Page 188 of Forbidden Forget-Me-Not

My hand went to the chain around my neck. I squeezed the ring, but I didn’t pray for a miracle. I prayed for Goran.

A second wave of men pushed through the side door and surged toward our table. Sven fired without hesitation. A masked man jerked back, stumbling out of view as he fell.

Then the cadence of the gunfight changed. There was a different rhythm. More shots echoed in the room, and everything was twice as loud, but the frantic firing of bullets had been replaced by military-level precision and were no longer hitting the wall near us

The De Luca men must have picked up on it as well.

Sven leaned around the edge of the table to get a better view.

“Looks like the cavalry has arrived.”

He rose and rejoined the fight, leaving me with my father, who looked relieved and irritated at the same time.

Someone moved through the smoke and chaos like a wraith. A figure in black tactical gear. With a gun in each hand, he fired and wove through our attackers, bending and twisting like a shadow that bullets couldn’t touch.

My heart sang when I saw his face. Goran.

He didn’t shout my name, but his gaze flicked to me, and I knew he had seen me. Relief washed over me like a warm bath.

A man with a massive knife charged at him from behind. I opened my mouth to warn him, but it was unnecessary. Goran caught the man’s arm and snapped it with a sickening crack. The man’s screams were cut short as Goran ripped the knife from his grip and slit his throat.

I had never seen anything so horrific outside of the movies.

More of Nathaniel’s men poured into the room with weapons strapped to every inch of their bodies. Every shot was a kill, and blades flew from their hands with deadly accuracy. This was the difference between my brother and everyone else. He saw the world in a way that should terrify every other family.

Goran used the things around him as if every object were either a shield or a weapon. A body could be dragged into his path for cover. A table flipped with a single brutal shove that knocked a man flat before a bullet ended him. A wine bottle smashed over someone’s skull was then used like a knife to cut his throat. It was savage. He was ruthless. And I couldn’t look away.

When the remaining men began to retreat through the open archways, he jogged over.

“Stay down until they are gone,” he ordered.

I had never been so happy to obey an order in my life. I nodded and ducked low.

“Here you go, sir.”

Goran handed my father a gun, then followed the fight outside. The noise gradually faded until all that remained were the occasional shots and boots crunching over debris.

Everything had shifted the moment Goran arrived. Not just because he was here, but because he came like a promise. The look in his eyes told me that I was safe. No one would ever touch me again.

A single set of boots marched toward our hiding spot. I knew it was Nathaniel from Father’s disgruntled expression.

I darted out from behind, then around the heavy table and ran to my brother.

“Thank you for finding me,” I mumbled as he hugged me.

“You’re my baby sister. I will always be here for you.”

He pulled back and looked at me with warmth in his onyx eyes before turning a lethal glare on our father.

“We will speak, but not here,” Nathaniel growled, and the hairs on my neck stood on end.

Nathaniel walked away, barking orders. He moved through the smoke, jaw set and deadly. He directed every movement as if he had been preparing for his role his entire life.

“Hey, sis.”

I spun around to find Titus standing behind me, menacing in all black. I ran to him like I had Nathaniel.

“Thank you.”