Chapter 9 - Blood and Redemption
Kendrick grunted softly as the bullet struck him, but he didn't fall. With an animalistic roar, he closed the distance between himself and Barrett, grabbing Barrett’s gun arm and twisting it until the bone snapped with a sickening crack.
Barrett screamed in agony, dropping the weapon as Kendrick slammed him face-first onto the marble floor, pinning him under a heavy boot.
Victor and Kendrick’s security team immediately rushed forward, securing Barrett in heavy steel cuffs and surrounding the area to prevent any further threats.
"Kendrick!" Willa cried out, dropping to her knees beside him as he sank back against a decorative pillar.
She saw the dark red stain spreading quickly across the right side of his white dress shirt, near his ribs. Tears flooded her eyes as her hands trembled over his wound. "No, no, no! You took the bullet for me!"
"I told you..." Kendrick grunted, a strained, half-smile touching his bloodless lips as he looked up at her, "...no one touches you while I am breathing."
"You idiot!" she sobbed, pressing her silk clutch tightly against his wound to stop the bleeding. "You were supposed to protect yourself!"
"I protected... what mattered," Kendrick whispered, his amber eyes locking onto hers with profound tenderness.
Don Carmine and the remaining Commission members rushed down from the stage, surrounding them.
"Get the medics!" Don Carmine bellowed to his men. He looked down at Barrett, who was being dragged away in chains, then back to Kendrick and Willa. "Barrett’s family will be stripped of all assets and exiled. The Vance shipping lines are hereby restored to Arthur's rightful heir—Claire Vance."
Don Carmine looked at Willa with deep respect, bowing his head slightly. "You have cleared your father's honor, young lady. The Commission owes you a great debt."
Willa barely heard the old man's words. All she cared about was the bleeding man holding her hand with a failing grip.
"Stay with me, Kendrick," she begged, leaning down until her forehead rested against his. "Penny needs you. I need you. Don't you dare close your eyes!"
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Kendrick reached up with a blood-stained hand, gently cupping her cheek, his thumb tracing her teardrops. "I'm not going anywhere, Claire... I finally found you."
The sirens of the emergency escort wailed outside the Plaza Hotel as paramedics burst through the ballroom doors, taking over Kendrick's care and rushing him into the night.
