Page 216 of Plunge into Obsession

She pulled me tighter against her. I let out a small whimper, and Gabriel’s shoulders tensed.

“Did you hear that?” Lucinda said to me softly, her hot breath fanning over the skin on my neck. I shuddered. “He’s willing to kill the Mendez heir for you. You sure know how to pick ’em, don’t you, Bee?”

I shook my head.

The knife inched closer to my stomach. I looked over at Gabriel, expecting to see the same hopeless look in his eyes as I was sure was reflected in my own, but what I saw was something completely different.

Something…calculating?

And he wasn’t looking at me anymore, but something—someone—behind me.

Before I could work out what could have happened to put that look in his eyes, Lucinda leaned down closer to me and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you live once I have the spawn out.”

“No!” I screamed.

Gabriel reacted, and I didn’t know what he was about to do, but it didn’t matter.

A bullet rang out, and I jumped.

For a moment, I didn’t know where the shots had come from or who fired, and it seemed Lucinda didn’t either.

“Bianca!” Gabriel yelled.

I looked at him as he signaled with his hand for me to get down. I didn’t hesitate.

I elbowed Lucinda in the ribs. She let out a small curse as the knife fell from her hand and down to the ground, making a loud clanking sound almost drowned out by the chaos around us.

I didn’t think as I dropped to the ground and moved toward Gabriel.

He reached for me first, wrapping me tightly in his arms and pushing me behind him. I looked behind us to see the three heads of the Vasiliev Bratva coming toward us, guns blazing, and a group of about three other men, with Johnny behind them.

I let out a small sigh of relief.

For a moment, I thought Johnny might have been a casualty when Lucinda and her men sneaked onto Gabriel’s property.

One of the men, a blond-haired giant of a man, threw a gun at Gabriel, which he caught effortlessly.

He didn’t hesitate. And I could only watch as he pulled the trigger and hit Lucinda straight through the forehead. Her green eyes widened, her crimson lips gaping in surprise as a trail of blood ran down her face just before she slumped to the ground next to Melinda’s body.

I couldn’t move.

All these years of looking for her, and this was how it ended between us?

He didn’t give me time to react.

He ushered me toward the house as bullets rang out around us.

I tried to look back to see what was going on.

I could only catch a quick glimpse of the scene… of the bodies scattered about on the ground, including Lucinda’s, before I was pushed through the front door and inside the house.

Gabriel shut it with a slam and turned to me.

I didn’t wait.

I threw myself in his arms, and he caught me like I knew he would.

I buried my face in his chest, and I completely lost it on a loud sob.

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