Sentenced to Marriage by MadlainQ

Hoping for a miracle Max jerked my hand, throwingout of the back of the van. | fell to the ground, ripping the skirt of my dress and tearing the skin on my knee. | landed right next to Damian's bloodied corpse and instantly felt sick. The fury that boiled the blood in my veins mixed with the helplessness | felt madewant to scream, but | knew that | couldn't provoke that mad bastard threatening me. “Get up!” he yelled, pointing his gun at me.

“Get on your feet, bitch, and move to the front!” He walked closer, stepping his feet right in front of my head. | clenched my teeth and pulled myself up. He smirked as | got up, kneeling before him. | lifted my head and glared at him as he put his gun against my forehead. “As much as | like you on your knees, we have no tfor that.” He chuckled, motioning with his gun to forceto move.

Cursing him inwardly, | stood up and started walking to the front seat of the car. | could feel the cold metal touching the back of my head, makingfeel as if every step broughtcloser to my execution. | kept thinking about how to escape him, but I quickly figured out that each of my ideas could have easily ended up causing my death. This guy killed two trained professionals before they even blinked. Did | even have a single chance against him? All | could do was stall for time... “Move faster, or I'll have you killed here and now!” Max thundered, pokingwith his gun. | clenched my teeth and kept walking as slowly as | could, knowing that every heartbeat could becmy last. | could only do this much. A few seconds later, | was standing by the door on the driver's side.

Suddenly, I heard the click of an armed gun coming from behind. “Put down your weapon.” Aren’s calm voice barely hid the waves of anger that were coming from him. He was sending a clear message of danger to the person he was pointing his gun at.

Max chuckled, and, a second later, he spunaround to face Aren as he stood behind me. His one arm was wrapped around my waist, pulling my back against him. His other hand still held a gun, aiming at the temple of my head. | could see Aren’s eyes widen, but then quickly narrow, his irises soaked in fury.

“Let her go,” he hissed.

Max chuckled coldly, the disgustful touch of his hand on my stomach. “Finders keepers,” he said, leaning over my ear while looking at Aren. Aren’s fingers curled on the trigger as he aimed at Max's head. “Let her go or I'll blow your fucking head off.” Max scoffed daringly, pressing the barrel harder against my temple. “Go ahead, let's see whose head blows up first, mine or hers...”.

| stood there, petrified and infuriated by my own helplessness. Aren clenched his jaw, his fingers restlessly shifting on the trigger, but | knew he wouldn't risk my life just to get Max.

nity for a tacie Besides, | knew that Aren would rather capture him alive. Finally, he cursed under his breath and lowered his gun “No...” | mumbled in panic, watching Aren give up on our only leverage.

“I will put down the gun. Just don’t hurt her,” he said, his eyes on Max as he slowly bent to put his gun on the floor.

+ “Excellent!” Max giggled as Aren raised his hands in surrender. “Now, kick the gun away,” he ordered, shifting his weapon onto Aren.

Suddenly, Max removed his grip from my waist, wrapping his arm around my neck instead while pointing his gun at my husband. | knew that | needed to stay focused and wait for any chance to free myself. My chance came, as his attention turned to the gun that Aren kicked. | knew what | could do-I had practiced it with Aren before...

| turned my head away from Max's elbow, grabbed his wrist, slipped under his arm, and jumped away from him. | did it in a panic, praying that he wouldn't shootfirst. As my desperate move freedfrom his grip, | saw him shift his weapon toward me. Max grinned devilishly as his fingers pulled the trigger. | closed my eyes as the shot came... “I'm alive...” | murmured under my breath a second later, feeling no pain. As my eyes opened, | saw Max's gun lying on the ground, and Aren ramming into the bastard who nearly shot me. Aren knocked him down, his fists flying and landing a series of blows, but Max wasn’t about to submit to Aren’s power. | stumbled back as Max somehow kicked Aren, pushing him away. They both got back on their feet, their eyes searching for the nearest gun. One lay a few feet away from them. Max lurched forward, his hand stretched to be the first to grab it, but Aren kicked it under the van with a fast slide. They clashed again, sending each other hard blows and kicks. | stood there terrified, knowing that I could only look for the gun... but I couldn't find that other one.

Aren’s and Max's moves were almost too fast to register, and what scaredthe most was the fact that | was uncertain who would win this fight. | wept watching my husband receive another blow, even if he responded immediately, grabbing Max's throat and punching his solar plexus. That move knocked Max down, making him fall to the ground while heavily bleeding, but he refused to surrender even then. He was getting up to his feet when Chris finally showed up, heavily panting. “Don’t move!” he shouted, stepping closer and pointing his gun at Max's head. | heaved an audible sigh of relief, rushing to Aren and throwing my arms around him. He was bleeding from cuts on his brow arch, his jaw, and the torn skin on his knuckles, but he was alive-we were alive, and that’s all that mattered. Aren chuckled softly, his arms sliding around my waist as if they belonged there. “I was so scared,” | whispered, climbing on my toes and kissing whatever inch of his skin I could find. He pulled up my chin and kissed my lips. “I know... but you did great, sunshine.” | let out a frustration-soaked huff. “I didn’t do anything... You could have died, and I...” My voice cracked.

000000 -acle “The danger was there with or without you,” Aren said coldly, but then his lips curved into a teasing smirk. “And yet, you managed to slow him down; you distracted him. You are like a perfect bait to catch psychopaths.” “That's not funny!” | frowned and smacked his arm, making him groan in pain as | hit one of the painful spots on his body. | gasped and tried gently rubbing that aching place instead. “I... | didn’t mean to! I'm sorry...” He smiled atand kissed the crown of my head. “I should be the one to apologize. | showed up too late...” Our conversation took away Chris’s focus, and Max used it to scoop up sdirt and throw it in Chris's eyes. Chris growled, closing his eyes and lowering his gun.

“Shit! He's getting away!” Aren shouted, charging at him at a dead run. “Aren!” | yelled, but they both disappeared behind one of the warehouses.

Chris followed Aren as soon as he wiped the dirt off his face enough to see. Without thinking, I chose to run after them. Struggling to keep my breath steady, | ran, led by only glimpses of Aren’s movements that | could register, until I found myself heading straight to the harbor. | stopped, panting heavily, my eyes desperate to find Aren.

Finally, | saw him lurching at Max at the edge of the port. Chris and I ran toward them when suddenly both of them fell into the water. | darted to the place where they fell, collapsed onto my knees, and looked down. “Aren!” | screamed, begging every higher power to allow him to resurface. Chris joined me, standing next toas | frantically waited for any sign of life from my husband. After a minute, the water kept showing us nothing but its dark mirror slightly disturbed by light waves.