Page 30 of Wicked King

A muffled gasp sends my heart dropping back into my chest and kicking at my ribs as fury pounds through my darkest depths. No one touches my future wife and lives to see the next sunrise. “Jia!” Her name pops out before I can stop it.

“Ma—”

Another shuffle and then a curse, a male voice this time. “You bitch!” The groan reaches my ears and rage thunders through my veins, drowning out the symphony of my ragged breaths and thrashing pulse. An unnamable, overpowering feeling roars through my body, piercing my soul.

I dart around the brick wall, a growl exploding through my clenched teeth at the sight.

A Four Seas asshole with a knife pressed to my fiancée’s throat.

CHAPTER 15

A SLOW DEATH

Jia

“Let go of her.” Marco’s feral growl tears through the apartment like a thunderclap, shattering the tense silence and reminding me of the feral beast that lingers just below the surface. Perhaps I pushed my luck with him a little too far today.

And look where it got me…

I hazard a quick glance at Yéye unconscious on the bed, a dribble of blood streaking down his temple. The moment that bastard struck my grandfather, all worry for myself vanished. I’d been awful to him. If something happened to him before I had the chance to apologize… I swallow hard, my throat bobbing against the blade. No. I can’t think that way. Yéye is the only family I have left. Shoving down the dismal thoughts, I tell myself my grandfather has survived much worse than this.

From the corner of my eye, I glare at the coward hiding in a hood and pressing a knife to my throat. If you’re going to attack the new laodà at least have the balls to show your face. “Do it, I dare you,” I snarl.

“No!” Marco’s beastly roar vibrates my very being. “If you shed a single ounce of her blood, I’ll exsanguinate you drop by drop, until you’re writhing in excruciating pain, the mere husk of the piece of garbage you once were.”

A tremor of fear ripples through the man holding me against his chest. A part of me wonders if its Lei, but it’s doubtful. He’d never risk being caught. He would simply send one of his devout followers. Another chicken shit.

I already managed to knee the coward in the balls before he had a chance to draw his weapon, but now he holds me in a more precarious position. So I release a string of Mandarin curses that would have my mother blushing with shame.

Marco’s dark gaze lances into mine, the storm of emotions playing across those jarring eyes stealing the remaining air from my lungs. If I didn’t know better, I would think he actually cared.

But that’s just silly. All I am to him is a pawn in this game played by powerful, lethal men.

He stalks closer, and my captor’s arm tightens around my waist. “No closer,” he hisses.

The voice sounds vaguely familiar, one that I’ve heard, possibly even today, but I can’t quite place it.

“This is what we’re going to do, pezzo di merda,” Marco snarls, his gun trained at my assailant’s head. “You’re going to release her when I count to five, and I’ll reward you with a quick death. Drag this out, and I swear to you, you’ll be begging for a bullet to the skull.”

“I can’t do that.”

“You scared of your boss? You think Lei is scary? You haven’t seen shit, bastardo. I’ll tear you apart limb by limb, then I’ll use your bones to beat the life out of every member of your family until I exterminate your entire bloodline.”

A faint gasp parts my lips at the violence in his tone, and the thrill that those words incite low in my belly.

Marco creeps closer, those eyes like lasers penetrating the shield I’ve fought so hard to mold and strengthen. I don’t know how it’s possible, but his gaze seems to be locked on both me and the bastard holding me captive at the same time. “Did Lei threaten you, force you into this?” he growls.

The soon-to-be dead man shakes his head.

“Then who?”

The male’s lips press into a tight line.

“This is your last chance.” Marco’s hand tightens around the gun, knuckles white from restraint. “I’ve been more than patient considering you’re holding my future wife captive, and I’m about a second from losing my shit.”

Wife. Wife. Wife.

That single word pulses, a maddening tempo ricocheting across my skull.

---