Page 243 of Lethal King

The mercenary who just shot Leander stares blankly ahead, stunned. Rian plunges his shoulder into his abdomen. The gun drops from the man’s hand. A roar fills the room.

The two giant figures barrel towards me. I try to cry out, but nothing escapes my lips.

A heel catches against my thigh. The force flips me around. For a moment, all I can see is Leander’s pale face. Then, a body falls over his corpse, tumbling into the window behind us. The glass shatters. The body disappears.

A howl grows and then fades as the chaos outside seeps into the room.

I hardly even react. I can’t. My body is growing numb. My mind is heavy. My gaze drops back onto Leander.

The dead Greek billionaire lays on the ground next to me. His pale blue eyes have rolled into the back of his head. There’s a bullet wound in the center of his skull. Blood pools below his cheek.

I try not to look. Leander’s dead body is the last thing I want to see before I slip into the abyss. But I don’t have the strength to look for Rian. I barely even have the strength to hope he wasn’t the one who just fell out of the window.

“… Rian…”

Suddenly, a heavy body drops to the floor, right between Leander and me. It hits the ground with a thud. My empty chest stirs.

At first, I only get to see the back of his head. But that wild dirty blond hair is unmistakable. When he rolls around, the air is stolen from my lungs.

Those ocean blue eyes wipe away the fear. They eat up the dread. They spit out my sadness.

It doesn’t matter that they’re just as glossy as mine. They’re still moving. We’re both still moving.

For now, we’re alive.

For now, we’re together.

It’s all I want.

“Rozalia Dorn…”

Rian smiles at the sight of me. Those dimples fill with blood.

A weak laugh sputters from my numb lips. My insides feel frozen, but a small flower of warmth spurts up beneath it all.

“Rian Kilpatrick…”

“I love you.”

The flower explodes in a bouquet of fireworks. Through all the numbness, I can feel a hot tear trickle down my cheek.

“I… I love you too,” I quietly admit.

“Let’s never get married.”

That draws an even stronger laugh from me. But it must sound like a sob, because Rian’s brows tent as he lifts a heavy hand and gently pinches my chin.

“Never,” I silently repeat.

Those dimples deepen.

“You said you loved me,” he smiles, like he’s won some big game.

“You said it first.”

“I’m delirious from blood loss,” he rasps. “What’s your excuse?”

Somehow, I manage to lift my chin half an inch in an attempt to reveal where Leander’s needle broke my skin.