“I know what you accidentally overheard,” he said. “It’s not what you think.”
“Stuffing me in a barrel and throwing me into the ocean…did I not hear that right?” I screamed.
Chloe gasped. “Oh my God.”
Tears continued falling. “I hate you.”
Was it my imagination that my husband’s face softened? But his gaze narrowed as Chloe, who had finally become unstuck, was edging toward the corner of the kitchen.
“I suggest you not take another step.” I recognized the ice in Kirill’s warning. He had marked Chloe as a threat.
“I got this,” I told her.
“I don’t think you’ll shoot him,” she replied.
“Chloe. Don’t.”
Chloe made a sudden movement. My gaze swung back to Kirill. He’d already reached for his gun to shoot Chloe.
With an anguished cry, I fired.
Kirill staggered back, and his bullet went wide, shattering the window.
My arm dropped to my side as the enormity of what I’d just done hit me. I started bawling. “Why did you follow me?” I cried.
I shot my husband. He was going to shoot Chloe. The woman he was supposed to marry. He could have just shot me and been free to marry her.
Churning confusion and crippling pain stabbed me in the heart. My gun trembled in my hand, but I stepped in front of Chloe, who was brandishing a shotgun.
“Get out of the way, Lucy,” she cried.
As for Kirill, he must have just felt the area where I hit him. His hand clasped the spot on top of his shoulder, his hand coming away drenched in blood.
He glared at me, eyes glistening with fury. “Wife,” he snarled.
He stalked toward me with his gun lowered. “Happy now?” he gritted.
“I don’t understand.” Why not shoot me?
“You should stop eavesdropping on conversations!”
“You knew?—”
“It’s not hard to connect the dots,” he growled.
“Where did I shoot you?” Because he was garbed in all black, it was hard to see.
But his eyes were narrowed on Chloe. “Tell your new friend to lower her gun.”
“Don’t you know who she is?”
He paused for a second, then his face framed a conclusion. “The missing King heir. Duncan King’s illegitimate daughter.”
“Your promised bride,” I snapped.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
I retreated against Chloe. “So you didn’t know who she was when you attempted to shoot her?”
