Page 38 of The Disputed Legacy

I was getting it bad for him. It seemed like every time I told myself to forget about starting something with him, reverse psychology kicked in and I wanted him more.

“Hi,” I replied, no longer caring how breathy I sounded. I couldn’t help it.

His eyes darkened and he stepped forward with a low groan. Seeing how much he could be attuned to me, like our mutual interest and attraction was a live wire that tethered us equally, I felt like I mattered. Like I had accomplished something I could nurture and explore.

My parents kept me from dating. And when it was time for me to “go” to Oscar’s father, any illusions I’d had of romance, dating, or meeting hot guys had vanished.

Now, that was all in my past.

I was here, surviving and keeping Oscar with me the best I could.

He can’t be a threat. He just can’t.

As Saul turned to answer something Oscar asked him, I sighed and wished I could have faith that Saul wouldn’t be a threat to my son. That he wouldn’t turn him in or get me caught. That this existence I’d forged for us would remain. We’d been “meeting” at the diner for all these weeks. If he had wanted to get me in trouble with Oscar, wouldn’t he be nosier and asking lots of questions about him? Wouldn’t he be curious and pestering about who Oscar’s father was?

So far, he hadn’t. I knew he was curious about us—about me, especially—but he didn’t strike me as a threat in that way.

“Looks like you’re due for more ice cream, then, huh?” Saul grinned, as if Oscar were his own son and he was proud of him for getting another A on his math test.

My God.

The idea of this rugged bad boy as my son’s father…

Why does that make me feel so safe? So much stronger?

I had so much to learn about Saul, but like instinct, I knew he would be a protector.

He stood, narrowing his eyes at something behind me. Moving like a panther, quick and sleek, he got to his feet and reached out to me. His facial features hardened. No longer smiling at all, he was sharp and alert, frowning.

Just before I could catch up to wondering what caused him to be so alarmed, he stopped me from twisting.

He grabbed my arm and pushed me down at the same time he darted back toward Oscar.

Gunfire erupted, stealing my breath in a blurred moment of panic.

Then I screamed, adding my reaction to the chaos as the front windows of the diner shattered into a million pieces.

16

SAUL

If I hadn’t turned to praise Oscar about his test when I had, I wouldn’t have been facing the front of the diner. I wouldn’t have been looking in the right direction to notice those masked men running toward the windows. Getting that hurried glimpse of them was all the warning I had.

The sight of impending danger pushed me into action.

It didn’t matter who they were. Or what they wanted. Or where they came from. I’d speculate on all that later.

In an intense push of fight-or-flight, I was forced to obey the laws of survival first.

The only critical clue I had to observe and assess at lightning speed was that they were armed.

And aiming this way.

As gunfire erupted outside, I lunged at Willow to knock her down to the floor. My instinct was to protect her, and with her standing in the middle of the aisle near this line of booths, she was an easy target.

Her scream cut through the air immediately. Like the others in the diner, both customers and employees, she reacted vocally. Her ear-splitting scream would be lodged in my memory forthe rest of my life. Even if she wasn’tmine—yet—I despised the concept of her being in harm’s way, of her being scared or wounded at all.

Not only her, but also her son.