Page 104 of The Sinner's Bargain

The trio turned.

Two of them, Gustave and Aleric immediately lost their smiles, I noted. The third — Ishaan — only seemed more amused by my appearance.

“Hey, that was some really great work last night, sir.” He cackled and glanced at his friends who dropped their gazes and took a step back.

My temper was quick and violent. I had to remind myself that a lot had happened the night before I couldn’t assume anything without further information.

“Explain.”

Ishaan smirked as if we were sharing a joke. His dark eyes jumped to the figure coming up over my shoulder but returned to me.

“Great thing about a house this big and old, sound carries.”

It was a small relief that I hadn’t misunderstood. I would have almost felt bad for killing him.

“I see.”

I didn’t pull my gun. The sound would only scare Blue. I solved this problem the old-fashioned way.

I broke his fucking nose.

I shattered the cartilage and rained a fountain of crimson victory down his vest. His howl of pain and surprise was swallowed by the second fist of rage slamming into his jaw. He flew sideways and crashed in a bloody heap across the marble.

But I wasn’t done.

I was on him before he could even think of making another sound. I pummeled ten fingers of vengeance into his face until it was unrecognizable. Until he was a bloody pulp. An unmoving husk. Only then did I release him.

My knuckles were raw. The skin shredded. The fingers running red with a combination of my blood and the idiot at my feet. My shirt sleeves were ruined to the elbows. The whole shirt was for the trash as I straightened and stood back to face the trio in the foyer watching me.

“Did anyone else hear something last night?” I wiped the back of my hand across the speckles of blood on my cheek.

Aleric and Gustave shook their heads almost in unison.

I blew out a breath and reached for the buttons on my top. “Good because if I hear anyone discussing the private matters of my bedchambers again, I will make sure the example I set goes down in history. Is that understood?” I didn’t wait for confirmation. “You have twenty minutes to clean this up.” I turned to Cyrus. “Can you grab me a new shirt? I’ll be in my office.”

The things people said about me never mattered to me. Idle gossip and mindless whispers behind my back only served to fuel the rumors and kept people out of my business. But I would not allow anyone to shame Blue. To humiliate her. This was her fucking home. Everyone else was dispensable and I would happily fill the swamps with every last one of them before I let anyone make her feel less, especially for this.

“Did you have to kill him?” Cyrus appeared at my side like some phantom apparition with a fresh shirt in hand. The man moved like the wind.

“Yes.” I ducked into the closest powder room and slapped the faucet on. I could feel Cyrus standing just behind me, his annoyance pressing into my back as I scrubbed the blood from my fingers. “Blue isn’t ever to be a topic of any conversation that I haven’t personally authorized.”

I snatched up a wad of toilet paper and cleaned my face and neck before dragging my shirt off and taking the one Cyrus held out.

“I suppose while we’re on the topic of Miss Smith,” he folded his arms and glowered. I didn’t fail to notice he stood conveniently between me and the door. “Care to explain what you were thinking last night?”

I met his gaze squarely as I did up the row of buttons. “What do you mean?”

“You lunged off the side of a cliff. You’re both lucky you didn’t hit the goddamn rocks, Thoran. You didn’t even stop to consider the risks—”

“Nor will I ever if she’s in danger, Cyrus. I wasn’t going to wait and plan when she needed me.”

The other man shook his head slowly. “My job is to protect you. That means even from yourself—”

“That’s not going to work for me anymore, Cy. Her life means more than mine. That’s why I’m putting you in charge of her safety when we go out. You will put her safety first—”

“Thoran,” he began, the warning clear in his voice. “You can’t—”

“Even before mine,” I finished. “She is your charge now.”

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