“I love her!” Braxton shouted, deranged and shaking. “You and your fucking brother couldn’t keep your hands to yourselves…”
Mac’s smile was lethal. “Yeah, and neither could she.”
Braxton hit him upside the head with the butt end of the gun and, before I could even fully process what I was doing, I was inside. Mac shook his head, clearing the fog from his head. When he opened his eyes, he saw me and his jaw damn near dropped. Braxton spun around, but I had my Colt .45 raised and ready.
“Drop it.”
To absolutely no one’s surprise, he didn’t. Instead, the fucking psycho smiled at me. Like we were old friends, like I didn’t have a gun pointed at his chest. Like the man I loved didn’t have blood trickling down his face. He opened his mouth, but I didn’t give him the chance to speak.
I fired off a warning shot, straight up in the air. Like I had hoped, he flinched from the sudden and unexpected ear-shattering noise. I jumped forward, grabbing his hand and attempting to disarm him. Unfortunately, the asshat was trained too. He bent low, driving his shoulder into my abdomen and taking the breath out of me. I stumbled back but grabbed his hair as I went, taking him with me. Mymomentum, combined with his weight, caused us both to go down in a tumble onto the concrete floor.
We fought, messy and fast. Ever since Daniel had gotten the upper hand on me, I had made sure to stay in shape. No one was taking me down like that ever again. Braxton got in a few good shots, but I gave as good as I got. His gun went skidding across the floor, and he slammed me into a wall. I grabbed a pipe from the floor and cracked him across the temple.
He hit the floor, groaning, and I hurried towards my discarded gun. Picking it up, I stood above him, breathing heavy. Mac watched us with hooded eyes.
“Give me a fucking reason,” I said, sweat and blood mixing on my brow.
Braxton looked up at me and, for a second, I thought he was going to give in. But then he scrambled across the floor like a rat, heading for his own weapon, and I fired two quick shots. One through the head, and one center mass. He stilled, and I exhaled sharply, lowering the weapon. A second later, I moved quickly towards Mac, and untied the knots with trembling hands. He started to rise, and I stepped back instinctively, giving him the space he had made clear was needed.
“I didn’t know if I’d make it in time,” I whispered, blinking back tears and trembling as the adrenaline wore off. My damn shoulder was hurting like a bitch too from where Braxton had tossed me into the wall.
Mac didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled me in, arms wrapped tight around me, like he was afraid I would disappear if he let go. “You made it with time to spare, Vixen. I would always wait for you.”
I started crying, and he wiped my tears away with a gentle hand.
“Ready to go home?”
I gave a watery smile. “Probably a good idea. I don’t even know if they noticed me walking out.”
Mac laughed, and I cherished the sound.
The clubhouse was still a wreck when we got back, but people stilled as they noticed Mac and me. In the kitchen,Dalton barked orders, and Jackson and Diego prepped gear. Guns were checked, phones buzzed with half-formed leads, and tension hung thick in the air like smoke. They were still looking for Mac, still assumed Braxton had him. Maria and Holly were nowhere to be seen, probably having gone somewhere to calm each other down. No one noticed the door open at first. Then Diego went to walk past us and stopped dead. He turned towards us like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Um… Dalton? I think we can cancel all that.”
Mac led me to the table, battered but upright, and we stood hand in hand as three heads turned in perfect unison. Dalton was the first to move, his eyes sweeping over his brother, checking for blood, for broken bones, for some sign that what he was seeing wasn’t a hallucination born of stress and fear.
“Katie?” Jackson blinked. “What the hell?”
Diego looked like he wanted to sit down. Or pray. Or both.
I held up our joined hands and gave a half-smile. “Yay, we won! Surprise!”
Dalton crossed the room, eyes fixed on Mac. “You good?”
“Nothing a steak and a shower won’t fix,” Mac said with a wince. Dalton’s gaze dropped to our hands. Then rose again, brow lifting. Mac just shrugged. “What can I say? It was kinda hot watching her kick ass.”
Dalton looked between us, then finally—finally—smiled. A real one. I let out a breath I had been holding for what felt like years.
Dalton cocked his head at us. “Wait, so… how? You knew where they were and just asked for Mac back nicely or?”
“I used to be a cop, guys,” I said, brushing hair out of my face. “Kinda sorta know what I’m doing. I had a feeling Braxton was using a storage unit that he had used duringthe op, and I went with it. By the way, we’re gonna want to send a cleaning crew over there.”
Silence fell for a beat. Then Jackson let out a low whistle.
“Remind me never to piss you off.”
Diego just shook his head, laughing under his breath as he muttered something in Spanish that sounded suspiciously like “mujer loca.”
