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Someone screamed Samantha heard the soft tinkle of a high-pitched voice screaming in a blood-curdling roar. Still, the sound was kind of muffled and Sam pressed her trembling hands to her ears to turn it off. Then she felt a tug in her jaw and realized it was she who was screaming.

“Sam. Sam. Stop it!" came another voice through the haze of the constant roar of gunshots, snarling flesh and the pounding heartbeat of her own body. She stopped screaming and the burning in her throat stopped.

Warmth enveloped her and she looked into the brother's clear green eyes as she finally saw more than the mist around her. He was there, pulling her against his chest... or trying to pull her away. She couldn't quite make it out, but whatever, whatever he was trying to do, Sam couldn't move. Her limbs weighed a ton and she felt like she was about to choke on breath from the shock paralyzing her body and the lump of flesh from Gideon's head had burned into her retinas.

"Sam, move! Shut the door!" Killian yelled. And Sam didn't know what had been said to her now, but she saw men around her. They knelt in front of the open door and shot wildly, so that the ringing in their ears just wouldn't stop ". Then she saw Veronika.

The pretty brunette had both hands on Killian's arm, probably to pull him out of the shooting zone that the open door brought with it. And anger exploded in Sam. Everything that had just happened seemed to be forgotten , when Samantha saw that woman's hand on her brother's arm and she couldn't contain herself. She grabbed Veronika's hand, sinking her nails into the woman's wrist and yanking her away from Killian.

Nobody was allowed to touch him! She would never allow another woman to touch him. Veronika screamed, finally a sound in her head that filled her with satisfaction and not with sheer panic and pain. A volley of shots thundered down the still-open entrance. Slammed next to Samantha's body, hitting her brother's thigh and thundering once across Veronica's body. The receptionist hit the floor next to Sam and she heard Killian again.

"Close. This. damned. Door!" he yelled, finally pulling himself and Sam out of the line of fire. While Samantha couldn't take her eyes off Veronika. Your fault. It had been her fault, she suddenly realized. The bullets would have smashed over Veronica without hurting her if Sam hadn't startled her with her attack and she got up. If she hadn't practically reached out for the shots because of Sam.

Killian placed Sam in a corner, away from all the gunshots and the bleeding woman who held Samantha's gaze unmoved as she choked up blood and then the last spark of life drained from her. Two people. Today two people had died for the people they loved. Gideon had wanted to protect Sam while Veronika had worried about Killian. So many lives were dead because of what Sam and her brother shared.

In fact, Veronica's death had been her fault directly. Then finally the door was closed. The heavily armed men stopped the return fire and the ringing in their ears stopped. Killian hobbled to Dominik; who had been hit in the head by a bullet and slapped the shoulders of the other three men who had so valiantly covered the fire.

Thomas was one of them. Only then did he look at his own leg, dismissed Thomas's questions and then dropped to his knees next to Veronika. Again fierce, bitter jealousy welled up in Sam. Did he care? Was he mourning?

Did he have feelings for her? Had she been his lover? Her brother checked the woman's pulse, then shook his head and left her unnoticed before walking over to Sam. He trailed his bleeding leg, but dropped so hard right in front of her as if he hadn't just been shot.

With a far more sympathetic look, he grabbed Sam's face and wiped something off her cheeks, turning her head in all directions before proceeding to check out the rest of her body. His control was precise and impersonal, even as his hands slid over her breasts and down her inner thighs.

"She's kind of beside herself," remarked another voice near her. Lost in the touches her brother intended for her, she hadn't even noticed another man. And Sebastian suddenly pushed himself into her field of vision. She really was like that dizzy that she wasn't surprised at first.

"I thought you'd dismissed the idea of using the bait," he said, waving a wide man over to him. "She's not hurt and I've got a clean bullet. Take care of the others", said Killian to this third one and then he turned to Sebastian.

"Me too, this wasn't planned."

“Whether planned or not. The match has been held to the powder keg. Viktoria has to act quickly now, otherwise she will lose. We should now prepare for the attack." Killian nodded in agreement, snapping a few times in front of Samantha's nose, who still didn't give the desired reaction.

Sam just looked at him, long and persistently. Slowly she lost herself in his gaze until, out of instinct, she just put her hands on Killian's face like he did hers and kissed him. In front of everyone else. She wanted his warmth, his taste, his body and all the feelings he aroused in her. She wanted everything