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“I’m still alive,” Cole said in a deep voice from right beside me.

I struggled to get free, and Devon finally rose from his protective position on top of me.

“W-what just happened,” I said, my brain still not comprehending what had just taken place.

“Kline is dead,” Devon said as he wrapped his arms around me. “Ralph shot him.”

“Cole?” I asked as I turned in Devon’s arms to see Cole laying on the ground beside me.

I scrambled over to Cole when I saw a pool of blood that was seeping from a wound on his side. “He’s hurt,” I said as tears filled my eyes.

“Getting shot wasn’t part of the plan, but I don’t think I’m going to die from it,” Cole said weakly.

I lifted his shirt. “Somebody get me some towels or something to put pressure on the wound. Talk to me, Cole.”

Devon immediately removed his shirt and handed it to me to use to stop the bleeding.

“The helicopter is coming,” Kaleb said. “We can get him to Billings faster that way. You can ride with him, Reese.”

“I’m going to live, Reese,” Cole assured me. “But I’m pretty pissed that I’m going to end up with blood on my new porch.”

Those were the last words I heard from Cole before he promptly passed out.

Devon

“I’m going to owe you for this for the rest of my life,” I told Cole solemnly as I sat in a chair next to his bedside in the hospital.

They were keeping my cousin overnight. He’d lost quite a bit of blood, and he’d be getting more fluids and antibiotics before they discharged him tomorrow.

He’d gotten damn lucky. Kline had shot him with a small caliber weapon, and the location where he’d been grazed had been extremely fortunate. There were no injuries to any major organs or bone.

The bullet hadn’t entered his body, but it had left a nasty gash in his side that had bled like crazy and had needed quite a few sutures to repair.

It had taken me a while to figure out exactly what had occurred. I hadn’t learned everything until I’d gotten most of it from Reese.

I was still fucking livid that Kline had punched her hard enough to leave her face black and blue, but the doctor had assured me that she’d be fine as soon as the bruises healed.

She’d been discharged and I asked my family to take care of her until I could get home.

Knowing my cousin had saved Reese’s life had left me feeling like I owed it to him to be here.

“You don’t owe me shit,” he rumbled. “I did what any guy would have done if he saw some asshole pounding on a woman.”

He’d done more than that, and I knew it. Reese had given me the details. Cole had shielded Reese, knowing full well that he could end up shot because of it.

Even after he’d taken that gunshot, he’d still kept Reese moving so he could get her out of danger.

He could have walked away from the whole situation and just called the police, but he hadn’t.

“If you ever need a favor, I’m there for it,” I said. “If you ever need family, I’m there for that, too.”

“You must have it bad for Reese if you’re going that far,” Cole said drily.

“I love her,” I said honestly. “When you saved her life, you saved mine, too.”

Cole was quiet for a moment before he answered, “For what it’s worth, she seems like a pretty incredible woman. She was pretty brave and calm about the whole thing, even though I could tell that she was terrified.”

“She is incredible,” I verified. “Her entire world was turned upside down a year ago when she was shot, and her friend and colleague was killed. She left everything that was important to her and has been living under an assumed identity ever since. It’s taken a toll on her, but it’s hasn’t broken her.”