The Token (#10): Shepard Read Free Page B

cop.” Roi's smug voice rings in the suddenly tight space, Juliette trapped within his embrace.
    Thorn does not seem like the kind of male who will abide teasing.
    “Diplomatic immunity—there is nothing you can do.” Roi forcefully cranks Juliette's jaw, licking the side of her face that he abused.
    Shepard tenses, biding his time. His chest is a bulging knot of anxiety.
    Juliette struggles as Roi’s eyes find Thorn again. “However, you may watch as I break one of my whores.”
    “I don't think so, Dad ,” Thorn says.
    Roi's body stiffens.
    Shepard freezes. There is no stopping his shock.
    Decades before, he'd heard the rumors of the exploits of Roi in this region. But his abuses to people had not been something Shepard could contemplate. He had been surviving the horror of the orphanage and cared not for whispered gossip.
    Now— now Shepard gazes at Roi and the American, the man who resembles Roi like a dark ghost. The coincidence of Juliette finding a bastard of Roi's only confirms what Shepard has always thought: there are no coincidences.
    Roi and Thorn look at each other for a bloated minute. Roi's face is fixed in his normal expression of absolute arrogance, and he yanks Juliette's face toward Thorn and the other cop to showcase her abused face. “She is beautiful, even wounded, non ?”
    Thorn charges. “She is mine!”
    “Thorn! No— fuck !” A second cop bellows through the open door and lurches after him.
    Roi squeezes Juliette, and she gasps.
    Timing. Shepard moves forward.
    “I will break her neck. This fragile bird so many men care about.” His sharp eyes skate between Shepard, Thorn, and the other cop, who hovers at the door.
    Roi will break her neck. But not before Shepard puts an end to the vilest man alive.
    Roi seems to pause thoughtfully as Thorn circles them. He is a coiled snake of readiness, his muscles tightly wound and stark.
    “Or—we can share in the breaking of this one,” Roi offers with a rueful half smile.
    “You're a sick fuck,” Thorn says in French.
    Roi's surprise is a sharp bark of laughter. “I know who you are. I've always known.”
    The silence deafens them as Shepard inches closer to Roi while keeping his eyes on Thorn and the other cop.
    “Your mother was a good lay,” Roi clucks.
    Thorn gives a deep grunt of disgust.
    Roi watches his son carefully, but the American doesn't rise to the challenge. He tilts his face, his hold on Juliette tightening like a vise. “I see your face go soft when you look at our Juliette. You love her.”
    Roi strokes her cheek absently, like an apology to an unworthy pet.
    Thorn is silent.
    Roi nods. “You might love her less if you understand she belongs to another.”
    Let Roi bear tales. He is a lover of drama. It will serve as the distraction I need.
    Thorn and Shepard both move forward as Juliette bites Roi's face.
    He wails, dropping Juliette.
    Shepard stands immobile as she stumbles into Thorn's arms. He drags her against him protectively.
    In that singular moment, Shepard knows. Juliette is safe. Safe as long as she is with the son of Roi. A prince. The irony is not lost on Shepard.
    Roi fingers his jaw, blood running freely from the bite. “Shepard?”
    The other cop trains his weapon on Roi.
    “Tell the good policeman and my wayward relative who Juliette belongs to.”
    Shepard raises his chin and shoots his gaze at Thorn like a laser.
    Juliette's grief at the coming revelation is etched on her face.
    It is not what he had planned. But if the confession of truth adds time—prolongs the inevitable so Shepard might dispatch Roi—it will be worth it. “Juliette is my bride.” A small lie.
    Thorn's hands tighten around Juliette. They do not fall away but catch her head as it tips back.
    Roi reaches for the gun that he keeps in the waistband of his slacks. Shepard knows what Roi will do, and he bends, grabbing his own weapon.
    An explosion booms from behind.
    Shepard instinctively ducks as Roi spins in a graceful spiral,