Page 95 of Forbidden Vows

Time is the one thing that Sergei doesn’t have anymore. There’s something off about him; he doesn’t look right to me.

“True, but I don’t need to kill you to get to your bitch of a sister,” he hisses then shoots Ciara in the leg.

I scream as she cries out in pain and drops to the ground.

Instinctively, I cradle my belly, lower my head, and brace for the worst. For a second, I can’t even breathe.

A gunshot rings out.

I’m still breathing. Nothing hurts; I’m not bleeding anywhere.

Slowly, I raise my head and look around. Ciara is at my feet, panting and moaning from the pain while blood seeps through the torn fabric of her jeans.

Sergei falls to his knees, his eyes wide and glassy with shock. His lips part as his last breath leaves him. Crimson spreads across his chest.

“Oh, God,” Ciara manages as she watches him collapse in a puddle of his own blood. “Oh, my God, Eileen, are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah…” I manage and kneel beside her. “I don’t know where the shot came from, though.”

“Fuck, this hurts. That mother—”

“I know. I am so sorry.”

“Not your fault,” she groans and tears my sleeve off. “I need this.”

I tie it just above the gunshot wound in her thigh. Judging by the blood flow alone, it doesn’t look like Sergei hit an artery, but we still need to slow the bleeding down. I listen to her throng of curses as I tie my sleeve tightly around her leg, then pull it even tighter.

Footsteps approach.

I look up.

“Anton” I whisper.

“Well, at least we know where the shot came from,” Ciara mumbles.

“Eileen, are you okay?” Anton asks me as he rushes over to us, concern etching his features.

“I think so. I’m not hurt anywhere.”

“I am,” Ciara chimes nervously with a pained chuckle.

Anton checks Ciara’s leg, then puts his gun away before wrapping me in his arms.

I cry like a little girl as I lose myself in his embrace, finding the safety I’d missed over the past few days. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“It’s over, Eileen. It’s finally over,” he says.

I have longed to hear those words for what feels like forever. I hold Anton tight and thank the heavens that we made it back to each other in one piece. My stepsister will live, and we will rebuild our relationship and our lives… We will all heal from the damage that Sergei has done.

“I love you so much, it hurts,” Anton whispers in my ear. “I would rather burn the whole fucking world down than to ever lose you, you hear me?”

I have no choice but to look him in the eye. “I believe you. I love you so much, Anton.”

“Good, because we’ve got quite the shitstorm coming at us,” he bluntly replies.

I feed on the warmth in his gaze. The beating of his heart, his sighs of relief, his loving smile. I feed on his mere presence to stop myself from passing out, from collapsing after the ordeal that Ciara and I just endured.

Red and blue lights flash throughout the building.

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