Page 189 of Forbidden Forget-Me-Not

“If you think I would let Nathaniel take all the glory, you’re sadly mistaken.”

He pulled me into a tight embrace.

Stepping back, I wiped stray tears of relief from my cheeks. Titus’s eyes swept over the room, and only then did I register the carnage.

“I’ll check for survivors,” he said, voice grim as he wandered toward the nearest casualty.

I spotted Matteo among the victims, eyes wide and unseeing, blood staining his shirt. The Harringtons had lost two family members. It was a brutal reminder of how little control we had.

Goran strode through the open archway, and my breath caught in my throat as the curtains billowed around him. Before I could react, his face blanched.

He lifted his arm with a gun aimed at me.

The bullet cracked through the air. A violent whisper of wind skimmed my ear, fluttering my hair.

I gasped.

For a heartbeat, the world went silent. Goran had shot at me, and my brain refused to comprehend why. My body braced for pain, for the impact that would end my life.

Nothing came. No darkness swallowed me. There was only the acrid scent of gunpowder and the ringing in my ears.

Then I heard a wet, choking sound. Something warm misted across the back of my neck.

I whipped around to find a man, standing inches away, eyes wide. Blood seeped through his fingers from the wound in his throat. A large knife lay useless at his feet. He stared at me like I was a ghost.

“You must die,” he rasped.

Goran appeared at my side in an instant. Without hesitation, he put three more bullets into the man’s chest. The attacker collapsed forward, motionless.

“Are you hurt?” Goran’s voice was low as he assessed for any sign of injury.

My arms locked around his neck, and I didn’t give a fuck who saw. He held me close, burying his head into the side of my throat. Time stood still, and no one else existed but the two of us.

“I’m fine now,” I breathed, the tremor in my voice betraying me.

Goran pulled back slightly and cupped my cheeks. His eyes darted over my shoulder before he cleared his throat. His hands fell away, and he slowly stepped around me. My father stood nearby, watching us.

Goran didn’t speak. He simply faced my father, his body coiled, ready for anything.

I glanced at the hard set of my father’s jaw and the gun in his hand.

“Hasn’t there been enough bloodshed? Please, Father.”

Instead of responding, he put the gun away, straightened his suit jacket, and marched outside. With a sigh, I leaned into Goran. He wrapped his arm around me as I took in the carnage.

Smoke drifted toward the ceiling in slow curls. Water from a shattered sprinkler rained down, candle flames sputtered and died. Bodies lay scattered, some lying on top of each other, others reaching out as if begging for help that never came. The scent of roses was gone, replaced by gunpowder, blood, and scorched cloth.

“I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” Goran said, tightening his hold.

“Good, because I’m never leaving you. No matter what happens, I can’t let my father blackmail me again.”

Pulling the gaudy ring off my finger I dropped it to the ground, officially putting Julian and his family behind me.

“Come on, let’s get you to the limo where it’s safe. I don’t think anyone else will show up, but just in case.”

He guided me toward the door.

My feet faltered as we came to Isadora.