Page 78 of Claiming Genevieve

And then I hear a strange click, and an all-too-familiar voice, coming from somewhere behind Rowan.

“Stop touching her, you Irish piece of shit, unless you want a bullet in the head.”

30

ROWAN

Iknow who it is before I even take a slow step back, my hands raising to show that there’s nothing in them. Genevieve’s face is a frozen mask of startled terror, and I give her a quick, sharp look, trying to convey to her to play along as I slowly turn, hoping with gritted teeth that Chris doesn’t jump the gun—literally—and put a bullet in me before I can do anything about it.

Where’s the fucking security?I’m going to track down the president of the MC that’s handling our security as soon as this is over and beat him black and blue for giving me men that couldn’t even keep this asshole off my property—but first, I have to deal with this.

It’s probably my fault,I think grimly.I wanted to be the one to handle it. Seems like since I couldn’t go back to New York, I got my wish—and he came to me.

Except I’m unarmed. This is a confrontation that I’m not ready for. My heart slams against my ribs as I turn to face Chris, who is standing there in jeans and a leather jacket, his eyes narrowed in cold fury as he holds a gun leveled at my head.

“Let’s calm down,” I say slowly, my mind racing. “She’s not yours any longer?—”

“Because you fucking stole her from me,” Chris snarls. “You thought you were such a big man, right? The fucking mafia heir. So fucking powerful. I have connections too, you piece of shit. You think I don’t know how to put out a hit on someone? That I don’t have the kind of money to make sure anyone I want gets put in the ground? You’re not such hot shit, you arrogant motherfucker?—”

“Chris!” Genevieve shouts his name from behind me, and I tense, my pulse beating harder in my throat. “Chris, listen to me.”

She steps up just in front of me, and I hiss at her to stop, under my breath. But either she doesn’t hear me, or she’s ignoring me, because she keeps all her attention focused on Chris, her gaze squarely on him.

“Put the gun down, Chris,” she says calmly. “Put it down, and I’ll go with you.”

“Genevieve!” I bark out her name, and her head snaps around as she pins me with a withering glare. But I see something else under it, too—a plea for me to listen. For me to play along.

“I’ll go with you,” she repeats, looking back at Chris. “I see it was a mistake, leaving you. You were always so good to me.”

Chris narrows his eyes as he looks at her, the gun still trained on me. “I was, wasn’t I?” he asks, an arrogant smirk touching his lips. “I gave you everything, you selfish bitch. And what did you do? You laid there like a fucking cold fish when I fucked you, accused me of cheating, and then ran out on me with this asshole after he knocked me the fuck out.” He smiles grimly. “You’ve got a lot of apologizing to do. On your knees. You never did suck my cock often enough.”

Genevieve swallows hard, her face pale, but she somehow forces a sweet smile. “I will,” she promises, and it makes my blood race furiously through my veins hearing her say that. Hearing her speak to him at all, when all I want is to see him bloody on the ground at my feet. But I know what she’s doing. She’s trying to distract him, to get his guard down. And no matter how much I hate hearing this, I realize thatthis—this is how I make up for the mistakes I’ve made, for the part I played in what happened to her, no matter how small.

I trust her. I follow her lead. And I let her handle this right up until the moment when I can step in.

“I’ll make it up to you,” she continues. “I know I was a shitty girlfriend. I took advantage of you. I’m so sorry, Chris. I wasn’t thinking. But you’re right. And I’ll do anything you want to make it up to you, I promise. Just let him go. Please.”

Chris stiffens at that. His gaze switches from her to me and back again, and then he grins.

“Fine. Come here and get on your knees. Suck me off right now, in front of him. If you can make me come, I’ll let him go. But he watches you swallow my cum first, so he knows you’re mine. Not his.”

I see the tremor that runs through her. She takes a slow step forward, then another, until she’s right in front of him. I watch as his gaze locks onto her, as his hand holding the gun starts to drop, as Genevieve starts to sink to her knees on the cobblestones.

And, just before she can, I lunge forward between them and swing, my fist connecting with his jaw with a hardcrackthat sends him staggering backward away from her.

“Like fuck will my wife ever get on her knees for another man!” I snarl at him, swinging again. “But least of all you, you goddamn fucking coward.” I hit him again, hard, and I see Genevieve behind me, lunging toward his other side. She goes for the gun, grabbing at his hand, just as he raises it to try to pistol-whip her out of the way.

She grabs his hand, wrenching it, and I hear his scream of shocked pain as she sinks her teeth into the side of his thumb.

His hand goes limp for a moment as he staggers back, blood dripping from his hand and his mouth. I swing again, knocking him to the stone courtyard as Genevieve goes for the gun, and I hear the suddencrackof a gunshot going off.

No… two.

It takes a moment for me to register what’s happened. Genevieve is standing next to me, the gun held limply in her hand, her eyes wide and shocked as she stares at the hole that the bullet she fired has torn in Chris’s throat.

But there’s a gun in his other hand, too. One I didn’t see him draw as I knocked him down. And the realization hits me as I feel the pain catch up, a wave of burning, agonizing heat spreading through my midsection as my knees give out.

“Rowan!” Genevieve screams my name, the gun she’s holding clattering to the stones as she lunges toward me, catching me as I go down. We end up on the cobblestones together, her arms around me as I look up at her, and I’m dimly aware of a wet heat spreading over my stomach, of the sensation of my shirt clinging to my skin, the world starting to go fuzzy at the edges.

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