Everything seems to slow right down, almost to a stop. I’m frozen and the guns are pointed in my direction.

I’m going to die.

Out of nowhere, someone grabs me and throws me to the ground. A large body lands on top of me, covering me, just as the earsplitting shots are fired.

All I can hear is the sound of screams and bullets spraying everywhere.

My eyes are closed and my heart thunders in my chest. I have never felt fear like this in my life. It seems like the gunshots go on forever.

The deafening noise stops as quickly as it started. My breath is caught in my throat and I’m afraid that a second spray is going to be aimed at us. But then I hear the distinct sound of tires screeching away.

They’ve gone.

I almost cry in relief.

There’s only silence for a long second, as if someone has hit pause on the world around me.

Then the yelling begins as everything instantly comes back to life. Grayson’s voice is loud and clear as he speaks to me. He keeps it surprisingly calm as he says, “I got you, baby. Are you okay?” He doesn’t move his body off mine.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” I say, my voice trembling. “They didn’t”—I mentally check my body for pain, but there’s nothing—“I’m okay. Are you—?”

“They didn’t get me. I’m fine.”

“Thank God.” I breathe a sigh of relief. I couldn’t bear it if anything had happened to him.

Grayson lifts himself up slightly but doesn’t move off me completely. It’s almost like he’s afraid to leave me.

“Tyler?” I ask, my voice still trembling.

“He’s fine.”

I follow his line of sight to see Tyler sitting on the ground, looking completely shocked but physically okay. Matt is with him, and seems uninjured. He’s checking over Tyler.

I shift, turning my face so I can look at Grayson. He looks fine, calm, but I see the fear and disbelief in his eyes. And I know how he feels, because I’m right there with him. I’ve realized, in this moment, how much he’s come to mean to me. I knew I cared for him. Now I know how much.

Grayson’s looking deeply into my eyes.

There’s this moment where something intimate passes between us. He cups my cheek in his hand. “Mel, I—”

But he doesn’t get to finish whatever he was going to say. Police officers come swarming out of the building, ready to help. The wail of an ambulance gets louder until the vehicle pulls up close to us, and paramedics jump out to check over our injuries. Whatever Grayson was going to say to me gets lost in the mire.

Chapter 25

The case started to move faster once the cartel tried to take Tyler out. A shooting in front of civilians at a police station is a much more serious crime than some warning shots fired in an empty home. I sat with Tyler and the DEA agents while he gave his statement to them. Then I checked over the written report with him before he signed.