Page 129 of The Devil's Heir

"Damn straight. This is no place for you, pauper!"

"I have every right to be here, Jarek."

I can see the hurt in her eyes, and no matter how hard I want to be stern with her because of the danger she's put herself in, I can't help but melt just a little bit. Lily is making me soft, and it's not good at times like this.

"You shouldn't be here, Lily," I repeat a little softer this time.

"Is he restrained?"

"Yes, but that doesn't matter. Anything can happen…"

"I'll stay back—and Jackson can remain by my side the whole time," she states.

I hesitate and then look at Jackson.

He nods. "I don't mind, Sir, but if I may—I prefer you take the gun from her. Lily holding a gun and being hormonal isnotsafe."

I can't help the twitch of my lips at Jackson's statement. Of course, he's correct in saying it isn't safe. Even without a gun, it's dangerous to be in Lily's path when she's on a rampage.

I hold out my hand for her to hand it over, but she hugs it to her chest, and I swear I feel my heart stop.

"Jesus, Liliana! Do not hug the fucking gun. It can go off at any moment."

"Do you think I'm dumb? I know how to put the safety on."

"I don't care. Either give me the gun, or you can turn around and go home, and I will deal with you later."

Sighing, Lily hands me the gun, and I hold my arm out for her to enter the room first. When Jackson follows, I glare at him.

"You can yell at me all you want, Sir, but just know I'm being punished every minute I remain by her side."

"How so?" I ask sarcastically.

"Because, the moment she swung that gun on me, I may have pissed myself a little. I've been walking around with wet underwear ever since." He disappears into the room as laughter explodes from my lips.

Never a dull moment, I tell you.

I walk into the room and see Lily standing just inside the door, her eyes never leaving the man chained to the chair in the center of the cell. Richards returns her stare, only his is mocking, and it pisses me off. Instantly, I move to his side and punch him in the face.

He never saw me coming, and when his head snaps back, blood sprays from his nose. He's lucky I didn't break his neck immediately. I stand before him and lean down so he looks me in the eye.

"Whose blood do you think this is?" I point to my face.

Richards doesn't answer. He spits blood out on the floor and goes back to staring at my girl. I move and place myself in his line of sight.

"Don't look at her. You look at me. If you take one peek at her, you will lose a fucking eye," I threaten.

"She… owed… me." Heath's voice is low and raspy.

"She didn't owe you shit. But even if she did, you should have come to me. What did you think would happen? That I'd just stand by while you stole what's mine? You didn't just take my woman—you took my child."

"Well, that was unfortunate… now, wasn't it?"

Heath's flippant reply only fuels the fire. His smug detachment, the way he finds all of this amusing—it's not helping his case one bit.

I turn to Frankie and nod. He leaves the room but returns almost immediately, pushing a cart. I grin when I see the item I hoped would be present. Picking up the long blade, I touch it to the tip of my finger, causing a small bead of blood to appear.

Smiling, I look at Heath and ask, "Shall we begin?"