Page 88 of Bonds of Obsession

I signal them forward toward the doors to the master suite. They’re barely cracked open, enough to see that we’ll be in complete darkness there too.

“I don’t like this,” Nico whispers.

“Me neither.” I shake my head. “But we have to get her out of here. Time is running out.”

“Watch the corners,” Atlas warns as we approach the doors, and I can’t shake the feeling we’re being watched. The hair on the back of my neck stands up. Something is wrong. This is too easy too?—

A dark figure launches from behind a decorative screen, catching me in the side. The impact nearly knocks me to the floor.

“Quinn!” Atlas hisses.

“Stay back!” I order, recognizing my attacker’s size. “It’s her!”

Celine is obviously in fight or flight mode, and she’s choosing to fight like a cornered animal. She clips my jaw with an elbow, and I taste blood.

“Stop,” I try to say, but she’s already swinging again.

The men move to help, but I wave them off. “I’ve got this!”

“Let us—” Nico starts.

“No! She’s pregnant, remember?”

“Fuck,” Killian growls, clearly torn between protecting me and not hurting Celine.

She throws another wild punch, but I catch her arm and use her momentum to spin her around, pulling her back against my chest. She thrashes, but I hold her tight until she goes limp in my arms.

“Please,” she begs, voice raw with terror. “Don’t—my baby?—”

“Stop fighting,” I tell her, pressing my knife to her throat just to give her a little extra incentive to calm the fuck down. “We’re not here to hurt you.”

Yeah, she’s not buying it.

“Liar!” She starts to struggle again. “He sent you—Arturo sent you?—”

“If Arturo sent us, you’d already be dead,” Atlas says, moving around the perimeter of the room with his gun drawn, securing windows and doors as he goes.

“Your husband’s not walking away from tonight,” Nico says. “But you can.”

That catches her attention. “What?”

“We’re here to help,” I say. “But you have to trust us.”

“Why should I?”

“Because you’re going to die if we don’t get the fuck out of here really soon,” Killian rumbles. “Which one sounds like the better option to you?”

She trembles against me, but some of the fight drains out of her. “He’ll find me. He always does.”

“Not this time,” I promise. “Not ever again.”

Celine looks from me to the guys and back again. “If you’re not here to kill me, then what do you want?”

I ease the pressure of my blade but keep hold of her arm. “We’re getting you out. But you have to work with us.”

“The men you killed?—”

“Were working for a monster,” Killian cuts in.

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