The rider raised the gun, aiming it at Rook’s chest, and my heart hammered in mine. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t watch this.
It felt like Rook was all I had left. The only person on this planet that might care about me enough to put himself between me and a gun. I couldn’t watch him die because of that.
I looked down at the gun again and back at Rook. He hadn’t turned to face me even for a second, not taking his eyes off the rider.
“Even if you kill me, you aren’t going to get what you want out of it,” Rook said. “It’s not like you can walk right in and take over what I’ve created.”
“Maybe not immediately, but I can start.”
“You’re going to kill him?” I asked, feeling like I needed some confirmation before I crossed the line. Before I made a decision that I would never forget.
“You, too, princess,” the rider said with an unsettling grin.
I grabbed the gun off the bike and stepped around to the back, closer to them. Rook was off to the side now, the rider diagonal to me and the bike as I raised the gun.
He smiled. The laugh that escaped him made me realize he wasn’t scared of me. No one was.
“Already know you can’t shoot, princess.”
I couldn’t, but I knew the logistics of it. I steadied my hand, taking one quick breath before I pulled the trigger.
The shot rang out, the quiet night around us breaking before settling eerily fast. The gun dropped as quickly as I had shot it.
Rook watched the guy fall, blood splattering onto us as my stomach churned, threatening everything I had eaten to come back up.
“What a fucking shot,” Rook said, turning back to me. “Did you really just kill a guy for threatening to kill me?”
“I did,” I said, dragging in hard, ragged breaths. “Aiden was right.”
Rook’s eyebrows jumped up. “About?”
“That is surprisingly easy to do when they are threatening something you care about.”
He took three large steps in my direction, wrapping his arms around me to drag me against his chest. His lips found mine, the desperate, deep kiss making me forget for one second what had happened. He groaned, his hands sliding around the back of my neck to hold me closer.
“You look so fucking pretty, Rebel,” he murmured. “You look so good, dripping in blood and diamonds. I told you, you’re a fucking queen.”
“You find this attractive?”
“Yes, unfortunately. I find my girl putting a bullet in someone’s head to protect me sexy as hell. Sorry, buying me flowers or something doesn’t get me off the same way.”
“I can assure you now, you can expect more flowers than dead bodies.”
“Then I’m going to need to kiss you a few minutes longer to make the most of this.”
His hands roamed over my back, pulling me tighter against him as his kiss deepened. I felt the urgency in his movements, the raw desire he had for me, making my heart race. He pulled back slightly, just enough to look into my eyes, his breath hot against my lips.
“Every fucking time you surprise me, Rebel. Every time I think I’ve seen all you have to give, you do something like that and show me over and over how strong you are. You show me how much of a rebel you want to be.”
His lips crashed back onto mine, his kiss demanding and wild. I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling the heat between us intensify. His hands slid down to my waist, lifting me slightly off the ground as he moved us against the wall for support.
He rested his forehead against mine, his breathing heavy. “We need to get out of here,” he said, his voice softening. “There will be more of them.”
“Then I would like to go because I don’t ever want to do that again.”
“I can’t promise a situation like that won’t happen again, and I would like to request that you do kill anyone who is trying to kill me. Preferably, at least.”
“But that was terrifying. What if I can’t?”