Page 94 of Forbidden Vows

My mind moves fast while Ciara struggles with a man three times her size. I don’t know where her courage or recklessness comes from, but I have to think quickly and act accordingly in order to help her.

He manages to peel her off him and throws her against the wall. Ciara falls on her side with a painful thud while I grab the fire extinguisher again. I roar as anger and fear collide within me, and I hurl the damned thing at his head.

CONK.

To my astonishment, I hit my target.

Hard.

His skull cracks open, blood trickling down his face as he gives me a stunned glare. I approach and kick him in the balls for good measure. He passes out on the floor while I rush over to Ciara and help her get up.

“Are you okay?” I ask her.

“I think so. You?”

“Yeah. I’m high on adrenaline. Come on, let’s go.”

We head out the door, but we don’t get far.

POP.

SMASH!

A bullet whizzes past us, shattering the glass of a fire emergency panel next to my head.

“Oh, shit,” I gasp and freeze, one hand tightly gripping Ciara’s wrist.

“Don’t even think about it.” Sergei’s voice echoes behind us.

I can see the ground floor from here. So many fallen bodies. So much blood.

Gunshots still ringing out.

Slowly, shaking like two leaves in the wind, Ciara and I turn around to face him. He looks terrible. Pale-faced and scared out of his mind. He can barely even hold his gun.

“Eileen!” Anton’s voice has my heart jumping.

I look down and see him fighting his way past a mountain of a man. He’s come to rescue me. To rescue us. All we have to do is stay alive for a little while longer. There are more of Sergei’s men dying down there than ours.

Our men are like stealth hunters, killers in black with precise targets and cat-like movements. Sergei’s goons don’t stand much of a chance. Their only advantage was in their numbers,but those seem to be quickly dwindling.

“What’s the deal, Sergei?” I ask with a calm voice. “You’re not getting out of here alive. Surely you know that by now.”

“There’s another exit right at the end there.” He grins an evil grin, pointing toward the open corridor behind me. “All I need to do is take you out.”

Ciara gets in front of me. “Did you get the marriage license signed then?”

“Not yet.”

“Then you can’t kill her, not without killing me first,” she says, raising her chin in defiance.

“Oh, my God, Ciara, what are you doing?” I blurt out.

She gives me a hard look. “What I should’ve done a long time ago. I’m protecting my sister.”

“You think I’m not going to kill you anyway?” Sergei laughs hysterically.

“Not while you still need me to sign the marriage certificate. You’ve come this far, right?” she replies, fully aware that he absolutely does still need her.

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