บททั้งหมดของ It Kills Me: A Forbidden Dark Romance: บทที่ 101 - บทที่ 110

Gunshots were audible in the distance. Then I heard yells and screams. I lay there, my vision blurry, the pain suddenly gone because I couldn’t feel anything at all.I was aware of the pressure leaving my neck and the air that finally flooded into my lungs. Christian was yanked off me and slammed into the wall. A gunshot went off, and he was dead. Another went off, and then it went quiet.“Baby.”I inhaled a deep breath when I heard that voice. “Babe?” I released a series of coughs, the air hurting my lungs when I tried to speak.He lifted me from the floor and cradled me in his arms. Livid eyes roamed over my appearance, checking my face and the blood that dripped to my chin. “Jesus Christ.”“Scarlett.” My father’s voice came closer. “Sweetheart, are you⁠—”“Fuck off, asshole.” Axel placed me in a chair. He supported me as I continued to cough.“It was a trap,” my father said. “An ambush.”Axel left me and rushed my father, punching him so hard in the face, he hit the wall then slid

“Had you by the fucking balls.” I grabbed my own cigar and lit up because I needed something to soothe my anger. Only booze and cigars could do that…and my wife. “Their mission failed. They don’t have the business, and now they don’t have the client. They’re probably sitting on pallets of product they can’t sell. Their production has probably already slowed because they’ve lost the demand. We need to set up a meeting.”“It’s a family-run business,” Dante said. “They aren’t going to dismiss what happened⁠—”“Never assume anything,” I snapped. “If they want to kill us, I’m sure they’ll make that very clear.”Shaking his head in annoyance, Dante looked away. “I’ve been working with these guys for twenty years—and then you show up and that goes to shit.”“I’ve been in love with your daughter from the moment I saw her, and you’ve fucked that up every step of the way,” I said. “So it looks like we’re even.”As if my declaration of affection made him uncomfortable, he shifted his gaze to The

“I’m not sure why I ever thought I could fill your shoes. I’m not sure why you thought it either. I’m an easy target, and everyone who sees me is going to want to strike. I don’t instill fear in my enemies the way Axel and Theo do.”“Don’t let Axel manipulate you⁠—”“He doesn’t manipulate me. This is how I feel, Dad.”He turned quiet, grabbing his glass and taking a drink. He swirled it before he returned it to the table. “So what are you saying exactly?”I couldn’t look at him as I said it. “I want out.” I focused on the textured wood of the table, the lines sealed under the protective wax that made the surface soft to the touch. Silence was heavy, and the gray sunlight that burned through the windows suddenly felt too bright.My father was still.When he said nothing, my gaze lifted to him again.All he did was stare, his eyes heavy in thought. “Sometimes I wonder if he did this on purpose.”“What?” I asked, unsure what that meant.“He rejected their offer because he knew there woul

All he did was shake his head.“Just think about it…is all I ask.”Chapter 3AxelI secured the vest across my body. It only weighed ten pounds, but it was thick enough to stop a bullet or a knife. When I’d gone to the factory to save my wife, I hadn’t had the time to put it on, so I’d gone in blind and vulnerable. Now I had something to live for, so I was careful to watch my back and my front.I hadn’t seen Scarlett most of the day, so I texted her. Baby, where are you?In the kitchen.I went downstairs to the bottom floor and into the second kitchen in the rear. It’d been a long time since I’d had a party, but whenever I did, people liked to congregate in the kitchen and on the barstools. So, I had a kitchen for entertaining and a kitchen for the actual cooking. I stepped inside and found the kitchen island covered with ingredients and hot pans on the stove. It smelled divine, and my stomach tightened even though I’d already had dinner.I leaned against the counter and stared at her

“Christian had a lot of other threads he could have pulled to get what he wanted,” Dante said. “He could have left the meeting and withdrawn his product until we were forced to come to the negotiation table. Trying to take the business, along with my daughter and me, was not the right hand to play. Don’t blame us for your cousin’s foolishness. What happened was tragic, but we are in no way responsible for the bloodshed. The smart thing to do is move forward and continue this business arrangement. It’s obvious we need one another. We need you as our supplier, and you need us as your biggest client. Let’s learn from the past and not squander millions because of our tempers.”Moments like this reminded me that Dante wasn’t completely useless. Unlike me, he could keep his temper, or at least halt it until the appropriate moment. When his eye was on the prize, he was focused like the point of a laser.The Colombian considered the offer in silence before he straightened in his chair. “I acc