Chapter 7 - Blood and Bourbon
The wooden doors shattered into splinters.
Adrian stepped through the debris like the angel of death.
He didn't have his jacket on; his sleeves were rolled up over his forearms, revealing dark, intricate tattoos creeping up his wrists. In his right hand was a matte-black semi-automatic pistol, held low and steady. His eyes weren't just cold; they were entirely vacant of humanity—a pure, black void of homicidal fury.
Behind him, four of his men flooded the terrace, subduing Marco’s remaining enforcer with brutal, silent efficiency.
Adrian’s gaze scanned the terrace. He saw Dante groaning on the floor, Marco bleeding from his nose on his knees, and me—leaning against the stone railing, gasping for air, four dark purple bruises already blooming across my pale throat.
The temperature in the air plummeted to absolute zero.
""Adrian—"" Marco choked out, holding up a bloody hand from the floor, his voice pitching high in sheer panic. ""She assaulted me! She attacked me first! I was just talking to her—""
Adrian didn't even look at his cousin's face.
He crossed the distance in two strides. Without breaking stride, Adrian raised his heavy combat boot and kicked Marco squarely in the ribs. The sickening snap of broken bone was loud enough to make me flinch. Marco curled into a fetal ball, vomiting blood onto the polished flagstones.
Adrian holstered his weapon, dropped down on one knee, and grabbed Marco by the hair, hauling his bloody face up until their eyes met.
""You touched her,"" Adrian said. His voice wasn't screaming. It was a terrifying, quiet whisper that made the hair on my arms stand on end. ""I gave the order that she was to be treated as my equal. As my queen.""
""She’s... she’s nobody!"" Marco wheezed, blood bubbling on his split lips. ""She’s a dive-bar waitress! You’re throwing away the family over a fat nobody!""
Adrian’s expression didn't flicker. He leaned in, his lips hovering an inch from his cousin's ear. ""Every drop of blood in your body belongs to me, Marco. And tonight, you spent it all.""
Adrian stood up and stepped back. He looked at his men. ""Take him down to the cellar at the harbor docks. Do not kill him yet. Let him contemplate what happens to traitors until sunrise.""
Two guards dragged the groaning, broken man across the terrace, leaving a dark, smeared trail of red on the wet stone.
Adrian finally turned to me.
The murderous void in his eyes vanished, replaced by an agony of guilt and panic so intense it stunned me. He reached for me, his large hands hovering in the air as if terrified that touching me might break whatever was left.
""Mara..."" he breathed, his voice raw, shaking with an emotion I had never heard in a man before. ""Did he... did he hurt you anywhere else?""
My adrenaline was crashing fast. My knees buckled beneath me, the sheer weight of the violence washing over my nervous system.
Adrian caught me before I could hit the ground. He scooped me up into his arms, cradling me against his massive chest like I weighed nothing at all. He didn't care about the blood on the floor. He didn't care about the gasping crowd of socialites gathering at the broken terrace doors, watching their terrifying boss hold a sobbing, bruised woman against his heart.
""Dante, get the car,"" Adrian roared across the lawn, his voice booming like thunder. ""Now!""
He carried me out through the private gardens, bypassing the onlookers, shielding my face with his broad shoulder. In the backseat of the Maybach, he pulled me onto his lap, wrapping a heavy wool blanket around my shivering shoulders, pressing his lips against the crown of my head while his fingers gently traced the bruises on my neck.
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""I'm sorry,"" he whispered over and over into my hair, his chest heaving against mine. ""I should never have left you alone. I swear to you, Mara, on my life, no one will ever touch you again.""
I buried my face in his neck, breathing in the scent of his skin and the faint trace of gunsmoke, realizing with terrifying clarity that the most dangerous place in the city was also the only place I had ever felt entirely safe.
