Page 100 of Gilded Shackles

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"I've got you," he says. Voice raw. Wrecked. "You're okay. I've got you."

I hold on like the world will end if I let go.

Then I see her.

My mother. In the doorway. Gun raised.

"Nikolai..." I try to pull him sideways, pointing, my voice strangling on the warning. "Gayle!"

A sound splits the air.

A gunshot. So close it burns my ears.

I scream.

29

ELLE

The world slows to a nightmare.

Nikolai's body crashes into mine, knocking us both to the floor. It happens in fragments. His weight suddenly heavy. His grip loosening. Something wet and warm soaking through my clothes.

I don't understand until I touch it.

My fingers come away red.

Blood.

So much blood.

His blood.

The scream that claws out of my throat doesn't sound human. "No, no, no. Stay with me!"

I roll him enough to see his face. Eyes open, glassy, unfocused. His mouth moves like he's searching for wordsthat won't come.

"Nikolai..." My hands flutter over him, desperate to stop the bleeding, not knowing where to press. The blood is everywhere, blooming dark and fast from his side.

He coughs. Red on his lips. "Elle," he rasps.

I lean close, crying so hard I can't see. "You're okay. You're okay. I've got you."

Behind me. Footsteps. The click of heels on marble.

I know that sound. I'd know it in my sleep.

"Move away from him, Elle." Gayle says it like she's telling me to set down a fork.

I turn my head. She's standing a few feet away, gun still raised, face composed like she's already counting this as a win. I clutch Nikolai tighter, my fingers digging into his shoulders.

"You shot him. You shot him!"

"Of course I did." Like shooting your son-in-law is the most reasonable thing in the world. "He killed half my men. Now move."

"Mother, please." I'm begging and I don't care. "I'm carrying his baby. He's my husband."

"Move." She levels the gun at his head. "I'm finishing what I started."

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