Page 60 of Eternally Bound

“Did you lose something, boy?” he laughed and licked my neck from below my left ear. Revulsion rose in me at his touch and a shudder of disgust ran down my spine. I couldn’t contain it, any more than I could contain my love for Daniel. “You took my son from me, so I thought I’d take your favorite piece of ass from you. Fair trade, don’t you think so?” he chuckled humorlessly.

Daniel that stood in front of me wore the same unemotional mask I had just watched in the video. I searched for reassurance in his dark eyes, but there wasn’t a flicker of emotion in them. All I saw was the ruthless killer with his gun levelled at his uncle.

But he had me. I knew he had me. He’d never let anything happen to me. Daniel was my savior, my everything.

Hector pushed his groin against my back and anger inside me felt red hot. I never wanted anyone dead but his uncle was a viper, a blight on humanity and deserved to die. He needed to be eliminated.

I just couldn’t see how Daniel would be able to get to him with the way Hector used me as a human shield. It might have made me a coward, but I didn’t want to die. I wanted more time, more years.

To see my son grow up into a man.

To read filthy smut with my mother.

To see my family happy.

And most of all, to grow old with Daniel. We deserved more time together.

I stared into those dark cold eyes of the man I loved and prayed he knew what he was doing.

“It seems we have an issue, Uncle.” Daniel’s cold voice felt like a bite of frost against my skin. “Let her go. She’s of no use to you. You want me, not her,” Daniel stated calmly, not a flicker of emotion on his face.

“No, boy. You have that all wrong. Yes, I want you. Dead and gone. But first, I think I’ll enjoy having you watch as I fuck your woman. When I’m done, then I’ll slit her throat and watch her bleed out.” Hector bit into my earlobe and a painful yelp escaped me. “There is nothing you’ll be able to do, Nephew, but watch. You’ll lose her, just as I lost my son.”

Hector’s hand squeezed my breast hard, making me cry out in pain and bend away from him, trying to get away. Just as I did, a bullet came through the window behind us and lodged itself straight into his skull. His warm blood splattered across the back of my head and over my shoulders as his dead weight practically drove me to the floor. Another man burst through the door and the man that remained in the room with us was shot straight through his heart, his body slumping onto the floor.

Daniel reached for me as I spun and lay there stunned, staring at his lifeless body crumpled on the cold concrete floor next to me.

The gunshots seemed far away now, the buzzing in my ears dulling them out. Daniel kept me shielded with his body. Daniel’s eyes remained alert, scanning the area looking for any threats.

Hector’s lifeless eyes stared up at me from the dirty floor. Horror spread through my veins, not at the sight of a dead man, but at the relief I felt that he was dead. I didn’t feel one bit of remorse for his death. He deserved it.

“Ainslee,” Daniel whispered, and I looked up at him. “Are you alright?” I nodded, unable to utter a single vowel. “Did he hurt you?”

I shook my head, but his eyes lowered to my neck. My hand fluttered to my neck. I could imagine the bruising was beginning to show as I reached up to cover it. Daniel’s hand reached to my mouth and he rubbed his finger across the cut on my lip

“That was the only thing,” I whispered. The haze slowly cleared, my hearing and vision coming back to focus.

Daniel secured the gun into his holster, then approached me tentatively, like a wounded animal.

“I want to go home,” I whimpered. I started trembling and took a step towards him, seeking comfort in his strong embrace. “I want to go home. To my son. My mum.”

I couldn’t stop trembling, all my thoughts a jumbled mess. There was blood on my hands, darker spots on my red dress. There was a dead man at my feet, his dead eyes void of his evil and life.

“I’m so sorry,” Daniel murmured against the crown of my hair, his arms wrapping around me.

My body shook, the aftermath of what had happened finally settling in. I lifted my head up and found his eyes staring down at me. My breath caught in my throat, the emotions in his dark gaze shaking me to my core. There were so many emotions in them - fear, sadness, loss, love.

He thought he lost me. And I was too shocked to move or say anything.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Daniel

Ilost her.

With each second that passed, I could feel her slipping away from me. She just had an up close and personal lesson in the life I led, and she was terrified. She saw firsthand what my world was like. What I was like.

Arthur retrieved the video that was playing, showing me in full torturer mode. I couldn’t tell her that he was the old me because if anyone tried to hurt the people I cared about and loved, I’d be that man in an instant.

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