Page 65 of If Tomorrow Never Comes

“Definitelya sirenwith that mouth on her,” his foul accomplice adds.

Diego takes a few calculated steps my way. The sight ofEl Rompe Huesosis absolutely terrifying. His posture has changed to the exact reason the underworld fears him.

I barely recognize him.

The pupils of his eyes have dilated and the Diego I know behind them has gone cold. Dark blue iris’ have deepened to almost black. Ever come face to face with a shark?Ya, me neither. But I watch a lot of Shark Week, okay?Diego looks exactly like that.

Bloodthirsty.

He’s going to go down fighting, until his last breath. There is no way in hell he’ll let his uncle kill me.Goddamnit. He has to know if he were to die right now, that I wouldn’t have ever abandoned him.

How could he think that?After all of this?He did exactly what Liam did to me. He didn’t give me a choice. And he pushed me off the back of the fucking yacht!These men!How is it okay for them to sacrifice themselves for me? But not let me do the same?

“Diego,” I cry out. “I couldn’t leave you. I couldn’t. I’m sorry.” My voice trembles as the words leave my mouth. His eyes soften for the briefest of seconds.

My own go wide as I see a shadowy figure behind him. I don’t even get the chance to warn him.

Pain and darkness engulf me.

It’s becoming quite a trend with me lately.

Ugh.

Smoke curlsaround the silencer of my gun as the smell of blood and gunpowder litter my nose. Of all people,Diego De La Fucking Cruz’blood has to splatter my face.

He stumbles forward on impact, as his uncle smacks the deck with a thud, right next to my whole world—who is currently unconscious at the moment.

Spots of blood speckle her white wedding dress. Slowly, the fabric darkens as Geraldo’s pool of blood begins to dye the rest of it. The sight makes me sick to my stomach for so many other reasons than the fact that my girl has a goddamn wedding dress on. Not only that, but Diego failed to keep her safe like he promised he would. A pop goes off in my left ear as Killian takes out Mateo, Geraldo’s right hand man.

Blood gushes from the wound in Diego’s right shoulder. He reaches for his gun but Killian is quick to step on his injured arm. “I wouldn’t try it, mate.” Kil glances at his watch and then shoots me a panicked look. “Get her off this yacht.Now.”

“Ya better be right behind me, brother,” I warn.

He nods his head in response and then squats down, getting closer to Diego. “I know that you are my future brother-in- law and all that...” He looks over at Madison’s lifeless body. “And Madison hasgrown rather…fondof you, but what got her into this mess in the first place should have never occurred.We don’t bring women into our wars, Diego.You’re no better than your father or dead uncle for that.”

I gather Madison up in my arms. Her head flops backwards and her arms hang at her sides. My heart breaks seeing her like this, knowing that it isn’t entirely Diego’s fault. Yes, it is his fault we are on a yacht right now in the middle of the Aegean Sea. Yes, it’s his fault for kidnapping my woman and plotting an entire scheme to get my brother to help him. In the end, it’s mine and Killian’s fault for bringing Madison into this life in the first place.

The only credit I’ll give Diego is that hetriedto protect Maddy from all of this bloodshed. I watched him push her off the back of the boat.It’s not his fault Madison is so thickheaded.

That was the plan we all agreed on. Killian, Diego, and I. We created it just hours before the ceremony. The ceremony I had to endure in agony from a hidden door in the kitchen cabinets. There’s nothing quite like watching the woman you love marrying one of the most violent and arrogant men in the underworld. Even beyond that, watching her kiss him with something more than her desire to help this assignment.And then,to watch your woman leave and head off to his bedroom, knowing that he’d consummate the marriage given the chance.

Killian can’t find it in him to look past his future brother-in-law's actions, which is why Diego was used as collateral in killing his uncle. I personally wasn’t ready to kill him just yet. But the opportunity presented itself.Not that we had much of an option to begin with. Geraldo had a gun pressed to my girl’s head. So I made sure to choose a spot on Diego that wouldn’t be fatal. It certainly was fatal for his uncle. Bullet went right throughThe Bone Breaker’sshoulder and into Geraldo’s heart.

When I heard about the wedding—against Killian’s better judgment in telling me—I pretty much lost it. It took Colin, Con, and Kieran tackling me down to the ground onThe Triquetrato prevent me from leaving. I was fully prepared to head into town and slaughter Geraldo and his men myself. That way, Madison would never even get the chance to marry this arsehole right here. Lowering my head I glance down at him, almost—almost, feeling sorry for the poor fucker.

Ya honestly can’t blame him for falling for Madison. We all did. I mean who wouldn’t?

Madison stirs in my arms. I tuck her in close to me, walking past Killian and towards the stairs.

“Quite frankly, I should leave you on your own yacht to be blown up to bits. I don’t like you, Diego. But, my father taught me to be a fair leader, therefore I am giving you a choice.”

Madison’s eyes flutter open and she looks up at me, confused as fuck. “Ow,” she says, rubbing her head. Diego and Killian snap their heads our way. And for a split second, I realize one thing. We are all in love with Madison. She has bewitched each of us in one way or another. It would fucking devastate her if we leave Diego on this yacht to die. She’ll never forgive any of us for it. Not that I deserve her forgiveness. I broke up with her for the second time.

“Madison,” Kil and Diego say in unison.

She swivels her head to look at them and then to Geraldo in a pool of his own blood. “Holy shit,” she rasps. Looking at me, she smiles gently. “I think I can stand.”

“You were hit in the head pretty hard, love. I’d rather hold you—plus, wereallyneed to get going.”

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