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“I’ve never . . .” My breath shuddered as I tried to calm down. “I’ve never had a gun pointed at me before.”

His arms tightened around my back, holding me with foreign tenderness. “I’m sorry.”

“They saw me, didn’t they?” I sighed. “That’s humiliating.”

“Come on.” He didn’t let me go as he led me into his bedroom and grabbed a robe from inside the bathroom. He helped me put it on before guiding me to the bed. “Stay here. I need to go deal with them.”

With one more kiss on my forehead, he turned and walked out. I held my breath until the front door shut in the distance, then dropped back against the pillows with a heavy sigh.

Then immediately jumped.

Gunshots.

Three.

I leaped from the bed and ran to the window next to the front door.

Bodies. Three.

Holy. Shit.

I grabbed my purse from the counter and searched for my phone.

The texts were already coming in.

Derek: Men with guns approaching

Cruz: Where?

Derek: His house

Derek: Entering

Cruz: On my way

Javier: Em? Are you okay?

Marco: Stand down C!

Derek: She’s safe

They’re Dias men

He kicked them out

Marco: What happened?

Derek: Said they received a panic notification

Came in with guns ready.

Cruz: Fuck. You okay nena?

Derek: He shot all three

Marco: What?

Derek: All dead