Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 66503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66503 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“You didn’t even care if I stabbed her eyes out,” Aurora says, joining the conversation, even though she’s still being held under shot.
“Shut it!” Lex growls at her, pushing the metal into her skin so deeply her pupils dilate.
She must be terrified—and it makes me want to squeeze the life out of the neck I’m clutching. But that would make me the monster he says I am.
“Beast, hurry up!” Luca’s voice rings through the hallways.
“That’s …” Lex’s face turns white as snow. “You brought my son into this?”
“He brought himself into this,” I growl back.
His eyes turn volatile, like an animal completely consumed by rabies. “You think I’ll fucking let you win?!”
He shoots wildly at the door where several of his own guards are fighting with Luca, and he actually manages to kill one of his own guards.
“I’ll fucking kill him myself for defying me!”
Suddenly, the woman in my arms grabs ahold of the gun in my hands and knocks it aside as she steals one of my knives from my pocket and leans to the side … only to chuck the knife straight at Lex’s head.
Aurora shrieks as the knife bores a hole through his temple, blood trickling down his skull before he drops down to the floor, finally releasing her from his grip.
For a moment, everyone in the room stares at Anne, whose crazed eyes are filled with a hatred only a mother could know. “No one touches my son.”
The most hated man in the room, killed by his own damn wife.
Well, that was an unexpected turn.
BANG!
The last guard drops dead in front of the door as Luca approaches. And he stands in the doorway, staring at both me, Aurora, and his own mother with an actual goddamn smirk on his face. “Sorry for being late. But not really.”
Aurora stumbles away from Lex’s body, and I immediately run to her to catch her in my arms.
“Oh my God, oh my God,” she mutters. “I almost died.”
“You’re alive,” I reply, patting down her hair. “You’re safe.”
“Thank you,” she says, her voice breaking up. “Thank you for saving me. I thought you’d …” She can’t even finish her sentence, but I know what she was about to say.
So I grab her shoulders and lower my eyes at her so she knows I’m serious. “I would scorch the entire fucking earth to rescue you.”
Her cheeks flush and I grab her face and kiss her until both of us are out of breath.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry for the things I said,” I say between kissing her madly. “I’m sorry for leaving you all alone. When I came back with supplies, they’d already taken you.”
“I’m sorry too,” she says. “For what my father did, for what happened to your parents, your life, I—”
“Enough,” I murmur. “None of it is your fault.”
Every word is one too many. I know how she truly feels about me and what I feel for her.
The only thing pulling me away from her lips is Anne walking past us.
I watch as she kneels in front of her husband, or ex-husband, and pulls out the knife, then glares at me.
Is she planning something? Because it will only end badly for her if she tries.
She stands up and wipes the knife on her dress, then slowly makes her way toward me. “Let’s end this bloodshed.”
My eyes narrow. “I’m listening.”
“Leave our family in peace, and we will do the same to you and yours,” she says, glancing at Aurora. “I won’t hold anything against you.” Then she looks at me. “You are free.”
It’s the one sentence I always wanted to hear, but I always expected it to come from his mouth, not his wife’s. A fitting fate for a man hell-bent on destroying everything in his path. Even the people he used to love.
“You have my word,” she says, and she holds out the knife to me like it’s some kind of fig leaf.
I take it and slip it back into my pocket. “The word of a De Vos means nothing.”
“I have nothing left to give,” she says, swallowing away her tears. “My husband is already dead, along with each one of his guards. You made sure of that.”
The bitterness is hard to miss.
She takes a deep breath and briefly glances at her son. “But I’m willing to take my stride in defeat. As long as my son lives and thrives.”
My nostrils flare. “Your son is a better man than your husband ever was.”
Her face tightens. “I know.” She licks her lips and looks at Aurora. “I’m sorry. I did not want any of this. But it was impossible to say no to him.”
Aurora’s still hiding in my arms, her body still shivering from the ordeal, but also because of the thin fabrics they made her wear. She nods softly, and Anne smiles gently.