Page 48 of Bathed in Blood

“Don’t you dare, Lana. Don’t you do that, princess.” Christian begs.

Aurelio jolts forward, jerking a blade from his back pocket, and Vince cries out as it embeds in his thigh. His arm swings in an arc before he levels the gun at Aurelio, spewing a slew of profanity just as his knee gives out, hitting the landing hard.

Christian seethes as his father grunts, working to fight his way up the stairs. “Lana, don’t take a step. I’m warning you.”

I shudder, begging more guards to show up, for anything to stop this, but the seconds pass like hours, and Vince, in all his madness, finally notices the man at his feet.

“Times up!” he screams, firing a shot into Aurelio before turning the gun on my husband.

I’m shoved to the ground, glass prickling my skin as Christian charges him.

“No! I’ll go!” I scream as I grip onto him for dear life, scrambling to my feet, inhaling so deeply, it makes my head light. Soaking in the smell of his aftershave. When he grabs me, locking me into him, I sob, wrenching a hand free the same moment I slam my lips to his, digging my finger into the bullet wound on his shoulder.

Christian bellows, his grip loosening for a second. “Lana, no!”

I scramble over my father-in-law’s body towards Vince, vomit surging up my throat the moment his arms surround me. “God, I missed you.”

“I don’t want to be the breeze,” I whisper. His touch is every bit as effective as the acid I burned him with. Aurelio gurgles at my feet. My pulse thudding in my ears.

“Get your fucking hands off her!” Christian roars as he stumbles, blood gushing from the hole in his shoulder.

My hands go steady as I grip the crystal, sinking back into Vince's arms, letting him tug me to him as he buries his nose in my hair, inhaling. Vince always liked the way I smelled. Next, he’ll nuzzle my neck, the way he always did. I try not to focus on the visceral hurt on Christian’s handsome face as I cant my head back, opening my neck for him. “Call your men off. Please.”

Vince groans, his gun still pointed at Christian as he works a device from his back pocket. “Fall out. Now.”

My grip tightens on the crystal as I jerk it, the band straining on my neck as it pops. Vince makes an odd, strangled sound as his arm tightens around my throat like a vice, and I twist the crystal in my fingers, stabbing backwards, embedding it in his remaining eye.

He cries out but doesn’t drop me like I thought he would. My heart slams into my throat as he brings the gun up awkwardly, trying to point it at me as he sags and stumbles. It goes off once, but I didn’t scream. I can’t. I fight his hold, barely wiggling free as Christian slams into him, sending us all to the ground. Myhusband, even in his weakened state, is savage in his assault, and I’m sure Vince is long dead before he rises to his full height, firing five shots into his face… and a few more in his cock.

My breathing is ragged as I try to get to my feet, expecting Christian to pass out any second. Blood is matting his dark, wavy hair, and his green eyes are wild as he turns to face me, stumbling again.

“Christ—" My words are cut off. I was wrong.I was so wrong.

He descends on me, caging me to his chest, his hand on my throat in a bruising hold as he presses the hot muzzle of the gun to my temple. “I warned you. I fucking warned you, Lana,” he grunts, his voice all venom as he presses it harder, making me whimper. “Why? Why would you do that? Why would you fucking do that to me?”

“I—” I choke.

“I love you. How could you fucking leave me?” His voice is raw and slurred when my hand covers his, pulling the gun away. His mossy green eyes are glossy with emotion as he releases my neck, allowing me to fill my lungs, his handsome face covered in blood as I press my forehead to his. “I need you. Don’t you ever, ever fucking do that again! I am nothing, Lana,nothingwithout you.”

“I just—"

“Swear to me, Lana.”

I press my lips to his, kissing him deeply. “I’m sorry. I swear, never again,” I whisper, seconds before he sags in my arms, his weight taking us to the floor again. “Somebody help!” I scream, trying to fight out from underneath him. “Somebody help, please!” I slip in his blood as I roll him to his back, cupping his pale cheeks. “Please, please! Please, don’t leave me alone. Somebody, please!”

24

Summer

Lana, Summer

I stare down at Aurelio’s crystal hanging around my neck, the light pink standing out against my black dress. The wound in my chest festers, bloodier than ever. Tears stream down my raw, puffy cheeks, the pain not stopping, but I’ve given myself permission to feel it now. My father-in-law gave me a place to wallow, suffer, and rot, so I’ve used it. Some days, I need help to remember to brush my teeth. Some days I don’t get out of bed; I cry for a long time, and then I don’t. Strangest of all, some days, I smile and laugh. I enjoy food, even the kinds I hate.

Riley gives me a short nod with a bright smile from the waiting blacked out car behind me, another SUV pulling in behind ours. I never imagined the timid, weepy young girl who used to cower while she delivered my meals to my prison cell would’ve ended up my friend. Even past my tears, I try to smile back, knowing she doesn’t expect it from me. She’s been doing great in her schooling and her recovery is going well, but I secretly wish she would never leave. Judging by the way Jesse watches her fromwhere he’s leaning up against the hood of the car, he feels the same.

I’ve been to more funerals than I can stomach in the last few months, but this one by far hurts the worst. It’s a bitter, angry pain I’m trying to breathe through. I fiddle with my wedding ring, needing Christian so badly, it seems to rub salt in all my wounds. You never truly feel the loss of someone, know how essential they were to your soul, until you feel their absence. However brief or long lasting the separation is.

“Princess, I am so sorry.” Those words make the breath come easier as his warm, gentle hand grips my chin, angling my head so he can press his forehead to mine. “You shouldn’t have been here alone.”

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