Page 64 of Promised Vows

“Stop! I will kill him.” Michael pressed down harder on Jason’s throat.

I froze.

He looked from me to Anna to Cora and smiled. His gaze dropped to Jason. “The things I’m going to do to your sweet little secretary. Once my men break her, maybe I’ll let Marco have a go at her. Although, she might be too old for him.”

“Repulsive little man.” Anna’s lips curled as she raked her gaze from his head to his toes and back up. “Mom left because of your sick stench of desperation to be important. Something you’ve been chasing and have always been too slow to catch.”

Michael’s lips twisted. He brought his foot up and I tackled him. We tumbled onto the floor, trading blows, and crashed into the front of the desk. He rolled on top of me and caught me twice on the side of the head before I caught his head between my legs. He twisted out of the grip, and then we were on our feet, facing off.

He slid his hand into his suitcoat, going for the gun tucked in the holster that pressed into me as we fought. In one swift move, I knocked the gun free of his hand and locked my arms around his head. The gun hit the carpet a few feet away.

His elbow connected with my side as he threw his head back, aiming for my face. I moved in time to dodge it. That was enough for him to twist loose and dive for the gun. I lunged forward and grabbed his leg, yanking him backward.

We rolled sideways, trading punches again until we made it to our feet. As he made a move to swing, I heard the gun safety click off. We both froze.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

ANNA

Cora was one of my new favorite people. She’d untied me, and I’d practically clawed my way to the gun.

“Stop, Papa,” I said, holding it with both hands and pointing it at his heart. “I don’t want to shoot you, but I will.”

I didn’t, but my father would kill all of us if he got his hands on it. I knew that.

My father whipped around, his chest heaving in and out. “Darling?—”

“Don’t ‘darling’ me.” The term was laughable. Darling. As if he actually cared. “You were going to make me marry a pedophile.”

He licked his lips. “Anna…”

I shook my head. “Don’t. Just, don’t.”

If Ari hadn’t stopped him, he would have killed Jason. Crushed his windpipe when Jason couldn’t even fight back. That’s when I’d decided the best way was to make him angry.

Again, Ari came to my rescue.

Tears pooled in my eyes and overflowed. “I waited for you to return. I’d missed you so much, but you’ve never loved me. Never.”

Ari took a step towards me, hands up. “Sweetheart, how about you let me have the gun? Okay?”

I couldn’t take my eyes off Papa. “I trusted you.”

“Anna,” Ari said, his voice calm and even. “Let me have the gun.”

My father shifted on his feet. Before I knew what was happening, he was charging for the gun.

“No!” Ari’s voice boomed.

He latched his hand onto it, and we spun around and around as we fought for control. It felt like forever, but it was probably closer to seconds. I was sure I was going to die as we wrestled. There was a loud pop and my father froze before he stumbled backwards, pressing his hand against the left side of his torso around his rib cage. Blood poured through his fingers like water emerging from a dam, and he dropped to the floor.

Ari took the gun from me. “Anna.” He grabbed me by the arms. “Anna!”

Forcing my gaze away from Papa, I looked at Ari. “I didn’t have my finger on the trigger. He’d wrestled it from me.”

I pulled free of Ari and kneeled next to my father. As I looked at him, there was no remorse or sadness. He would have killed Jason. He would have killed me and Ari. Not to mention, the unspeakable things he’d said about Cora.

“Goodbye, Papa,” I said and stood.

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