“If it was only me you sinned against,” Liam said calmly, “I might be tempted to grant it. Maim you. Let you live as an example of what happens when you step out of line.”
He grabbed Kevin’s head and forced it up. Then he turned it slightly—toward me.
“But it wasn’t just me you threatened,” Liam continued. “You put my wife in the crosshairs. You put the love of my life in danger.”
With one vicious twist, Liam snapped Kevin’s neck.
There wasn’t time for a final prayer or a goodbye. The light faded instantly from Kevin’s eyes. His body went limp.
I gasped. As the shocked intake of air passed my lips, they turned up in a broad smile. The violence of the underworld didn’t scare me. Maybe it never had, but certainly not now. I didn’t fear the beast. Instead, an overwhelming surge of adoration flooded my chest.
I craved him.
That monster was my husband. Liam deserved to be loved, and I was the soul lucky enough to do it.
Liam rose to his feet, wiping his bloodied hands on his dress pants as he walked to the ropes.
The spell shattered.
I rushed forward and jumped into his arms. He caught me easily, lifting me against his chest.
“I’m bleeding everywhere, cailín,” he grunted.
“Feck it,” I whispered, giving him a teasing grin as I used the word he so often threw around.
He shook his head, smirked, and then his lips crashed into mine. I tasted salt and copper. And somehow, it tasted perfect. A low thrum of heat slithered through my veins, settling in my core.
But there was just one more matter that needed to be tied up first.
Liam won his fight, claimed his throne, and made his mark. It was time I did the same. My hands fisted at my sides. I wanted to make sure these mobsters never questioned my place here again. They would always see me as an outsider and not the wife of their boss.
I couldn’t leave room for doubt.
Chin lifted, refusing to shrink beneath their stares, I tugged out of Liam’s grasp, going to stand in the ring.
“What are you doing?” he murmured.
His gaze flicked over the crowd then back to my face.
“You’re the boss of the underworld,” I said quietly. “And I’m going to make up for something I should have done that night around the fire.”
I smoothed my hands over my jeans and bent my knees. Somewhere in the mad rush to his side, I’d dropped my pendant. But we didn’t need it. The evil eye had no place here. The malocchio couldn’t touch the devil. Before they could warm the ground, Liam’s arms shot out. He gripped my waist and hauled me against him.
His words cracked through the air like a whip. “What do you think you’re doing, Gabriella?”
“Swearing my loyalty to you,” I insisted.
Shocked murmurs rippled through the crowd. A few rough laughs echoed against the high metal ceiling.
Liam’s arm tightened around me as his scarred hand gripped my jaw. His touch was hard against my skin as he tilted my face upward, forcing me to look at him. Our eyes locked.
“They don’t get to see you like that,” he said.
The meaning was clear. They didn’t get to witness my submission. That was for his eyes only.
“Then how can I prove to them I’m not a threat?” I asked quietly. “That I belong here?”
Liam shook his head. “I’ll not make a spectacle of you. If I say you’re my queen, then you are.”
