Page 118 of With This Kiss
“Stop it! Stop hurting him!” I cried, my voice breaking with panic.
Tito laughed, a sound that chilled me to the bone as he continued his assault. Blood trickled from the corner of Reign’s mouth, and for a terrifying moment, I thought the photo I received hadn’t been fake after all—it had been a premonition.
A cry burst free from my lips, and something shifted in Reign’s expression. His eyes locked with mine for just a split second, and I saw a cold determination replace the pain. In one fluid motion, he bucked his hips and threw Tito off-balance. Before Tito could recover, Reign had flipped their positions, pinning him to the ground.
“You should have stayed hidden when you had the chance,” Reign said, pulling out a blade he had tucked inside his boot.
Tito’s eyes widened in terror as the blade glinted in the dim light. I couldn’t look away, even as my heart hammered against my ribs. This was a side of Reign I’d never witnessed—cold, calculating, deadly.
I had never seen a man kill before. Not before Reign.
I thought I was going to be sick.
He didn’t hesitate.
He plunged the blade deep into Tito’s neck, and blood instantly pooled beneath him.
So much blood.
And it kept coming and coming as a sickening, gurgling sound filled the space.
I couldn’t look away. My eyes were focused on my cousin, transfixed.
It would explain why I didn’t see Reign coming. I flinched when I felt his hands on me, a terrible sound coming from my lips.
“Shh, it’s okay, baby. It’s me. I’m just going to untie you, okay?”
I didn’t respond to him… I couldn’t.
The ropes around me loosened, and then I was being pulled away from the chair and into Reign’s solid form.
A strange sound filled the air, and it took me a moment to realize I was the one making the sound.
I was crying.
I was breaking.
Reign tightened his hold on me, keeping me safe. Keeping the monsters at bay.
“It’s okay, baby. It’s over. I promise. I’m here.”
It was over. It was okay. He was here.
I held onto those words as if they were my lifeline, and in that moment, they truly felt like it.
25
REIGN
Iheld her as she broke apart in my arms, her tears hitting my skin, each one feeling like a thousand whip lashes against me.
I buried my face in her hair, doing the only thing I could think of to comfort her.
I held onto her.
It was as much for her as it was for me.
No fucking more. My heart couldn’t handle it if she were taken from me again. I wouldn’t allow it. I tightened my arms around her when I heard movement coming from the doorway. I looked up to see Caine standing there. His face was still as expressionless as ever, but something dark entered his eyes as he took in Jamie crying violently in my arms.
