Page 60 of Gilded Kisses

Metal cracks against the side of my head and I fall forward, clutching at what has to be a nasty gash.

I’m pulled back to my knees and when I check my hand, and sure enough, there’s blood.

“That will not pull me to your bosom,Dad,” I draw out and hope this little exchange gives my men time to get to me. I might be ballsy, but even I know me on my knees with a gun to my head is a solid sign the odds are not in my favor.

I guess last night was the Universe giving me one shot at happiness knowing what was coming down the chamber for me.

I can give in or fight.

I know what I should do, but rules were meant for others. I lower my head and rear back fast, catching his chin with the back of my head.

Bone cracks and my father lands hard on his ass in the growing water levels around us. A nearby stream must be flooding. Great.

“It’s time to play, Aster.”

I turn to see fucking Joseph Romanov barrel through the willow branches. His shirt is ripped and the blood dripping from a gash over his eye and a few slashes across his chest tell me he ran into my men and narrowly escaped with his life.

Three hundred pounds of Russian slam me into the ground. Fingers as thick as damn saplings wind around my throat and I can’t breathe. Not even a little.

I gasp, kick, flail like a madwoman, but nothing I do dislodges Joseph. And if I can’t get him off me, that means the rising water under me will become a problem. It’s already at ear level. At that point, it’s a matter of what will kill me first.

Since I don’t relish becoming gator food, I stab my fingers into a bleeding wound on the Russian’s chest.

He roars and jerks back. It’s enough for me to dislodge his weight and roll out from under him.

Fear so strong it holds the power to knock the rest of the air from my lungs clenches around my ribs. I push to my feet and find myfather’s loaded gun pointed at my forehead. I drop to my knees and his gun stays trained on me.

I clutch my chest. What the hell is happening?

Viper comes into sight.

It is notmyfear I am feeling, I realize, when our eyes briefly lock.

Everyone is so focused on Viper that no one sees Mirsha and Luther attack from the sides.

I see the muzzle flashes from my peripheral before I hear the bullets leave their chambers.

And then just as quickly as my nightmare began, it ends.

More bullets and revving motors and the rest of my father’s men run or die where they stand. I know Mirsha will see to it they all pay at some point.

Without the light from the car’s headlights, I can’t see the blood in the water pooling around my feet, but I can feel the warmth.

My back turns to solid iron as I fight to keep upright. I almost died. They almost died protecting me.

“Oh, God. What just happened?”

Tears mix with rainwater, and I am being pulled into arms. I don’t know whose arms at first, but I sense they don’t mean me harm.

“I am so sorry, Aster. God, forgive us. It took us far too long to get to you.”

Viper’s hold is so tight and warm and crushing and perfect. When he loosens his tight hold around me, I climb up him and wrap my legs around his waist. I anchor my arms around his neck and we just stand there in the rain.

The protective wall from the other two surrounds me, and I am safe again.

“You found me,” I murmur against his neck to all of them. “That is all that matters.”

“We found you. We always will. Wherever you walk on this earth, we will find you.”

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