He shakes his head and leans down to press his lips to mine. “Never. I’ll never let anyone hurt you again. Let me get you to the hospital.”

As Payne cradles me to his chest, I close my eyes, press my face into his neck, and breathe him in.

Tears stream down my cheeks, but these are different. These are full of relief and love. I want nothing but him for the rest of my life.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

AFTERTHOUGHT

Payne

The first ray of sunlight peeks through the crack between the curtains. Once we got home from the hospital, we went to bed, but there was no way I could sleep. She tossed and turned enough, so when she finally settled, I crawled out of bed so I wouldn’t wake her.

But I couldn’t leave. I’ve been sitting here staring at her for the last two hours.

I think it’s safe to say, Ruby and I have given the town plenty to talk about. My mom checking into rehab is nothing compared to me killing my father and the son of a New York mob boss almost killing the love of my life.