Page 18 of Bride Unwanted

“Fuck,” he mumbles as he rushes to the door.

“Boss! We’re under attack,” someone yells from down the hall.

“Fucking Ricci,” Tony spits, pulling a gun from the back of his pants. “I’ll kill him myself. Stay here with this bitch.”

No! Not Talon. Please don’t let him die.

“Yes, sir,” the man agrees, walking into the room.

Another explosion erupts, followed by rapid gunfire. It sounds like a machine gun of sorts. I can’t think. All I can do is be scared. Scared for me and scared for Talon. Could it really be that Tony was telling the truth? Could Talon be involved with the mob? I don’t have time to think about this now. Not when I’m at the edge of a war zone, or at least that’s what it sounds like from here.

The man who is supposed to watch me stands at the door, looking nervous as hell. He is holding a gun in his hand, pointing it to the ground as he starts to pace the room. He doesn’t look at me, ignoring me like I’m not even here.

As the gunfire grows closer, the man becomes more nervous. His pacing speeds up, and I notice his hands shaking. He is scared, and that frightens me even more. The door is slightly ajar, and the man sporadically takes a peek outside.

“Fuck!” He suddenly says, before backing away from the door. He drops the gun on the floor and lifts his hands up in the air in a defensive manner.

Before I realize what’s happening, the door flies open and three men in tactical gear storm inside.

“I swear I didn’t touch her,” my captor says.

“I don’t care.” Talon’s familiar voice meets my ear before it’s drowned out by the loud bang of his gun.

A scream rips from my throat as I watch a bullet hit the man between the eyes. His body crumbles to the ground like a rag doll, landing on the floor only a few feet from me.

My eyes are wide in fear, glued to the very dead man next to me.

“Callie!” Talon yells, kneeling down beside me on the mattress. He lays his gun beside me, so his hands are free to roam my body as if he is looking for injuries.

“Are you okay, baby? Did they hurt you? I swear to God, if anyone touched you, they will pay dearly. Callie, talk to me,” Talon coos, but I’m too stunned by everything to get a single word out.

All I can do is shake my head. This can’t be real. I just watched Talon kill this man like it was nothing. He doesn’t even care that he just shot a guy. Tony was telling the truth, I realize. My husband is a criminal. I open my mouth, but no sound comes out.

Talon pulls a knife from his boot and cuts the cable ties around my wrists. Pain radiates from my arms all the way through my shoulders as I bring my hands to the front of my body to cover myself up. Talon shrugs off his jacket and drapes it over my shoulders before picking me up and lifting me into his arms.

I don’t want to take comfort in the man who lied to me, the man who is a criminal and a killer, but right now, all I can do is close my eyes and bury my face in his chest to cry.

“It’s all right. I’ve got you now. Everything is going to be okay.” He whispers sweet nothings, but I know better. I know nothing is ever going to be okay.

Talon carries me out of the building and into one of his cars. He holds me in silence all the way back to the house. Normal people would go to the police or maybe even the hospital to get checked out, but my husband simply goes home.

When we get to the house, I let him carry me out of the car and into the house. We go up the stairs to our bedroom, where Talon gently lays me down on the bed.

“I’m so sorry you got mixed up in this. I never wanted you to?—”

“Know the truth?” I finish for him.

He sighs deeply before sitting down on the bed. “I was going to tell you the truth eventually, but I wanted to enjoy our time together for a little bit longer without burning you with all of my shit.”

“You lied to me.” A single tear runs down my cheek.

“I know, and I’m sorry.” His apology seems genuine, but it doesn’t change what he is.

“You are a criminal.”

His lips press into a tight line. “Yes.”

“You kill people.” I shudder.

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