The man’s grip on Leona tightened until she gasped, his thick arm banded around her chest, cutting off her breath. Alora whimpered in her mother’s arms, her tiny fingers clutching the edge of Leona’s blouse as though she sensed the danger.
“Let her go!” Adrian’s voice thundered through the half-lit corridor, sharp enough to slice through bone. His chest rose and fell like a storm barely caged, his fists curled at his sides. The shadows painted his face with something feral; half man, half beast, someone who would burn Paris to the ground if anyone dared harm the two people before him.
The man sneered, pressing the cold edge of a knife closer to Leona’s ribs. “Step back, Saint-Laurent. One more step and your pretty wife bleeds in front of your child.”
Leona’s breath hitched. Her heart po
