Reign A Romance Anthology - Nina Levine Page 0,83

I can’t decide if they’re happy flutters or nervous ones. They should be the latter, but I’m not convinced they are.

I’ve just laid my dress on the bed when I hear angry shouts from the living area again.

Jesus, Javier is in a mood today.

Except, I realize something bad is happening when gunfire sounds.

Fear rushes through my veins, but only for a split second. My father trained me for this from a young age, and while I haven’t had to deal with something like it in years, I’ve kept my skills sharpened.

Moving fast and without making a noise, I head for my suitcase where I have my gun stashed. The one even Javier’s team didn’t find when they searched my bag. That’s what they get for conducting a sloppy search after assuming a woman like me doesn’t carry.

Once I locate it, I quietly move through the rooms of the suite looking for Javier. I find him and another man in the library.

Perez.

I’d recognize the asshole anywhere. My father has had enough issues with him for me to know he’s the kind of man who needs a bullet through his head. The problem with that is he heads the Alonso Cartel who would be swift with their retribution if we did shoot him.

Perez’s back is to me, but his gun is trained on Javier.

Javier’s gun lies on the floor.

He’s seen me, but he was quick to divert his eyes back to Perez who is unaware of my presence.

“If you’re going to shoot, Perez, fucking shoot,” Javier snarls.

Perez keeps his gun on Javier. “I’m not going to shoot you until after I fuck your woman and shoot her. I want you to watch her bleed.”

Javier’s features darken more than they already are. “You will never lay a fucking finger on her.”

“You might have stopped me two years ago but look at you now. Does it seem like you hold any power here today?”

Javier stopped him two years ago?

My brain races as it latches onto that, but I push it aside. I don’t have time to be contemplating anything right now. Not when Javier’s life is at risk.

“Fucking shoot me!” Javier bellows, and I realize that each time he’s ordered Perez to shoot, he’s actually ordering me to do that. He’s letting me know he’ll deal with the fallout of Perez’s death.

I step closer to Perez and aim my gun at him. “It’s such a shame you won’t get to fuck me,” I say. “Or shoot me,” I add as he spins to face me. Without hesitation, I pull the trigger and lodge a bullet between his eyes, exactly how I was taught by the men my father hired to train me as a teenager.

Javier moves into action the minute I fire the gun.

He retrieves his gun before closing the distance between us as Perez goes down. “Stay with me,” he orders, his voice rough. Pulling out his phone, he makes a call and barks into the device, “Perez is with me. He’s dead.” He listens for a moment before saying, “You and Christopher come up to the suite to take care of this. Everyone else is to keep searching for his men.”

He disconnects and shoves the phone into his pocket before running his gaze over my body. It’s as if he’s searching to make sure I’m okay, that I haven’t come to any harm.

I frown. “What happened with Perez two years ago?”

His eyes meet mine. “Nothing.” He takes hold of my arm and tries to drag me out of the library.

I resist, pulling out of his hold. “No, Javier. I want to know what he meant when he said you stopped him. Did he threaten my life?”

“Fuck, Emilia, this is not the time to get into this.”

“You’re right there. The time to get into it was two years ago.” I cross my arms and settle in for a fight. We aren’t going anywhere or exchanging any vows today until he answers my question. “Did us breaking up have something to do with this?” I don’t know why it would have, but the timing seems far too coincidental.

His eyes search mine. I can’t tell if he’s deciding to ignore my question, or if he’s weighing up what to share with me. Finally, he nods. “Yes. Perez made a threat against you two years ago.”

“What kind of threat?”

“The cartel had to give up some territory. He threatened your life if we didn’t.”

“Okay, so what did that have to do with us?”

He takes his time answering