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“Maya,” he said again. “They wanted her. Bad.”
Rhia’s heart stopped. She knew what was coming but to hear the words spoken stabbed her in the heart. She eased past Matteo to settle between Lucian’s knees.
“Lucian,” she said softly. “What happened? Tell us.”
Sevastyan held his hand out for her, but she refused. They couldn’t protect her from everything. She had to know.
“Is she still alive?” Her question fell in a hushed whisper from her lips.
He lifted his head, eyes aglow with regret. “I tried.”
“Oh, God.”
“No God here, sweetheart.” He smiled coldly.
She took in the blood. The way it caked against his flesh. It looked as if pints of it were poured over him.
“Did you see them kill her?” she asked, heart racing. She couldn’t bring herself to raise her voice above a whisper.
“No. I was too busy with the swarm of fuckers trying to take me to hell with them.” He laughed a humorless sound. “I was too focused on you and your protection because after they finished with me, they let me know exactly what they would do to you when they found you. I couldn’t let that happen. You and my brothers come first.”
She kneeled in front of him and cradled his face in her hands when he looked too weak to hold his head up. “I just need a minute. Maybe a shower. I’ll be ok. They only nicked me here and there. Fuckers couldn’t aim worth shit but a couple of them loved kidney shots and brass knuckles.”
She pried up his shirt and sure enough, bruises splattered across his skin like someone had spilled Kool-Aid over his ribs and kidney area.
“Thank you. Thank you for protecting me. I shouldn’t have asked you to risk yourself for me, my friend. I’m so sorry you are in pain.”
Lucian’s arms were back around her. “I would do it all over again, sweetheart.” His heart pounded against her cheek and up went another silent prayer of gratitude.
“My life is yours.”
“But you barely know me.” How could they be so devoted to her?
“I’ve loved you since you walked into our club. We all did, birdie. I bet none of these fuckers has told you that yet.” He smiled.
Oh.
Falling for these men felt like being a Bond girl and falling for the devilishly handsome villain. In her case, four of them. It was wrong and the worst possible idea but turning back didn’t seem like an option either.
“I love you too.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get this all sorted,” he grunted, shifting in the kitchen chair. “Nothing we haven’t handled before.”
Lucian’s eyes turned glassy with pain and his voice trailed off. What she didn’t know about the men surrounding her hit home. Nothing they hadn’t handled before?
She closed her eyes against the pain filling her heart for her friends. It wasn’t until he squeezed her hand that she opened her eyes and looked at Lucian.
She found sorrow splashed over his features.
He kissed her knuckles. “I must ask for your forgiveness.”
Sevastyan stepped away, planting his palms flat on the dining table wearing a deep scowl that made him appear a decade older. “How many attacked you?”
Lucian’s expression turned ashen. “Nine. Ten. Twenty. Fuck if I know. I honestly lost count. They kept coming from out of nowhere. I would drop one and two more would pop up. Like fucking whack-a-moles.
“I did what I had to do but couldn’t protect her and you at the same time. I failed you.”
He turned his eyes on her and if it’s one thing she understood about one of the mafia kings, it was his loyalty to those he trusted and called a friend. These men were lucky to have each other whether they knew it or not.
