- Prey
- Sphere
- Black Rose
- The Great Train Robbery
- Blue Dahlia
- Carnal Innocence
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Lawless
- Sacred Sins
- Tribute
- Face the Fire
- Holding the Dream
- A Man for Amanda
- All the Possibilities
- Next
- Prey
- Sphere
- Black Rose
- The Great Train Robbery
- Blue Dahlia
- Carnal Innocence
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Lawless
- Sacred Sins
- Tribute
- Face the Fire
- Holding the Dream
- A Man for Amanda
Their Virgin ConcubinePage 33
“Don’t you dare move, Piper.” He spared her just a momentary glance. He needed to keep his eyes on Khalil. A nasty grin split Khalil’s face. Now that he knew, Tal could see the toll the cancer had taken on his cousin. Or perhaps it was just a life spent doing evil to the people around him that had sunken in his eyes, made his skin sallow. He could never feel an ounce of sympathy for Khalil. Whatever horrible death found him, it would be too easy. “I told you he would come for you, dear,” Khalil said. “And I will kill him, too, but not yet. He’s just in time to watch you die.” Tal leapt just as Khalil lifted his gun. Time seemed to slow down, his vision centering on that gun. He had to save Piper, and there was only one way to do it. That bullet would have its victim. He simply had to make sure it wasn’t her. The sound was muffled by the long silencer on the end of the gun, but that shot shuddered through the room and a terrible lash of fire went through Tal’s gut. It burned, cutting through his flesh. Shot. He’d been shot. He’d taken the bullet that would have likely ended Piper’s life. Even as he hit the floor, he could feel the bullet lodging in his gut, safely away from Piper. His body crumpled, pain in his every cell. “Damn you, Talib,” Khalil cursed. The door slammed open, kicked from the outside. In a second Dane was through, his big body moving faster than Tal could have imagined. The huge guard’s face was a blank as he raised his weapon, firing three times in rapid succession without a hint of hesitation. Tal looked up in time to see his cousin’s body shudder with the impact of the bullets. Two in his chest and a neat shot that split his eyes. Khalil’s face went blank, his body slumping to the floor, dead. Relief swam through Talib. Now he could die in peace. “Tal!” Piper’s face came into view as she scrambled toward him, shoving the skirts of her destroyed gown aside. Tears coursed down her cheeks. She looked back up, seeming to find his brothers. “Someone call an ambulance. Kade, please tell them to hurry.” Blood. There was so much blood. He could feel his hands getting slippery with it. Was it his? The world seemed to have a soft glow about it. Piper put a hand to his face. She really was an angel. And she should be protected. She should never be shot at. How could he have ever thought for a minute she was plain? He lifted a hand to her face. “So beautiful.” She leaned over and kissed his forehead. “Please stay with me. Please. Don’t leave us. We need you.” But she needed something so much better than him. He tried to tell her, but the words wouldn’t come. He just held on to the sight of her face now streaked with a small smear of blood. He could hear Dane barking orders through his radio. “Forgive me,” he managed to force out. “Of course.” Tears streaked down her face. “Always.” Rafe got to one knee, his hand on Piper’s back, lending support. Kade was shouting for help. Everyone was moving around him, but all that mattered was Piper. Darkness swallowed him whole, but not before one final thought consumed him. I love you. Chapter Fifteen Three weeks later Dallas, TX Piper stared out at the night lights and tried to come up with a single enthusiastic thought. From the James family’s penthouse suite, the views of Dallas were beyond spectacular, but all she could think about was how peaceful the gardens had been in Bezakistan. At night she would wander on to the balcony and watch the palms sway. Eventually one of her husbands would find her, slip an arm around her waist, and tell her how beautiful she was. She’d had three amazing men. And now she was alone. No longer a concubine. Never a queen. “Hey, Jessa and I were wondering if you were going to come in and have a glass of wine before dinner? Come on. Someone has to drink for me.” Hannah James stepped out onto the balcony, stroking her swollen belly. She started with a smile, but lost it when she looked at Piper. “Hon, you’re crying again. I wish you would tell me what happened. All I know is you came home and needed a place to stay, and suddenly Cole and Burke were deeply interested in where you were twenty-four seven.” She sighed. Ever since her return, she’d been out of sorts. She felt homeless, aimless. The night she’d landed in Dallas, she’d wondered how she would get from the airport to a hotel. She’d been given a thousand US dollars and a credit card she vowed to never use, but as far as she’d known, no one had been advised that she was returning to Texas. To her surprise, Burke and Cole Lennox had been waiting for her. Tal’s big brooding guard, the one named Dane, had handed her over to them, and she’d found herself on her way to the James penthouse. She no longer had an apartment, thanks to Rafe and Kade. She’d cried because she didn’t have a home. Oh, a real estate agent had contacted her the morning after her arrival in Dallas, a very nice woman who indicated that Piper could have any house of her choosing in the city, all paid for. She just had to select one. Piper hadn’t returned the woman’s calls. She wanted nothing more from the al Mussad brothers. So she’d been the James’s very quiet houseguest for three weeks. And she’d been unwilling to share even a moment of her heartbreak. But maybe it was time. Tomorrow, Piper would thank Hannah and her husbands for their hospitality, find her belongings in storage, then rebuild her life and try to move on. “You know Tal was shot, right?” Piper said. Hannah nodded. “I read it in the paper. He was shot by his cousin. I heard that’s not the first time he tried to kill the sheikh.” No. It wasn’t the first time Khalil had hurt the al Mussad family, and it wasn’t really the last. His legacy of pain seemed to be destined to last a lifetime. “He’s dead now, but Tal decided he didn’t want to marry me.” “I don’t understand that.” Hannah put a hand on her arm. “I saw the pictures of the four of you together. You all looked so happy.” Piper couldn’t stand to look at those pictures. “Tal is afraid that Khalil won’t be the last person to try to hurt him by hurting me.” “He’s scared of losing you,” Hannah said, sympathy in her voice. |
- The Loners
- The Saints
- Switched
- Fangtastic!
- Re-Vamped!
- Vampalicious!
- Tome of the Undergates
- Black Halo
- The Skybound Sea
- If You Stay
- If You Leave
- Until We Burn
- Before We Fall
- Every Last Kiss
- Fated
- Suspiciously Obedient
- Random Acts of Crazy
- Random Acts of Trust
- Her First Billionaire
- Her Second Billionaire
- Her Two Billionaires
- Her Two Billionaires and a Baby
- His Majesty's Dragon
- Throne of Jade
- Black Powder War
- Victory of Eagles
- Tongues of Serpents
- Empire of Ivory
- Crucible of Gold
- Delirium