An all-consuming emotion, the likes of which I’ve never felt before, runs through my veins. Mikhail belongs tome.
He will always belong to me, and I plan on owning his ass for the rest of my goddamn life!
How dare he touch what’s mine?
I clamber to my feet, stumbling over the body of the man whose life I just ended at the click of a trigger, before storming across the room. I dodge bodies and bullets, stalking through the rubble with divine motivation. I can see the exact moment Mikhail sees me coming, his angry gaze turning to vibrant panic and fear.
But Cassio doesn’t even notice, continuing his assault on my fucking property.
Hurting the man I love.
The sound of the firing pin striking the cartridge is lost in the mayhem of the room.
Before he can even land one more hit, my shot goes off, the bullet finding its home in Cassio’s back. All I feel is cruel satisfaction as I watch the mountain of a man pour into a crimson puddle on the ground, gasping for the very breath he wished to steal from us.
Vengefulness takes over my actions, and I lean forward, cocking the gun once more.
“You will never hurt him ever again,” I ground out in a rusty, unrecognizable voice, indenting the barrel in the back of his sweaty head.
The kickback sends me flying backward, coating me with a gruesome combination of blood and brain matter as I collapse to the ground.
Mikhail
Cassio’s brows contort in deep confusion, and I see the final expression he’ll ever make morph into pungent fear as the woman I love digs the barrel of her gun into the back of his skull.
“You will never hurt him ever again,” she rasps, just as she makes good on her promise, pressing the trigger with a definitive click.
The bang of the weapon sounds off into the quiet room.
Just like that, my blood-sworn enemy, the man who has caused my entire Bratva a decade of pain and grief, falls to the floor in a non-functioning pile of flesh and blood.
I barely even notice.
Because all of my attention is focused on the sight of my Menace, coated in blood and flying back through the air, a warrior’s expression engraved on her face.
I’m crawling through the blood before she even hits the ground, clambering after her like a man praying on his knees. Once I reach her, I throw my body over hers, shielding her from the final bullets firing through the air.
A shadow emerges in my periphery, nearing the thundering chaos. My fingers wrap around the weapon clutched in Cass’s fingers, pulling it into my raising grip.
Two efficient shots unload from the gun, the kickback absorbing into my tensed bicep. Athudhits the ground, the scent of gunpowder seeping into the air. I scan the area for any additional threats before checking on Cass.
Sweet fingers grip the strands of my hair, urging me lower.
Her forehead presses to mine in the softest caress, and the cool, grimy cement digs into my braced elbows. Her breaths absorb into mine, tickling my cheeks. Rogue droplets composed of sweat and blood drip from the stinging wounds on my face down to her cheeks.
Another shot sounds off, and her eyelashes flutter open. We don’t say a word as we stay in that clenched embrace, grasping onto each other with tight grips and clawed nails, just to remind ourselves we’re still here.
An eerie silence settles over the humid air, confirming my team has finished dealing with the threats, and I take the opportunity to collapse, burying my face into her soft, brown curls. The copper sting of blood dominates the oxygen in the room, but I can still smell the sweet, singular scent of Cassandra, so uniquely woven into each strand. When her arms reach to circle my neck, I bend back up, using my thumb to brush splatters of blood from her pale cheek.
Pure joy overcomes me.
“When are you going to get tired of saving my sorry ass, Little Menace?”
Her torn lips crinkle in the sweetest smile, so at odds with the blood decorating her features.
“When are you gonna stop getting yourself into all this trouble?” she jokes softly, raising her finger to brush my hair from my brow in a gentle stroke.
I can hardly stop myself from diving into those lips like a man dying of thirst. I kiss her hard, tasting blood and dirt and her, only pulling back when we’re both choking on inhales, struggling to breathe.
