I try to elbow the idiot holding me so I can lunge at the man who destroyed my life twenty years ago, but I'm pinned against the wall by the masked man.
I feel his breath at the base of my neck.
"Control yourself," he murmurs in my ear, and I'm surprised by his tone.
Because it sounds like advice. Not a threat.
His body completely blocks mine, but I feel one of his hands guide my palm to his abdomen, and despite myself, my eyes widen when I feel the handle of a knife.
I look into his eyes and see no shock, no surprise.
Why the hell would he give me access to a weapon?
I don't wait and carefully pull the blade, which I secure somewhere under my shirt, near my hip.
"Let her go." I hear Henry's voice behind me.
"As you wish." The masked man's voice sounds amused. "But be careful, she's got claws."
Henry rubs the cheek I slapped.
"Did you feel any remorse?" I ask.
I need to know if, even for a second, he regretted what he did.
"Obviously. I'm not a monster, Roxy."
But his gaze says otherwise. Because his words have manipulated me from the first second, from the first moment I saw my mother’s body on that kitchen floor.
"But you'd do it again," I tell him quietly.
I know he would. In his head, Mom tried to separate him from hissoulmate. Because in his mind Mom didn't love him and didn't understand him.
"The other women?" I ask.
"I was a man, Roxy. I had needs you couldn't fulfill. I told you I'm not a monster. I wanted to find someone I could talk to about you, but they all reacted like her. They called me a pervert. Crazy. Deranged. I'M NOT CRAZY!"
He's right. He's not crazy. Crazy is too mild a term.
The sound of a car comes from outside, and his eyes instantly dart to the masked man.
Everything happens so fast my mind barely registers it. The masked man runs up the stairs, Henry moves toward me, and the front door is kicked in.
A gun appears in his hand and he aims it at the hallway, where I know who will appear in seconds.
Since his back is to me, I take the blade I got from that masked psychopath and press it to his throat, and Henry's body goes rigid.
Damien, Roman, Stefan, Pavel, and Maksim appear, and despite myself, I smile when my eyes meet my husband’s, which sparkle when they see my position. And I love when his eyes look like that.
"Slonko, what are you doing?" Damien asks.
"I got tired of everyone wanting to fill my husband with bullets," I answer.
Roman grabs Henry from in front of me. Henry fights back, shoving against Roman's chest and snarling something I can't make out, but Roman overpowers him, dragging him away. My body instinctively carries me into Damien's arms, which lift me to wrap my legs around his waist.
"I missed you," I whisper as I kiss his neck, and his hands grip my body even tighter.
"There's no one upstairs," I hear Max's voice shout.
