Chapter 186
Chapter 187
VENUS
58
The world spun sideways when Aaron moved. One second Gerald’s smirk split the room like a knife; the next, Aaron was on him-a dark blur of violence tearing through the shadows. Their bodies collided with a sound that didn’t belong to men but to war itself: bone against bone, rage against rot. The crash echoed through the warehouse, rattling the single dangling bulb until its weak glow trembled across the filth-stained walls.
I tried to push myself up, palms slipping against the cold concrete, but my body screamed in protest. My stomach throbbed, hot waves of pain pulsing outward like someone had lit a fire inside me. Still, I forced myself upright, pressing my back to a rusting pillar for support. My arms instinctively curled protectively over my belly, a shield that felt pitifully small against the storm unfolding before me.
Aaron was relentless. A wolf unleashed. He drove Gerald back with a savagery that shook the air, fists finding flesh again and again. Each strike was more than violence, it was a promise made flesh. Gerald reeled, his smirk fractured, blood slicking down his face where Aaron’s knuckles split skin.
For a fleeting second, the sight should have satisfied me. Gerald breaking beneath the weight of Aaron’s fury and every strike rewriting the terror Gerald had carved into my bones. But my heart trembled. Not from pity. Never from pity, but from fear. Fear of Aaron losing himself, drowning in rage until nothing of him remained but the monster Gerald always wanted him to be.
“Aaron!” My voice cracked, weak and strangled. My throat burned with the effort. “Please p>
He didn’t hear me. Or maybe he did and couldn’t stop. His fist slammed down again, Gerald’s head snapping to the side, spittle and blood spraying across the floor. Again. Again. The crunch of bone was a sickening rhythm, feeding the silence rather than breaking it.
My chest heaved, tears blurring my vision. I whimpered, the sound small but desperate, a fragile thread cast across the chasm. “Aaron… the babies p>
The words cut through.
His arm froze mid-strike, muscles trembling, knuckles dripping crimson. Slowly, like a man dragging himself out of drowning waters, Aaron lifted his head. His eyes-God, his eyes. Wild, feral, but they found me. Locked on me. And in that instant, something inside him cracked open.
He exhaled, sharp and shuddering.
Gerald groaned beneath him, a wet, broken sound. Aaron rose, his chest heaving as though he had run through fire, and with a final shove, he tossed Gerald aside like refuse. Gerald hit the floor in a crumpled heap, blood painting his jaw, his breath ragged and uneven.
Boots thundered around us. The warehouse doors burst wider. Connor, Colton, men in black vests with law enforcement insignia swept in like shadows summoned by rage. Commands barked, radios crackling. Guns raised, the air shifting from chaos to deadly precision.
Connor was first at Sabine’s side, cutting ropes with practiced urgency. She sobbed, her voice a shredded whisper of my name, but I couldn’t answer. My throat was too tight. My body too locked in its fragile cage of
20:49 Wed, Jan 14
Chapter 187
pain.
Aaron came to me.
Not the monster. Not the storm. Just him. My husband.
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His steps slowed as he approached. His fists were still stained, his suit ripped at the collar, blood streaking across his jaw. He crouched, and the world shrank until it was only him. His shadow fell over me like a shield. His hand reached-hesitant at first, then sure, steady, trembling only at the edges as it brushed my cheek.
“Venus,” he rasped. My name sounded broken on his tongue. “Sweetheart, are you okay? Tell me you’re fine p>
My lips parted, ready to answer, but it happened so suddenly.
A snarl split the air. Gerald.
He broke free from the grip of the officers holding him down, his body snapping upright with the desperate strength of a cornered animal. Blood streamed down his face, painting his smirk into something monstrous. His hand darted, too quick, too precise, and suddenly the gun was back in his grasp.
His face was a ruin of bruises and fury, but his eyes-God, his eyes-burned with a sick, triumphant light. He wrenched free for one final moment, the weapon rising with a predator’s precision. His smirk was back, broken and bloodied, but alive.
Aaron’s back was to him.
Panic ripped through me like lightning. “Aaron, look p>
Before I could finish, three shots rang out in rapid succession.
The first cracked the air like thunder.
The second followed, louder, closer, a shattering echo that made my heart slam against my ribs.
The third carved silence into the room, sharp and final p>
The world froze.
Smoke curled upward, bitter and metallic, hanging in the air like a ghost. My ears rang, the sound swallowing everything. My hands clutched Aaron’s shirt, my knuckles white, my body rigid with fear.
But I didn’t know.
I couldn’t tell.
Had Gerald hit me?
Had he hit Aaron?
Or had one of those shots found him instead?
20:49 Wed, Jan 14
Chapter 187
Silence pressed in, heavy and merciless, and for one suspended breath the world held itself hostage.
And then…black.
AD
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Ruby Walker
Ruby Walker is a rising voice in the world of romance and spicy fiction. With a gift for weaving deep emotions, sizzling chemistry, and unexpected twists, her stories are a blend of passion and drama that captivate readers from start to finish. Ruby’s writing style is bold and irresistible—perfect for those who crave intense, addictive love stories.