I didn’t breathe as he squatted beside me.
I didn’t flinch as his hands landed on my shoulders, undoing the yoke and helping me to my feet.
I didn’t make a noise as his fingers untied the rope around my wrists and his touch grabbed a handful of hair as he tore off the hood in one swipe.
I didn’t do anything to make him regret his courageous decision.
He’d saved me knowing he was doomed himself.
Was that redemption? Was it enough to be free of everything he’d done?
I trembled as the black material freed my vision, blinking as my eyes accommodated to light.
Cut didn’t smile or grimace, he just stared.
I wanted some time to take stock of how close I’d been to dying. To look my potential murderer in the face and thank him for sparing me even while hexing him to hell.
But the moment our gazes met, Jethro stormed up the podium and yanked Cut’s hands behind his back.
Bryan didn’t say a word, submitting to his son.
I remained locked in the moment, reading so much into Cut’s eyes but not understanding any of it. Rubbing my throat and the phantom slice through my neck, I nodded. “Thank you.”
Cut shrugged in answer to all the questions I wanted to ask, before allowing his eldest to jerk him down the steps and throw him into my father’s control.
The minute Cut looked away, my attention switched to the space around me.
I gasped.
The pristine ballroom had turned into a warzone. Blood spilled and broken men decorated the pretty floor. Men dressed in black and Black Diamond brothers both moaned and held their multiple wounds.
What the hell happened?
Who were these men?
Flaw came forward with Jasmine at his side. He gave me a tight smile as Jethro gripped my upper arms. “Are you okay?”
I flinched, drinking him in.
Was I in shock? A dream?
I couldn’t make sense of how calmly I accepted that I was about to die and now...wasn’t. I’d been granted a second life...and all I could do was nod in a daze and blink in a stupor.
“Fuck, Nila.” Jethro crushed me to him. My broken arm wailed, but I didn’t care at all. All I cared about was him.
I hugged him back, squeezing as hard as I could. “You’re here.”
“I’m here.”
“You saved me.”
“You saved me first.”
“I love you.”
“I love you more.”
“It’s over.” He pulled back, kissing my lips with the softest flutter.
