Page 78 of Ruthless Commander
I didn’t care about any pain, only that roaring inside me that scanned the bastard, stopping for a moment on the knife sticking out of his side. I didn’t have to ask what had happened.That’s my girl.
He yanked his fist back, planning for blow number two. He didn’t make it. Something roared inside me as I lunged. I unleashed a fast punch, smashing him in the nose and hearing the crunch as it broke. He fell back, his eyes widening, stunned.
I shoved upwards, desperation driving me. He wasn’t expecting me to react…because he didn’t know me.
I reached down, jerked him upright, and spun him, then wrapped my arms around his neck from behind , standing at his back as I tightened my hold. Xael lifted her head and carefully turned over on the floor, unable to take her gaze from mine
Here was the beast, the monster that lived inside me.
The Komandant.
I released one arm as the bastard gasped and struggled, swinging his fists but unable to do me any damage. He shouId've been more careful, as I grasped the knife in his side and yanked the blade free. “You shouldn’t have touched her,” I said. “Shouldn’t have touched what’s mine.”
I held her gaze, thrusting the knife until the blade punctured his chest. He jerked and gasped, his muscles screaming as he tried to twist his body against me…until I stabbed again.
Thump.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
I plunged the blade in deep, only stopping when his arms fell to his sides. His sharp, hard gasps were punctuated with the spray of blood. Droplets flew through the air to splatter the floor. He stilled and his body slumped against mine. All I saw was her eyes fixed on the man dying in my arms, then they slowly moved to mine.
I expected shock…was prepared for disgust, especially when I released my hold around his throat and his body slid down to fall on the floor with athud. But the bastard wasn’t dead…not yet.
Xael shoved upwards, her arms trembling. She fell before trying again, then lunged for me. She hit me with athump, herarms clinging around my neck. “Jesus…Jesus,”she cried. “I thought you were dead.”
“Murdererd…” the slow hiss came from the piece of garbage at my feet. “My family.”
I gripped hold of her, taking comfort in the warmth, in the feel…in her stare as she gazed into my eyes.
“Ithoughtyouwere dead.” My voice was husky and hoarse, my throat burning from the smoke.
“Fuckingwhore.”
She snapped her gaze to the bleeding asshole on the floor. But I caught the flinch in her eyes as she slowly turned her gaze to mine, waiting for my reaction. She thought I didn’t know? Thought that anything she did before us made a goddamn difference to how I felt about us?
It didn’t…and as I held her gaze, I let her see just how much I felt. “It doesn’t matter,” I declared. “Anything that happened between you was one hundred percent my fault.”
“Still…a fucking wh—“
She stepped away from me, took two steps, and lifted her boot to unleash it straight at him. Her boot connected with his chin, cracking his head backwards with a sickening blow. “That’s for Rhys, you sick piece of filth.”
She wobbled, her knees trembling as she tried to remain upright. I tightened my grasp around her waist.
“Mateo!”Edon’s roar came from the hallway and the heavy thud of steps followed a second before my brother burst into the room.
He took one look at Xael as she stood over Blake as he lay dying on the floor, then turned his icy stare my way. Xael moved in an instant, turning in front of me to face him as my brother murmured, “Came to save your sorry ass…but it looks like I was too late.”
32
Xael
I froze, watching as a man stepped through the doorway. A man I didn’t know. He glanced at the dying man at my feet, then met my gaze. Cold…Jesus, he was cold.That lethal stare lingered on me and for a second, I thought he wasone of them.One of the men sent to kill us…
I turned in Mateo's arms, shielding him as best I could, drawing the man's deadly stare. “Came to save your sorry ass…but it Iooks like I was too late,” he announced with what I thought might have been a twitch of his lip.
Save him?I stilled, sucked in a hard breath, then turned again, wincing with the movement as I found Mateo's gaze. Something familiar lingered, forcing my gaze back to the man who was crossing the room.
A soft moan came from Blake at my feet. The bastard was still alive, until the familiar looking stranger who was striding toward us almost casually lifted the rifle in his hand and squeezed the trigger.
