A sick smile curves Elias’s lips. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
He nods at the O’Callaghans and Ivanovs, who have paused their earlier brawl. “That was appetizer. Dead man’s switch, gentlemen. I have more where that came from. Much more.”
Then he faces Edon. “What type of man would I be if I let someone disrespect my wife? And remember what happened in Sri Lanka.”
Someone coughs. One of the O’Callaghans shakes with laughter.
Edon’s face ashens. He sits down.
“Sit! Continue!” he commands. “Get Shkelzen to a hospital.”
People scurry at his command.
Elias dusts off his tux and offers his arm. “Wife. Shall we?”
Wordlessly, I nod, still clutching my ruined dress. I take his arm as he leads me away.
Whispers buzz, silverware clinks. “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” plays now. Normalcy resumes, and someone laughs.
These monsters.
My legs quake as we enter the main hall. But Elias is sturdy. He holds me up.
“Shhh,” he hushes me again, the back of his hand grazing my skin.
Like he doesn’t want to dirty me with his bloodstained fingers.
“A sewing kit,” he barks at an attendant.
He steers me into a dark room and turns on the light. It’s a sitting room.
The attendant returns and hands him the kit.
The room tilts when I sit down. My heart won’t stop racing. I clutch at my ruined dress like a lifeline.
“Deep breaths,” he murmurs, “it’ll be okay.”
Okay? Nothing about this is okay.
He frowns as he fiddles with the torn fabric. His touch is gentle and reverent.
“I hate that they touched you, myzemër,” he says softly.
His fingers trail down my arm. Flutters awake in my lower belly.
“What does that mean?Zemër?” He’s called me that a few times before.
A small smile curves his lips, but he doesn’t answer. Instead, a seductive warmth fills his gaze.
My heart races for a different reason. Slowly, he lifts my throbbing wrist and presses a gentle kiss on the red marks left by the asshole. The violence dissolves into tenderness. Desire curls between my legs.
What does this make me?
But I can’t find it in me to care anymore.
The seconds drag as Elias stares at the bruise forming on my wrist.
“I will kill him,” Elias growls, starting to rise.
