Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
I’m just glad he does.
I draw my gun as I make it to Kelly’s back, careful not to make a sound.
“Do you Doyle Ian Kelly take Melina Stratakis to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, till death do you part?”
“I do.”
I pull my trigger back, cocking it close to his ear as I press the cold barrel against the back of his head.
“Too bad for you the death thing is going to come before your bride will ever have a chance to say I do,” I growl, my voice low and full of rage.
I hear Melina gasp, but I don’t look at her. I’m trained on Kelly.
“Who the fuck are you?” the bastard wheezes.
“Antonio?” Melina finally says. “What are you doing?”
“We’ll talk later,” I rumble.
“Antonio?” Kelly says as I move into his line of sight, shifting so it forces Melina and the man beside her to move aside so I’m facing the asshole. “You’re DeLuca,” the dumbass laughs, proving he is stupid and doesn’t know what I’m capable of.
“In the flesh,” I confirm.
Stone appears from behind Kelly and trains his gun on him, too. I cock my eyebrow up in question. It’s not like I’m going to let the asshole make a move. Still, I suppose it shows initiative for Stone to have my back.
“Why are you here? Don’t tell me you’re acting like a little bitch because I brokered a deal you couldn’t,” he laughs.
“I’m here to collect my woman. Maybe you could explain why you were in such a hurry to go where my dick has already been?”
“Antonio!” Melina cries.
“What?” I ask, sparing her a glance since Stone is there as backup. I frown because she’s lifted her veil. Her face is just as beautiful as I remembered—fuck, probably even more so—except, there’s a large bruise under her left eye that also darkens part of her cheek. She has make-up on but it’s still very apparent. At this point, it’s a good thing Stone is here because I lose it. I turn completely into her, giving Kelly my back.
“You can’t talk about stuff like that. Not in front of these people. My brother is here!”
I run my fingers over the dark area on her face that is bruised. My hand trembles while anger like I’ve never known builds up. Until this moment, I didn’t take Melina in—at least not fully. Now, I can tell that she’s lost weight. There are heavy circles around her eyes that once again, make-up doesn’t fully disguise. Hell, even her hair has lost some of its shine. Her beautiful caramel eyes that have haunted me, don’t have the intense, vibrant color they once had either. I’ve dreamed for weeks about the way they would warm and deepen with her passion and now they just seem tired.
“Did he hit you, il mio tesoro?” I keep my voice quiet and deceptively mild as I deal with the emotions running through me.
“What?” she asks confused.
I kiss her forehead. I don’t miss the way her body trembles or the way she jerks in shock when I get close to her. Did he hurt her so bad that she’s afraid of men now? Is she afraid of me?
I turn back around and pistol whip Kelly in the side of the face with more force than even I could have imagined I was capable of. While he’s distracted with that, I bring my knee up and nail him in the balls. The bastard falls down to his knees, groping himself and Stone lets him go. I press the nose of my barrel right between his fucking eyes. “You dare touch what’s mine? You dare raise your hand and hurt her!”
“Antonio, stop!” Melina cries.
I hear Killian, curse somewhere close by. I thought he was going back to check on the others, but I guess he changed his mind. I don’t actually see him, however. I don’t see anything. I’m too furious. Melina is tiny. A hit like the one it would take to make that bruise could have killed her.
“I never touched the bitch. I didn’t know she was yours. I paid for a fucking virgin.”
“It wasn’t him…You what?” Melina screeches.
“Who hit you, Lina?” I growl, trying to hold on long enough that I don’t kill the bastard right here and now.
“What do you mean you paid?” she cries, ignoring me and sounding panicked.
“Your father sold you to me,” Kelly sneers. “I only paid the price because you were supposed to be a virgin. I was going to teach you how to please a man and then train you to keep my associates happy. You need to tell your father I want my money back, boy,” he adds talking to the man beside Melina. Now it clicks who he is. Until now, I’d been so wrapped up in getting her safe and then, seeing her bruises, that I didn’t fully realize who was standing beside her. I just knew it wasn’t Dracos.