The Sins of Duke Evander (BOOK III)

Chapter 46- Deeper than Blood

--Alina POV--

I watched. I simply... watched. 

Because that was all that I could do at this point. 

Watching the man I love holding a gun to his head as he cried, telling me how much he hated himself, it wasn't a relaxing sight to see.

It hurts to have to see all of this.

And I was tired. 

How much more could I take? I simply wish that I could have received a warning before I became entangled in all of this. But knowing me, even if I did have a warning, I wouldn't have thought much of it at the time.

I grew up hoping to become an independent lady, like in the books that I read. Those women didn't have a man or any other romantic interest, they didn't need one, and I wanted to become like them... But then I met him.

He, who ripped down the shy walls that I had built around me. 

We were infatuated at first sight, and his voice was like a soothing lullaby, calming me from the worries of the world. And before I knew it, I began to crave his presence, but maybe that's what he wanted.

Maybe all of it was just a game to him? But even if it was a game at first, it became real. I knew that by seeing the way he looked at me. Lina told me that every woman wishes to be looked at in the way that he looked at me, and I agreed. Just as I had somehow become the centre of his world, he had unknowingly become the centre of my world.

Our love was mutual. And maybe I underestimated just how much I loved this man. He was messed up, a psychopath, a murderer, but he was my husband. A man that showed me the wonders of the world which I used to think were unimaginable.

Maybe then, even after all this time, after everything he's done, my love for him is still here. I won't lie and say it didn't waver at any points because it certainly did, but it didn't disappear, and that was the point. Seeing him hold a gun to his head, and seeing a dark shadow of death looming over him, trying to take him away, was a revelation that this love was real.

I didn't want him to go away.

As the sound of the bullet being released from its holder echoed through the room, my head rang with the intensity of the sound, and I had to squeeze my eyes shut, terrified of the sight that would lay in front of me when I next opened them.

But then there was a thud.

Not of a body hitting the ground. But the sound of metal.

And hesitantly, I cracked my eyes open, peering to the side and staring at the ground first, expecting to see deep red droplets of blood at the very least. But there was nothing there other than the gun.

And my eyes slowly crept up, and I couldn't stop myself from flinching at the sight.

Now, this is what you call perfect timing.

"E-Evan..." I squeaked.

"...Alina..." He breathed out, looking dazed. 

"What..." He looked confused, staring at the gun on the floor, and then turned to look to the side at the broken glass where the bullet had pierced. "What the- What did he do this time?" He turned back to look at me.

And I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. My whole body trembled as I cried, and as if all of it had been piling onto my shoulders, I almost fell to my knees under the weight. And Evan ran forward, catching me in his arms.

"I was- I was so... damn scared. You know..." I sobbed into his shoulder, hugging him so tightly that I may have accidentally broken something. And he didn't reply, hugging me back, and simply stroking my hair as I sat on his lap, crying into his shoulder.