Page 100 of Savage King
“Take your time.”
“Sore, brat?”
“Very.” I smile and turn to go inside when I see Denton has a man in a headlock. I recognize the spiky blond hair, the square-shaped face, and sharp jaw. The familiar face wrecks me from the guard booth.
“Isabella. Run!” Ivan yells, and my husband whips around that way.
Lachlan has his gun pointed, and I realize he had it cocked the whole time. He just had his hands tucked into his armpits so I wouldn’t see. “Isabella, we found Ivan trying to break in.”
“Ivan?” The sharpness of Kieran’s voice scares me. “I’ll handle this. Get in the house, Isabella.”
Ivan was always nice to me. I don’t want him to get hurt solely because he liked me. Then again, trying to break into my house deserves an ass-kicking.
“We found this in his bag.” Denton, who stayed behind to help man the gate, kicks the emptied contents of his bag. Rope, a brown bottle of something to drug me, a knife, and a blindfold tumble out.
“You were going to kidnap me?” I screech at Ivan.
It happens so fast. He breaks from Denton and kicks him in the balls. Ivan takes off, but Kieran pushes Lachlan aside to tackle him down to the apron right in front of the gate.
“Get him the fuck away from my house!” Kieran roars, shoving him at Lachlan. “Bring him to the warehouse. I’ll be there in a few.”
“No!” Those bloodstained hands flash through my memory. “This involves me. You interrogate him in front of me. I won’t let him tell you lies.”
“I have no lies to tell.” Ivan’s thick Russian accent scrapes my insides, as I haven’t heard it in a while. “Just truths for your fake bride.”
“You’re pushing it, Ivan,” Lachlan says, holding him against a pole. “We can’t do this here.”
Kieran breathes heavily and eyes me. “I trust you told me the truth about this piece of shite.”
“Every word.” I stand tall. “Please. Don’t hide me away. I am your queen.”
He shakes his head and threads our fingers together as we walk up to Ivan together. With burning, angry eyes, Kieran mutters to the Russian, “Who sent you to kidnap my wife?”
“No one,” he answers right away. “She was promised to me first. I’m just taking back what was mine.”
“That’s a lie,” I bellow.
“Ask her uncle,” he says with beady eyes I’ve never seen.
My blood runs cold because no one was supposed to know about us.
“Admit it, Kieran O’Rourke,” Ivan says, his voice sinister. “You just want her for the same reason I do.”
My throat goes tight. Ivan didn’t care about me after all. And Kieran doesn’t deny the accusation. He’s made a point of calling me his wife all this time like he’s happy with me. Why doesn’t he tell Ivan he loves me? That should scare the crap out of his enemies, to be fucking with a woman he loves.
Maybe he doesn’t…
Lachlan stands there with his piece tucked against his chest. “I’ve had enough. You attempted to break into our house. That gets you a bullet to the head. I don’t suspect your uncle will let one ofmyguys crawl over his fence and not pay.” He brings the gun to Ivan’s head.
Kieran stops him. “We already killed one Russian.”
In the confusion, Ivan kicks Lachlan in the shins and runs off.
“You little prick,” Lachlan groans and prepares to run. “I may not shoot you, but I’m going to bash your head in.”
Kieran holds his brother back again. “No! Set up a meeting with Alexei about this.Tomorrow!We know who he is. Don’t go running into the night. For all we know, their death squad is around the corner, ready to ambush us. They killed her mother! They burned down her house!” Kieran is screaming, pointing at me, and I feel like one big bucket of trouble.
Too much trouble.