Chapter 12 Lines in Blood
Killian’s POV
I can’t find Valentina anywhere. I check our room, the common area, ask the girlfriends and old ladies if they’ve seen her. Nothing. I call her phone, only to hear it ring from a table by the clubhouse door. My chest goes tight-panic rising. Did something happen? Was she taken? But no, no one gets kidnapped from the Steel Furies clubhouse. A worse thought settles: maybe she left me.
I drop onto the couch in the main room, head in my hands. Bianca saunters over, all curves and intention, bending low in front of me, practically shoving her tits in my face. Her hands land on my thighs, her laugh low and fake.
“What’s wrong, Killian? You look like you lost your puppy.” She giggles, leaning closer, her perfume heavy, her eyes smug.
Disgust surges in me. “Get the fuck off me. Can’t you take a hint? I’ve never wanted you.”
She pouts, undeterred. “Don’t lie to yourself, Killian. You let me hang on your arm after dinner, let me touch your chest at the pool table. Just let me-”
The door bangs open. Valentina steps inside, arms loaded with two totes. The world seems to freeze as her eyes find us. Hurt flashes across her face-no, not just hurt, but defeat. Bianca’s lips curl into a victorious smirk. Valentina drops her bags, rips them open, and in a blur, pulls out two blades.
Time slows, but Valentina moves like lightning. She launches the knives-one for each of Bianca’s perfect ass cheeks. Bianca shrieks, a sound that splits the air, the kind of scream that makes dogs howl. Before anyone can react, Valentina’s got Bianca by the hair, dragging her across the room, then tossing her aside like yesterday’s trash.
Then suddenly-there’s a blade pressed to my throat. I feel the bite, the trickle of blood. But what destroys me isn’t the danger-it’s the tears running down Valentina’s cheeks.
Her voice is low, meant only for me. “All you had to do was not tell me you loved me. You could’ve left it at that, left the hospital room. That would have been less cruel than seeing you kiss someone else. Less cruel than lying awake, wondering whose bed you’re sleeping in. Less cruel than knowing you’re getting off-just not with me. I’ll be gone in half an hour, and you’ll never see me again. Don’t follow me, Killian. If you do, I’ll cut your throat and kill every last person in here.”
Bianca’s howling covers her threat, and no one else hears. But I do. It shakes me to the core.
I act on instinct, grabbing her wrist-but her other fist flies, cracking me across the jaw. Pain radiates through my skull, and I let go. She drives a foot into my gut, knocking the air out of me. As I bend, she kicks again an upward snap that clips my chin and drops me to my knees. The room goes silent in awe, then erupts with applause and whistles from the old ladies and girlfriends. I catch someone say, “Little Fierce Moon is truly Fierce.” Gia meets Valentina at the bar, pressing a bag of ice to her bruised knuckles as she heads to our room.
Blaise strolls over, grinning, voice low. “You’ve met your match, brother. Someone shut Bianca up and get her out. New club rule: If she’s your old lady, she’s yours-nobody fucks with your woman. But you make her your old lady, that’s a real commitment. She has the right to defend her place. Don’t fuck it up. I’m talking from experience-you might not get a second chance.” The women cheer, the old ladies glowing with pride, the girlfriends shifting uncomfortably.
11.01
Blaise claps me on the back. “Go get your woman. But be careful. I heard what she said, and I don’t think she’s bluffing.”
Heart in my throat, I move to our room, crack the door and slip inside, closing it quietly behind me. The light is low. Valentina lies on her side, back to the door, clutching my pillow, her face buried in it. I can hear her sobs, each one cutting through me. Guilt weighs on me-every mistake, every silence, every time I failed to shield her from pain.
I climb onto the bed, slide in behind her, and wrap my arms around her trembling frame, holding on like I’ll never let go.
Tears streak down her cheeks, fragile and shimmering. I pull her closer, desperate to close the distance between her pain and my regret. My voice is a low, urgent plea.
“Don’t cry, baby. Please. I’m sorry-so fucking sorry-for everything I’ve put you through. I love you. I swear it.” I brush my thumb over her cheek. “The day you got out of the hospital, I went to Blaise. Told him I wanted you as my old lady. I’ve been counting every day, waiting for your ribs to heal. I want you, but I won’t risk hurting you. Not with the way I get-too rough, sometimes.”
I search her eyes, hoping she can see the truth in me. “Bianca means nothing. You weren’t there when she kissed me. Gia said you ran straight to our room.” The memory burns hot in my chest. “Yeah, Bianca kissed me. I froze for half a second. Then I shoved her off-dumped her on the floor. When you walked in, I was telling her to back the hell off. She wouldn’t listen. I didn’t want her, Valentina. I wanted you. I always want you.”
I cup her face, letting everything bleed out through my words. “Please. I love you. You’ve tamed the meanest bastard in this club. I’d crawl after you on a leash if that’s what you wanted. I’m yours, baby. I’d let you parade me around, leash and all, in front of everyone.”
Her sobs begin to quiet, softening into trembling breaths. My arms tighten around her, pouring out all the love I know how to give. Then-unexpectedly-she lets out a giggle, light and sharp.
“You’re picturing me with a leash, aren’t you?”
Her laughter swells, filling the room, bright and contagious. Relief washes over me, sweet and sharp. I bury a kiss in her hair, eyes closed.
She twists in my arms until she’s facing me, mischief in her eyes, but there’s a hard edge beneath it. “I love you too, Killian. More than anything. But if you ever cheat on me-” Her gaze sharpens, voice cold steel, “-I will kill you.”
Her eyes never leave mine. I see the promise there, clear and deadly. I swallow, heat spiraling through me, pulse racing.
Fuck, she’s serious. And it makes me want her more.
My cock thickens at the threat, hungry for her. I roll her over, guiding her on top of me, needing her weight, her fire.
“Feel that, Valentina?” I grind against her, voice rough with desire. “That’s what you do to me, especially when you get all scary. Nothing turns me on like you going full psycho. Violence looks good on you. But hear me-if you ever try to leave, I’ll hunt you down. I’ll make you wish you’d never run, and then I’ll end us both. I won’t live without you.”
My hands grip her hips, dragging her down so she feels every inch of me. She moans, arching into me,
the heat between us burning through her leggings. I can feel her-wet, wanting, desperate.
“Are you dripping for me, baby? Let me check out.”
Ride
