Page 160 of Stains of Desire

"When I'm done with you, you'll—"

There's a muffled bang.

"Fuck," William yells, arching his back.

The knife falls out of his hand, and I grab it and stab him in the neck, over and over.

William's eyes widen then his face pales and freezes.

Blood drips all over me. I can't stop and continue stabbing him.

I don't hear Axel's voice. I don't feel him pull William off me or take the knife out of my hand. The tears I shed as I sob into his chest don't register.

He gets in the shower with me, cleans me up, and kisses me. "Green eyes, I need you to come back to me."

I'm still shaking. He slowly pulls me out of my shock, and I sob all over again.

Axel holds me in his arms, murmuring, "Everything is going to be okay now, green eyes."

The hot water turns cold. He wraps a towel around me and leads me into the closet, quickly choosing a sundress and undergarments. After he helps me into my clothes, he leads me out to the main room.

Two of the embassy guards are in the room, and I turn to Axel, shaking. "What—"

"Shh. It's okay. They will destroy the recordings and clean up."

"How—"

"We need to go. I need you to trust me."

"I do."

He smiles and pushes my wet hair behind my ear then kisses my forehead. "Good. Let me put clothes on. Sit down."

I obey.

He digs into his backpack, pulls out a T-shirt and pants, and puts them on. He holds out his hand. "Time to go."

I take it, and he guides me toward the door.

Millie.

"Wait. We should see if William has anything in his desk or safe on Millie."

Axel puts his arm around my waist, holds my face with one hand, and tilts my head up. "Millie is safe. She's ready to see her mummy."

My heart soars, and my knees buckle. Fresh tears of joy fall fast. "Are you... Oh God!"

His arm holds me to his body, and he blinks hard.

I sob in relief for several minutes into his chest.

"Green eyes, if we don't leave soon, we're going to miss our window."

I sniffle and look up at him. "Okay. I'll pull it together."

He smiles. "Give me a kiss first."

I softly laugh, and he kisses me, but not for long, quickly whisking me through a part of the embassy building I've never been in before and outside to an SUV.