Page 37 of Gilded Whispers

I shove at him again.

His hold loosens as his grip slips from the blood. Not much, but enough to give me room to squeeze my body out from under his. This is my fight and I’m not about to let them shove me aside and treat me like a weakling.

“Fucking hell! No, Stella!” Stefan roars, grabbing for me.

“She’s no longer your concern, you piece of shit. You can leave now on your own accord or you can leave in a body bag.”

I appreciate Emilio standing up for me.

“Me leave? Laughable.” William’s voice cracks. “You’re lucky I didn’t shoot all four of you in the back when I saw you leave the club. I rather see your faces as I take back my property. She owes me a lot of money and I will collect one way or another.”

I push at Adrian and Emilio who turn into unmoving statues. “I don’t owe you anything!”

“You’re right, little bitch. Your father did. Since he’s dead, I’ll take you back now. I’ve come up with a new way I want to see you suffer.”

The man sounds like he’s stepped off the deep end of sanity and landed squarely in psycho territory.

I shove at Stefan. One gun, one bullet between his eyes and this horror show can end.

I push by Adrian to see William’s snarly face twisted with one hundred percent disgust. Hatred radiates from his narrowed gaze, but what really has my attention is the loaded gun he has leveled in our direction. It’s pretty surreal to know my life could end with the slightest sneeze from the lunatic.

Emilio clenches his fists. “Hold her, damn it!”

Emilio and Adrian both shove me into Stefan’s arms and he pins me to his chest with iron-grade strength. His eyes narrow on me. His breathing is ragged. At first I’m focused more on all the shit William is saying to the other two, but when Stefan puts his hands on my face and makes me look at him, my world zeros down to the man wearing my blood.

And then in all the chaos he kisses me softly.

“If you get hurt, you’ve signed all of our death certificates. You don’t understand. Your life is precious. You die. We all go down.”

Epically wrong time for a confession like that, but at the same time my heart fills with love.

Love.

That one word flips my world upside down.

My heart hammers a thousand times a minute.

William mouths off again and then everyone turns into a blur of motion.

A barrage of bullets zing in our direction. Stefan pushes me to the floor, covering me again with his weight and we are right back where we started——me immobilized.

“Stay down. You are not getting yourself killed going into revenge mode.” His hands are vices on my hip and my good shoulder. I clench my jaw, but nod. Getting killed is not the goal here.

Adrenaline pushes through my veins. Couch cushions go everywhere and I literally watch what was a normal living room mere seconds ago literally turn into an armory.

False walls open. Guns go into hands. Both men check their clips and put one in the chamber unworried by the fact that William is emptying his gun in our direction.

“She’s coming with me. I own her life. Hand her over and all this stops.”

William is in denial if he thinks he is leaving here unharmed.

All three of my men move in unison. It is like watching a well timed synchronized dance. All evidence points to this not being their first gun fight. As I suspected.

I would marvel more at how the sides of the couches and the low coffee table open to reveal multiple weapons, but glass shatters near my head. Glittering bombs rain down on me, leaving tiny cuts in their path.

“Son of a bitch!” I grit my teeth and throw a hand over a deep one that tears at my cheek.

A fury so profound I can't even get words to form grips my senses. We were so damn wrapped up in each other none of us heard the bell or the whoosh of the elevator doors opening. I thought for sure the security team at the Society would have kicked his ass out of the building. Which they most likely did. But they can’t keep him out of the building. They can’t control him from coming to the Centennial for a meeting with his clients.

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