Page 152 of Broken & Bound

Then she stepped directly between Sebastian and me. She settled into a fighting stance. Small. Balanced. And absolutely fearless.

“Artist, assume a fight stance now. We protect him with everything.”

Bella’s gaze finally lifted from the knife, still lying at her feet.

“Don’t make me cut you, Torturer. Back away,” Kinsley hissed between clenched teeth.

For one surreal moment, no one moved. The blade in Kinsley’s hand was longer than her forearm. Every person in the room knew exactly how sharp it was. And every person in the room knew she’d use it.

The silence that followed was so complete it bordered on absurd. Then, almost instinctively, Sebastian took a slow step backward. He lifted his hands in surrender.

“Tiny tot, what the hell are you doing?”

“I’m stopping you from killing him. You promised you would if you ever saw him again. I can’t let you. I love you Sebastian, but you can’t kill him. It’s not happening. Don’t you get it?” she cried.

“Isabella,” Tori whispered.

She notched her head toward Kinsley, and the two of them moved as a single unit. They kept their postures loose and unthreatening, treating Mouse like a cornered animal who needed soothing.

Tori kept her palms flat and low. Isabella leaned into Kinsley’s field of vision, deliberately blocking her view of Sebastian. I took a moment to catch my breath, partially thankful for the reprieve. My lungs burned as I sucked in air. The adrenaline was still roaring through my veins like fire, making my knuckles twitch and my vision blur. But the immediate need to tackle Sebastian to the ground was losing its grip.

“Kins, we don’t cut family. I need you to look at me.”

Mouse didn’t. Her breathing came in ragged pulls, and her entire body trembled.

“I won’t let him hurt him. He’s all I have from before. He can’t take him from me, Izzy. I won’t let him,” she choked.

“I know. And he isn’t going to.”

Bella took another careful step. She glanced briefly toward Sebastian before returning her attention to Mouse. She reached out and softly touched her arm.

“Look at them. They’ve stopped. They aren’t fighting any more.”

Slowly, with a reluctance, the tip of Ivan’s blade lowered. It never quite left a ready position.

“He has to say it. I’ve had enough of this macho bullshit.”

She whipped the knife back up and pointed it at every man in the room. “And so help me God, not a single one of you better yell ‘language’ at me.”

Declan stepped forward. “She’s right. Say it, Uncle Bash. We’re a family. You both need to start acting like it.”

His small voice somehow carried farther than anyone else’s. Then he turned toward Kinsley.

“Aunt Kins, please give Uncle Ivan his blade back.”

He held out her smaller knife. Only then did she seem to notice the sword-sized blade still clutched in her hands. She blinked. Tilted her head. Almost confused by how it had gotten there. Ivan approached, a murderous glare on his face.

“He has to say it, make him,” she said, refusing to budge from in front of me.

“If you bear any love for me, Sebastian James you will say it,” Isabella said.

There was a moment of silence, the tension still thick but now tinged with something else.

“Fine. I won’t kill him.”

He spun on his heel and stormed inside. Alek followed without another word. Kinsley’s entire body gave out. Nik caught her before she hit the floor, gathering her against his body as she mumbled softly in Russian.

“We’ll vote later. Right now, the two of you should talk,” Marcel said.