Page 36 of The Grim Reaper's Wife

She pouted but still took the sweet beverage.

“I’ll think about ….”

Something that resembled fireworks on the last day of the year, sounded in the hall forbidding me from completing my sentence. I looked at Jericho across the room who clenched his jaw.

That was confirmation that they weren’t fireworks, but a fucking gunshot. And I knew he was pissed. His party was never one to facilitate murder but render peace.

Immediately, my mind raced to my wife and my legs carried me across the hall to the bathroom, my hands feeling for my pistol along the way.

Hoping that no one was stupid enough to fuck with my wife.

Chapter Nineteen

MIA

Iwashed my hands, staring at the reflection in the mirror, making certain nothing was out of place after the masterful work done by the team Elias hired.

My husband spoiled me, and I couldn’t deny how my heart swelled each time he did.

My mind wasted no time to remind me of our time together on the balcony causing my cheeks to heat up as they normally did.

Only this time, they immediately dimmed when a gunshot rang in my ears.

It sounded close; too close. Instead of freezing like I did last time when Elias shot at his father, I ran to a stall as I tried to calm my erratic heart and my trembling hands to latch the damn door.

Suddenly, the door of the bathroom was pushed, and the culprit abruptly pulled me from my escape. They shoved me onto the wall, the cold metal of a gun to my cheek.

“Open your fucking eyes, stepmother,” Alexsei spat at me as I opened my eyes to his grey pair, the ghost of Ilya staring at me.

My lip was trembling as he dug the gun into my cheek, my eyes glossy while my heart felt like it was being crushed.

I thought I would die at the hands of my husband. But unfortunately, fate had a way of laughing at us, mocking our silly predictions and anxious thoughts.

“What was the last thing my father said when you killed him?” he said through gritted teeth.

I shook my head. I don’t know if it was the impending threat of death or I simply couldn’t remember but the only thing that I could think of was Elias.

He wanted to come with me, and I said no. If I wasn’t so stupid…

“What did he say when you stabbed that knife in his neck like he was a fucking stray dog?” Alexsei shouted, jamming his gun into my cheek with each word, stopping my thoughts of regret.

“I don’t know,” I muttered, refusing to let the tears drop from my eyes as I closed them tightly. Just like his father, he wanted me to beg for my life, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

If I was to die, I would die on my feet dressed in the most beautiful gown I had ever worn.

“Take your fucking hands off my wife before I kill you.”

My eyes opened widely at the sound of my husband’s deep voice who stood with his gun pointed at Alexsei’s head; Jericho, Silas, and Liam at his back.

The pressure on my heart lessen as I stared at my husband. He was a man of his word, wasn’t he? Like everything else, he would handle Alexsei like a mere fly at our window.

Alexsei cowered behind my body as Elias stepped closer to us causing Jericho to hold his arm.

The room was tense as all men were wary of Alexsei’s finger on the trigger. Elias’ jaw clenched as his hand itched to eliminate the bastard but he was skilled at the art of self control; something Alexsei knew nothing about.

“Wife?” He asked confused, his voice faltering as he realized who was in the room with him.

I felt the gun next to my head jerk as he fervently shook his head, trying to accept that Elias was now my husband and what that meant for him.

---