Chapter 45 Aiden #2
I drove my knee into his gut, hard enough to make something crack.
Zack choked on a breath, staggering back, one hand clutching his ribs.
He barely had a second to recover before I grabbed him by the collar and slammed his head against the wall.
My body screamed in protest, but I ignored it.
The sickening thud of bone meeting concrete sent a dark satisfaction curling through my chest.
Still, he fought. Snarling, desperate. His knife flashed in a wild arc—I barely twisted in time, feeling the blade slice a shallow cut across my ribs. With each hit I blocked out my pain more and more, remembering how badly he wanted Evie for himself.
I caught his wrist, twisted until I heard the snap, until his scream ripped through the air like a broken thing. His knife clattered to the floor. I didn’t let him fall. I wanted him to feel this.
My fist connected with his jaw. Once. Twice. A third time, harder, sharper. Until his lip split, until his skin was slick with blood, until his groaning turned to gasping, to wheezing, to silence.
But I wasn’t done.
I grabbed him by the throat, lifted his bloodied face to mine, and slammed him back against the ground. His head bounced off the concrete with a wet, ugly sound.
I leaned in close, breathing hard. Watching the flicker of fear in his eyes.
“You wanted Evie,” I whispered, fingers tightening around his throat. “And you knew damn well I would never let that happen.”
He tried to speak, but it was only a gurgle.
I smiled. Then I grabbed his own knife, slicing it across his neck, making sure he never got up again.
I fell back, the adrenaline already feeling like it wasn’t enough. The pain shot back through me, the slice in my side feeling like my entire stomach was ripped open and my head pounding. If I didn’t have a concussion before, I did now.
Evie lowered the knife she held in Zack’s direction, fear making her worry he wasn’t done. Her wild eyes found mine. “Are you okay?”
“Okay, after you came in here and killed someone to save me? I’ve never been better. You’re a fucking dream, psycho girl.” I wiped the blood from my mouth. “Marry me.”
She groaned. “You’re ridiculous. Shut up and let’s get out of here.”
I smirked. “You love me.”
My vision went hazy at the edges, the world blurring.
She rolled her eyes. “Ask me again when you’re not actively bleeding out.”
I grinned, despite the pain. “No, Evie, I’m asking you now.”
“About a wedding or love?” she asked, her eyebrow arching.
“We can start with love,” my voice cracked on the word love, a rare softness cutting through the pain.
She looked around, looking more nervous now than when she burst in here to kill. “Dammit, Ace.” The nickname loving now. “You are not seriously going to make me say all that first.”
I reached up, wincing as I wrapped a hand around the side of her neck. “I love you, Psycho.”
She smiled, her shoulders relaxing now. “I love you, too, Ace. Looks like you’re my second-in-command now. Someone I can always count on.”
“I’ve always been that for you, Evie. I’ve always been yours.”
She leaned down, her lips finding mine without hesitation.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Rook groaned, looking at the bodies on the floor. “Are you two done with your murder foreplay, or should I come back later?”
“You could leave us alone,” I said, shrugging only because I knew it would piss him off.
“Fuck you,” he said, stomping in our direction. “I specifically say don’t fuck around with my sister and now you’re going to throw it in my face,” he said, but there wasn’t as much anger behind the words as I expected.
“Fucking around? I just asked her to marry me!” I yelled, laughing.
He stopped, his mouth dropping open.
Hero, Mason, Harper, and Kane burst through the door.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Hero yelled, the grin dropping from his face as he looked around. “We are late?”
“Very late,” I said, turning my attention from Rook, who was still staring at us. “But I could use a little help if you feel like setting down a gun or two.”
He rolled his eyes, but Evie was at my side before he could move, pulling one of my arms up and around her shoulders.
“I was told I could come in guns ablaze and now this? You guys owe me.”
“Owe you what? A room full of people to kill?” Evie asked, her eyebrows furrowing.
“You know what? Yeah, I want exactly that. Consider it an early Christmas present.”
“It’s April,” Harper said, checking one of the bodies on the ground next to me to assure he wasn’t getting up.
“I said early.”
Rook looked around again. “You are not going to pass by the fact that you just told me you asked Evie to marry you.”
All eyes turned to us, and I smiled.
“Oh wow,” Regan laughed, holding Rook now. “I had money on Aiden getting his ass kicked, not getting a fiancée.”
“Oh, we haven’t settled that yet,” Evie teased. “Technically, I never answered.”
I met her gaze, forcing my lips to tip up through the pain. “You really gonna make me bleed out wondering?”
She rolled her eyes. “You are not bleeding out. Not yet, at least, but do you really want to do this with an audience?”
Rook threw up his hands, Regan leaning into him. “I hate this. I hate this so much.”
Evie grinned, pulling me toward the exit. “Come on. Let’s get you stitched up before you propose again.”
I grinned back, wincing as my ribs screamed in protest. “I’m making no promises.”
Hero, Mason, and Harper groaned. Rook muttered something about needing a drink before dealing with this again.
And Evie?
Evie only smiled.
And in that moment—bloodied, bruised, and half-conscious—I knew one thing for sure.
I’d follow her anywhere. Forever.