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She’d spoken to Toth only a handful of times, but enough to know that he didn’t have much patience. Still, she didn’t respond. Doing so would reveal how truly enraged she was, and showing emotion to him—or anyone—would steal what dignity she had left. What dignity her father hadn’t just taken away.
She reached for the smooth black door handle. When she got to her father’s office, she’d do more than raise hell. She’d—
A hard body slammed against her. She shrieked as her back connected with the pavement. Her breath whooshed sharply from her lungs. Her vision shook and her brain spun. A hot, heavy form covered her from head to toe.
Crack,crack!
Gunshots split the air. A scream lodged itself in her throat. Warning bells screeched through her head. People were shooting.
At me?
Panic shot through her limbs, but if she gave way to the suffocating need to get up, she’d probably get her head blown off. Her heart pummeled against her breastbone. Was she on the verge of cardiac arrest?
Sounds drifted away, mingling with screams and footsteps thundering on cement. Then her instinct came back with a vengeance. She needed to get up. To run. But she couldn’t move. Couldn’t get out from under the weight pinning her to the ground.
Shielding her.
She squeezed her eyes closed and forced her lungs to suck in a breath as shots fired from the gun of the brute on top of her.
Each blast stung her eardrums. The heady scent of cologne warmed her nostrils and urged her to take another breath. The basil-and-pepper fragrance was like aromatherapy for her terror.
The gunshots stopped. She snapped open her eyes. A bright-white dress shirt was the only thing in her view.
Toth.
***
Shifting off Savannah,Toth quickly scanned her body. It seemed there was no blood decorating her tight black dress, but the material was too dark to be certain. His finger twitched on the trigger of his gun.
If he’d reacted half a second slower, Savannah would be dead.
Had he not followed her as she moved toward her vehicle, he wouldn’t have spotted the blacked-out SUV across the street. Wouldn’t have seen the mouth of a gun poking out the window.
Angst beat against his chest.
Fuck.
Savannah lifted her head and propped herself up on her elbows. “What’s happening?” Her voice was squeaky, and her hair was tangled around her face, the blond strands glistening like dew on a spiderweb.
Placing a hand on her waist, he urged her to lean back against her car. Her eyes found his. They were so wide and green that his heart skittered. “Drive-by,” he answered curtly. “Are you hurt?”
She’d lost her color. Even her lips were pale. Scared. She was scared.
She shook her head and gripped his elbow. “Where’s Lach?” Her chest rose and fell in quick pulses.
He didn’t give a damn about her brother. He hadn’t been hired to protect that guy. But the look of hysteria on Savannah’s face made him tear his focus away from her so he could search for Lach. Sirens filled the air, penetrating the storm of blood and adrenaline firing against his eardrums. Seconds ago, the now-vacant sidewalk had carried clusters of pedestrians.
“Boss! We’ve been hit. A drive-by...”
Toth looked for the speaker and spotted Lach and Dominic hunched in the small inlet of the apartment building’s entrance, guns drawn. Dominic’s phone was to his ear.
“He’s okay,” Toth confirmed. The grip on his arm loosened only a fraction, telling him she had no intention of letting go. “I think they’re gone, but we need to get you out of here.” He swept his arm around her waist.
Her hold shifted from his forearm to his bicep, her fingers piercing his dress shirt. She leaned into him, and her spine trembled beneath his palm. In his urgent desire to get her to a secure place to check for injuries, he almost picked her up and carried her. He guessed this act wouldn’t be well received, given her usually snooty demeanor.
He searched her face, and his throat tightened at the sight of the foggy glaze over her irises.
“That was them?” she asked. “Red Eyez?”