That didn’t make sense, I hadn’t interacted with him but I knew him by association. This wasn’t that man.
“Eyes, kitten,” he ordered, stating otherwise. She opened them, looking at me. “On me,” he grunted. She obeyed. “Come to me.” Slowly, she stood, her eyes sliding back to me. “Come the fuck to me now, kitten,” he demanded.
Rage roiling through me, I clenched my fists, willing her to go to prevent any harm to her.
She hesitated, looking at him and then at me. “Xa—”
“I will fucking shoot him, kitten, if you don’t get your arse here now.”
“Don’t,” she gasped.
“It’s okay, love. Go to him.”
“Love?” Kabir snarled. “She’s mine, arsehole. Mine. Do you hear me?” Another gunshot went off.
Mikaela jumped, and a groan behind me had me looking over my shoulder. Ramone was on the floor clutching his shoulder with Wilkes grinding his molars, his body posed to fly if the opportunity arose.
Inhaling deeply, I reached for calm. “Yes, she’s yours.” I looked at Kabir. “Just don’t hurt her.”
He roared with laughter. “You don’t know her like I do, Xavier fucking Sinclair. My kitten loves pain. Don’t you, kitten.” He shifted his gaze to her.
“Yes, Master,” she whimpered.
My blood turned icy. What the fuck would it take to break that hold he had on her. Then she lifted tear-glazed eyes to me, and I knew. “No, Kabir,” I growled, taking a step toward her. “She’s not yours. She never was. She’s a queen. Worthy of worship and devotion, not fucking ownership.” Then to her. “Remember what I said, Ella. A woman is only as strong as the weakness she allows to consume her.” I’d said it to her just before Andrew showed up. “You’re strong, love, own it.”
Her lips slid into a smile. That angered Kabir. “She fucking smiles?” he grumbled, then shunted his annoyance my way. “What the fuck did you do to her, Xavier? Come to me, kitten.”
“No,” she retaliated, her voice lacking anger yet no doubt powerful.
No one could’ve predicted the next few minutes. It all happened in the space of a breath.
A gun went off behind me, the shot catching Kabir in the shoulder, forcing the weapon in that hand to fall. His other gun, directed at Wilkes, shifted to me and fired. Something slammed into me, taking me down hard. My back hit the floor, my breath whooshed in a sharp exhale, and my eyes closed on impact. I heard Wilkes shout, his feet pounding past me. It took a moment for me to realize that only my lower back hurt where it connected with the ground, and the heavy weight on my chest wasn’t that of the piercing agony from a gunshot.
I opened my eyes, and immediately Ramone’s face came into view. He was lifting Mikaela off me. I sat up, the crimson stain on her white dress the first thing I noticed, the raspy breathing next.
“No!” I yelled, vaulting onto my knees and leaning over her. “God, no. Please. Ella,” I rambled on, unfocused. “Why her? How?”
“She jumped in front of the bullet,” someone said.
My heart in my throat, I didn’t pay attention. “No,” I kept repeating, checking her pulse. It was weak. “Fuck, fuck fuck! Call a—”
“Done, sir. They’re on the way.” It took a hazy moment to concentrate on Ramone kneeling next to me, his jacket in his hands, pressed over her wound.
“Don’t you dare let go,” I ordered.
“I won’t, sir.”
“Ella,” I whispered, leaning over her again. “Can you hear me? Please, don’t leave me. Breathe.” Slowly, her eyes opened, her smile weak, she lifted a hand to my chest. “Why?” I scolded softly, covering her hand on my chest and palming her face with the other.
“You also said a queen only allows her weakness to consume her when she puts her people before her, protecting them with everything she has,” she completed my earlier statement.
“You took a bullet meant for me.” I shook my head, my voice hoarse, my eyes glazed.
“A lioness,” she coughed out a laugh. “And I’ll do it again,” she rasped before her eyes closed, the wail of sirens drowning the air.
♥♥♥♥♥♥
TWO HOURS LATER, Ilowered my tired body to the sofa beside her hospital bed. Torn between anger and concern, I dropped my head into my hands, closed my eyes, and prayed for her to wake and lavish me with one of her rare smiles. “We shouldn’t have been there. I should’ve never taken her out, knowing that bastard is still in the wind.”
