Page 82 of Billionaire's Promise
Good thing, I am not too far from her studio. In ten minutes, I screech to a halt in front of the building with her studio.
I reach the door that leads to the building, and am about the press the buzzer when a gust of wind blows. The door swings open, then slaps against the frame again. What the—? The hair on the nape of my neck rises. I freeze, pat my side, then swear again. Of course, I don’t have a weapon. I am not at war. At least, I thought I wasn’t. How wrong I’ve been. I am in the middle of the biggest fight of my life, the one to protect my woman.
I head for the studio, find the door to the building hanging askew. My pulse thuds at my temples and anger squeezes my guts. I try to take in a breath and my lungs burn. If anyone has dared to hurt her, I’ll kill them. The blood pounds in my veins and my heartbeat accelerates. I race up the flight of steps, find the studio door similarly busted. I slip inside. The space is empty except for the purse on the floor.
I jump toward it, look at the contents spread across the floor. Among them is a photograph. I pick it up, glance at the family in the picture. The mother, the father, the older daughter, the younger one with red hair, wearing a red dress. The same red dress I'd seen on the girl in that pub.
My heart begins to race and sweat beads my palms. It's her. I had been right all along. The girl I hadn't been able to get out of mind all these years? It's her. Ava. My Eve. I pocket the photograph when a sound reaches me. I freeze, glance in the direction of the closed door of the dressing room, when a scream rends the air.
My heart slams against my rib cage,
I race across the floor, burst into the dressing room, to find her on the floor.
A man in a suit has her hands pinned back. Another restrains her legs. I take in their features, freeze. They are the same men who attacked her in the subway. What the hell are they doing here? Why are they coming after her?
A third guy, also in a suit, stands over her. He turns to face me and I growl. My vision narrows. Motherfucker, I am going to kill all of them. I lunge forward, grab his shoulders and haul him back. I fling him to the side. He hits the wall at a roll, only to spring up again. I rush toward him, raise my fist, and bury it in his face. His eyes roll back and he slumps.
Before he can hit the ground, I turn back toward the dressing room and freeze. She's on her knees and the man who previously had her hands pinned back now has his arm around her neck. The other guy stands between us.
Both men have their guns pointed on her.
Ava’s chin wobbles, her face leached of all color. There’s a cut on her forehead, her hair is askew, but otherwise, she looks unhurt. Good.
The man who's standing turns and walks toward me. I throw up my fists and he shakes his head. "Resist and Carlos, here, will not hesitate to shoot your girlfriend."
"Why," I growl, "why would you hurt her?"
"To get back at you, of course." He rocks back on his feet. "You guys need to stop sticking your nose in where you are not needed."
"Let her go," I growl, "she’s innocent."
"You should have thought of that before you got involved with her."
A cold sensation stabs at my chest. I’d put her in danger, damn it. I’d thought I was protecting her, but I’d turned the Mafia’s attention solely on her.
"She had nothing to do with it," I grate out.
"Oh, but she’s such a hot piece of ass. Bet she has a really tight pussy, huh?"
Anger fills my head and my vision bleeds red. I jump toward him, and he raises his gun and fires. I duck and the shot echoes through the space. Ava screams as bits of plaster from the ceiling rain down between us.
"Baron," her voice hitches, "help me."
My heart stutters and the band around my chest tightens.
"Yes, Baron." The man in front of me bares his teeth, "Keep it up and we’ll shoot her right in front of you… After we’ve taken turns fucking her, of course."
"Bastard," I growl, "you’ll pay for this."
"Not if we kill you first." He aims his gun at me and I lunge forward again. I grab his arm, twist it. He screams and I watch the gun slip from his grasp to the floor.
He takes advantage of my momentary distraction and buries his other fist in my side.
Pain explodes up my spine and the breath rushes out of me. Bent over at the waist, I don’t take my gaze off of her. I hold her eyes.Stay strong, my love. Don’t let them get to you.
She swallows and tears roll down her cheeks. My guts twist. In that second, I know I’ll never allow anything to happen to her. My life was already hers… Now…my heart is too. My soul. Every part of me belongs to her. I won’t let these men get to her.
I straighten, turn my gaze on the guy who’d hit me. "That all you got?" I smirk. "Surely you can do better than that?"
