Page 3 of Brutal Knight

Even though I loathed Knight, I wouldn't dare disrespect Bourbon King. I bowed my head respectfully, waiting for the oath to begin.

I pointedly didn't look at the clock as Knight cut his palm, saying the words that would bind him to Bourbon as his blood slid down his hand.

As Bourbon took his hand, his wife stepped forward with the black ribbon in her hands. I reached out to take it, when Knight flashed his infamous smile at Bourbon, speaking.

"Actually, I brought my own."

I froze, once again in shock, the black ribbon clutched in my fingers as Bourbon chuckled. "You would, you prima donna."

Knight wasn't a prima donna. His hands were so dirty, they were permanently stained with the blackness of his evil.

But no one in the room knew exactly what kind of man Knight really was. No one, except for me.

Reaching into the pocket of his custom tailored suit, Knight pulled out a ribbon.

He locked eyes with me as he did it, and everything inside me stilled as I took it in.

It was red.

Red. Red. Red.

Red like laughing in the sunshine and innocent kisses while the waves tickled our sand covered feet. Red like piles of money and yet, an empty, aching stomach. Red like a river of blood.

The moment lasted only seconds, but to me, it was an eternity.

Here, in front of the fucking world, or anyone that mattered anyhow, Knight was sending a message.

He was done waiting.

Well, fuck him. I'd waited for years, and now it was too late.

Jerking it from his fingers, I carefully wrapped it around their wrists, showing the proper respect to Bourbon as they completed the ceremony.

When it was over, Bourbon slid a ring onto Knight’s ring finger, a sign that the family always comes first. I stood to the side, respectfully waiting as the seconds ticked by.

Three minutes had passed, the seconds painfully ticking on to the fourth.

I was going to misshim.

It took everything in me to hold my head high and stay perfectly still, as expected of me. As much as I hated being late, drawing attention to myself right now would be even worse.

Finally, Bourbon moved on to his next capo and without a glance at Knight, I disappeared back through the crowd to the rear.

I had to wait a few more minutes before slowly edging out, and not even Knight noticed as I slipped from the room.

As soon as I was out the doors, I sprinted down the long hallway filled with gilded columns and ivory statues, then edged the maze of the loud, flashy casino floor. His rule was five minutes late, and no longer. I had exactly one minute to get to the back doors, where there were no cameras. I would have to wipe the security video feed from the casino floor later. I made it with ten seconds remaining as I burst through the back door, heaving and trying to catch my breath.

The man in the sharp, twenty thousand dollar suit was just slipping back into his bespoke Phantom Rolls Royce.

"Sir," I gasped out, letting him know I was here. In the seconds it took for him to turn around, I fixed my dress and hair, pulling myself together.

He wouldn't like me looking disheveled.

Rook moved to stand before me, his movements smooth and well oiled. His eyes, dark and as deep as a well, met mine, but his lips pinched together in disapproval.

He didn't mention that I was late; he didn't need to.

"I'm sorry, sir." I offered the apology because he not only expected it but deserved it, even though I couldn't help the events that made me late.

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