Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I lay still and tried not to cry.
Constantine only looked at the Skull King. He showed no hint of distress, even though he must have been a wreck inside. I’d seen a version of him that night when he killed Pierre and the others who’d tried to kill me. But this version was different because he was an emperor who faced off against a king. “Name your price.”
The Skull King pulled out his gun and aimed it at me—all the while not taking his eyes off Constantine.
Constantine kept his closed fist to his chest, continued to stare down the man who put a gun to my head. “A bit unnecessary when I just asked you to name your price, Darius.”
He cocked the gun—just to be an asshole.
“My brother fucked your wife, and your response is to kill mine?” His voice rose, the anger booming down the hallway. “What the fuck do you want?”
“Here are my terms—accept them and she lives.”
Constantine continued his hard stare.
“And you also live. Because you’re right. You didn’t fuck my wife. But I still hate your face every time I look at it, so you go back on your word, and I will kill everyone you’ve ever known and loved. Understand me?”
He was utterly still, hand to his chest, eyes sharp. “Yes.”
“Rome is mine. This palace you call home is mine. The Roman Republic will lose its emperor and have a king instead, and you will not interfere with my reign. Your men either join me or retire permanently—”
“Done.”
Darius hesitated in obvious surprise.
I didn’t expect it either. Didn’t expect him to give up everything he loved . . . for me.
Darius continued to stare at him like he didn’t quite believe it.
“We’ll be gone by morning. You can have everything, and I’ll disappear.”
The stare-down from the Skull King was long and penetrative, like the two of them were in a poker match and one of them was bluffing. “Well, that was easy.” It seemed to be over, but then he raised his gun again and pointed it at Medusa to shoot her. “Except one more thing. Your little bitch bit me—”
With superhuman reflexes, Constantine jumped in the way of Medusa, and his body jerked back hard when the bullet struck him.
“Oh my god!” I shrieked and rushed to him. “Constantine—”
Darius grabbed me by the arm and flung me hard to the floor. He walked over to Constantine, whose body completely blocked Medusa, his shirt stained with blood from the bullet that seemed to have hit him in the shoulder. “You took a bullet for a dog?”
Constantine showed no sign of pain, held himself up on his uninjured arm.
“Are you fucked in the head?”
Constantine stared up at him, his breathing slightly elevated from the pain or the loss of blood. “I agreed to your terms. We’ll grab our things and head straight to the airport.” He slowly pushed himself to his feet, then stood tall, the blood dripping down the ink of his arm and to his fingertips. Medusa got up behind him and started to limp toward him. “You know I’m a man of my word, Darius.”
Darius returned his handgun to the back of his jeans, then nodded to his men. “You have three hours. My men will keep an eye on you until you’re done. All calls and texts are prohibited. If you try, you’ll all be shot—including your dog.”
I rushed to him and went straight for his arm, yanking up the sleeve to see the visible wound and the blood that continued to pour out of it. “We’ve got to get you to a hospital.”
He yanked the sleeve down again. “I’m not worried about it.”
“You’ve been shot.”
“Been shot before. It’s fine.”
“What?”
He blew off my concern and grabbed me hard by the arm. “Are you okay?”
“I—I’m fine.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.” He’d thrown me on the floor twice, but that was nothing compared to what he could have done. “But . . . Medusa tried to protect me. She bit him really good on the arm, and he threw her across the room and broke her leg.” I started to cry, remembering the thud her body had made when it smacked against the wall.
Constantine grimaced, like that knowledge really affected him. He turned away from me to Medusa, where she stood balancing on her three paws so she didn’t have to put pressure on the fourth. It was her right front leg. “Baby girl . . .” He knelt down to her, cupped her face in his hands, then kissed her forehead. He rested his lips there for a long time. “We’re gonna get you better, okay? We just have to get out of here first. Stay here until we’re ready.” He kissed her again. “You did a good job protecting Aurelia.”
I watched him comfort his dog while he bled out from the bullet he’d taken for her. Watched him give all of himself to everyone. Watched him sacrifice his whole world for the two of us.