His attention snaps back to my face. The man frowns, and I inwardly groan.
“Well, what’s this? The infamous Lana Anderson?” He drags his chubby finger up my arm. “Beautiful. I can see why the devil himself married you.”
“I-I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure.” Acid rushes up my esophagus.
“Shkelzen Berisha.” His grin turns obscene. “You’ve met my cousin, Agron. He said you looked fetching wearing only a man’s dress shirt.”
The bastard shackles my wrist in his grip.
Fury sparks at the base of my spine, licking up. Memories flash—being dragged by the hair into a room and finding out I’m to be married.
“Let go of me.” My voice is steel now.
No more nice princess.
“Or what?” he mocks, thumb circling my pulse. “You’ll scream? Run to Daddy?”
Shkelzen steps up, his whiskey breath assaulting my senses. I grit my teeth.
“Oh right,” he murmurs. “You can’t. You want to protect them.”
I grab his meaty wrist with my free hand and dig in my nails.
He winces, his face mottling.
“You need me as much as I need you.” I twist his wrist sharply toward the thumb joint. “Let go of me. Or you’ll regret it.”
“You bitch!” He raises his hand and—
Click.
“Drop her hand, or you won’t have one.”
A lethal whisper. Vetiver. Smoke. The lighter.
Elias.
Relief crashes through me. I snap my gaze to the man ascending the staircase, stepping into view.
Elias is a vision of wrath and power—dark hair, all-black suit aside from a flash of green—his handkerchief. His eyes glitter with unholy intentions and his jaw is tight.
He flicks open his lighter. A flame appears. The flash of light clashes against the severe scar carving up his face.
“Now,” he commands.
He snaps the lighter shut.
Shkelzen drops me and staggers back. Sweat beads on his forehead.
“The frigid bitch, you can have—”
Elias arches his brow, unhurried. In a split second, he unholsters his gun and points it at the man’s face.
“You sure you want to finish that sentence?” he rasps. He cocks his weapon.
There’s a lethal calmness to him, the violence promised in his words sparking a fire between my legs, licking, swirling up my body.
Madness. This is madness.
