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Saved

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Chapter 22: Saved (Jules's POV)

"Are you hurt?" Christian asked, catching his breath, his chest rising and falling rapidly. 

I couldn't answer him, I couldn't physically bring myself to move or react in any which way. 

"Jules?" 

"He touched me," I rasped out, glancing down at Stefan before fixing the straps of my dress that had slipped down my shoulders, getting caught on my arm. "H-he touched me," I repeated, my eyes meeting Christian's. 

"Cops will be here," he told me calmly just once before grabbing Stefan by the t-shirt, forcing him up to his feet while standing up himself. Pivoting him around, Christian took him by the collar. 

"Get off of me," Stefan grumbled, trying to pry Christian's hands off of him. 

"You touched her?" Christian asked, lifting a brow, anger radiating from him. He was seething and I didn't know why but it didn't surprise me as much as I expected it would. 

"Yeah, I fucking did. What are you gonna—" 

I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth as I shot up to my feet. 

The moment those words poured out of Stefan's mouth, Christian was swinging his fist, knocking him straight in the jaw, making Stefan yelp out in pain. Swiftly, Christian caught the arm Stefan swung at him and held it against Stefan's own neck before backing and throwing him against the wall, pinning him in place until he choked. 

"Christian," I said faintly, so faintly that he couldn't even hear me. 

"If you ever lay so much as a finger on her again, I will cut off that fucking arm and shove it down your throat," Christian warned, his voice low and icy, a deadly yet raging storm in his normally calm eyes. His gaze dropped down to where Stefan struggled to reach into his pocket and within a second, Stefan had a pocket knife in his grasp. 

I watched, absolutely stunned as Christian rolled his eyes before twisting Stefan's arm until he dropped the knife and Christian caught it with one hand, holding Stefan's hand against the wall and bringing the knife up, aiming straight for the hand that held me down. 

"I warned you," Christian scoffed, winding up his arm. 

I didn't think he would do it despite knowing damn well that he could. It wasn't until the blade was heading straight for Stefan's palm that I yelled, "Christian!" 

He didn't stop but he drove that knife into the wall full force and sighed quietly, glancing at me. 

I shook my head slightly, breathing heavily, my heart thudding beneath my chest. 

Stefan chose the wrong moment to scoff in annoyance and Christian's eyes moved from mine to his before he drove that knife straight into Stefan's hand. Stefan shouted, turning his head the other way and my entire body went rigid. 

Christian glanced at me before lowering his hand, leaving that knife where he pierced Stefan's skin. Looking back at Stefan, he warned again, "Don't you fucking dare touch her again. Next time, I'll drive that knife into your fucking throat." 

I heard the sirens outside that very minute among the panicked shrieks of people running out of the party. "Are you out of your mind?!" I shouted, snapping out of it all and moving forward, giving Christian a shove. "A knife? You stabbed him!" 

"He touched you," Christian shrugged nonchalantly. 

"You can't just—" 

He grabbed my hand and swiftly pulled me out to the balcony, drawing the curtains and closing the door behind us. Spinning us so my back was to the railing, he put a hand over my mouth. "Shh." 

"You think we can hide out here from the cops? He'll tell them where we are," I whispered in a hiss, throwing his hand off. 

"He won't. Not unless he wants to go to jail," he whispered back, lifting his brows at me. 

"You..." I stared at him in disbelief, still shaking lightly. "You stabbed him, Christian." 

"And I would do it again," he replied, holding my gaze. His gray eyes had lost all their cloudy calm. They were raging and dark and swarming but nothing but fury and plain anger. "He hurt you." 

I blinked, helplessly gawking at him. 

"He touched you, didn't he?" he asked, keeping his voice low. 

I nodded slowly, lost in a daze as I stared into his eyes. 

"Where?" 

Swallowing past the lump in my throat and blinking away the tears that were welling in my eyes, I mumbled, "Everywhere." 

He exhaled shakily and braced his hands on the railing behind me, bending to get a look at me as I lowered my eyes to the floor. "Jules, I've got you." 

My eyes snapped back up to his as a stray tear rolled down my cheek. 

"I can't stand to see someone hurt you," he rasped out, "you don't deserve that." 

"Is that why you saved me? Or just because you heard it all over the phone?" I sniffled, wiping my cheek. 

He paused and watched me for a moment silently. "I saved you because I care. I can hate you and still care about you," he said. "You're okay." 

When we heard footsteps in the room, we both went absolutely still, waiting for the room to empty out. But even then, the second Christian took a step back, I was grasping at his shirt, pulling him into me again. His eyes flew to my hands clutching at his shirt but he didn't tell me to remove them. "Where's Audrey?" I whispered shakily. 

"She left." 

"With Cameron Diaz?" 

He hummed once. "With Charlie's Angel." 

I looked up at him, cracking a small laugh, loosening my hold on him. My hands began to slide down but he grabbed on, holding them to his chest. 

"I've got you, Jules, you can trust me with that at least. I'm not going to stand by and let some guy hurt you, okay?" 

I nodded, sniffling and blinking as more tears poured down my cheeks. 

He reached up without hesitation and wiped my tears away before pulling me into him, his arms around me while a hand rested on the back of my head, trying to calm me. 

The entire time, Christian held me in place and let me cry into his chest until I was calmer and finally able to form sentences again. Realizing that I was definitely ruining his shirt, I began to pull away slowly, peering up to look at him. In return, he only retreated enough to get a look at me and his arms remained intact around me while mine did the same. Neither of us looked away from each other and held our gazes. 

"You really had to bring that up?" I questioned, staring at where he sat in his office chair, staring at me. 

He shook his head, "I'm not reminding you of that night to hurt or upset you. Just to remind you that I'm here and what I said that night still applies. Whether that be a sick bastard like that fucking sleaze or a wicked witch like Natalie." 

"You stabbed that guy, Christian. You drove a knife through his palm." 

He stared at me like there was nothing wrong with what he had done. "I'm good with knives," he shrugged, "I didn't hit any important artery, nerve, or vein." 

"How do you know that?" I asked, my brows furrowing together. 

"I've... stabbed a lot of men," he mumbled. 

My eyes widened. "What?" 

"It was self-defense. Mostly." 

"What?" 

"He tried to jump me," he added casually. 

I blinked. "Did I date a spy?" 

"No, you didn't almost marry a spy." 

My eyes narrowed. "An assassin?" 

"No, Milaya," he chuckled. 

I paused. "Are you in the mafia?" 

"I wish. Or maybe I am," he smirked. 

"You are suspiciously rich," I whispered. 

And handsome. 

He smiled at me like he knew exactly what I was thinking and I hated the way my heart leaped. "Back to work, yes?" he prompted, glancing at the clock behind me. 

"You're definitely in the mafia," I said to myself as I dragged my palms off the table and turned around, heading to the door and then leaving. Releasing a breath and trying my best not to relive that night in my mind, I entered my office and sat down, picking up my phone to call Natalie. 

"What?" she demanded the second she answered. 

"Hey, Natalie, are you free today?" I cleared my throat, "Mr. Lukov would like for you to come and get a look at the locations we think are most suitable so far. It's hard to continue searching without your input. Do you think you can come?" 

"When?" 

"Right... now?" 

She groaned like this was a huge inconvenience for her. "Send me the address." And then she hung up. 

"Sure," I said to myself, placing my phone on the table and glaring at the screen, cursing out, "Bitch." The phone at my desk rang again. "Hello?" I asked. 

"We have some time until Natalie gets here," he said. "Care to join me?" 

My lips pursed together as I spun my chair around once. "Join you?" I questioned. 

Christian volunteering to spend time with me? This can't be right. 

"I'm going to get ice cream. I thought you'd want some too. Was I wrong, Red?" 

Don't you dare crack a smile, Jules. This doesn't mean anything. 

"Perhaps not," I replied before hanging up and then taking my purse and phone, standing up just as my office door swung open, and Christian stood there in anticipation, watching me with someone significant in his eyes that I couldn't recognize. 

"Shall we?" he asked.

.

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Chapter 22

that was two updates today since I didn't update yesterday

I haven't written a guy saves the girl scene or a violent scene like this in a while but since I struggle to write mafia stories, I can only incorporate mafia husband material moments like these <3

next ch: respect