I grit my teeth but nod subtly. Every second we wait is a gamble. Every breath Ava takes might be her last.
Then George shifts.
His arm jerks—he starts waving the gunin frontof Ava now, ranting again. I can see the calculation fade, replaced with pure desperation.
He’s going to do it. I look across the room at Kai. He meets my eyes—then rips off his ski mask.
That 's the signal.
Before George even realizes what it means, there’s a sharpcrackfrom somewhere outside—like thunder with a razor’s edge.
The bullet hits George’s shoulder with brutal precision.
He’s ripped backward by the force of it, crying out as the gun flies from his hand and clatters across the floor. Ava stumbles forward—free—but unsteady.
I’m already moving. I catch her before she can hit the ground, pulling her tight against me.
Her breath hitches. She’s in shock. I hold her for half a heartbeat more, then shift to shield her with my body as the rest of the team sweeps in, clearing the room in seconds.
George is screaming, bleeding, writhing—but alive. Just like I promised. For now.
“Target down. Room secure,”Kai says through the comms.
“Nice shot,”I say to Gabriel, low into the mic.
“Always is,”he replies.
But my eyes are on her. She’s in my arms, trembling, alive.
And I’m not letting her go.
“I’m here, baby,” I breathe “I’ve got you.”
She’s trembling in my arms—rigid at first, like she doesn’t believe it’s real. Like her mind hasn’t caught up with the fact that she’s safe.
“Ava,” I whisper, tightening my hold on her, one hand cradling the back of her head. “It’s over baby. I’ve got you. You're safe now.”
At first, she doesn’t move. Her breath is shallow, erratic, like she’s forgotten how to breathe. Then her fingers clutch at the front of my vest—fistfuls of fabric—and she buries her face into my chest.
She breaks.
The sob tears out of her like it’s been waiting all this time. A sound that punches the air from my lungs. I don’t care that the team is still moving around us, sweeping the room, shouting clearances into comms. In this moment, it’s just her. Just Ava in my arms, shaking and alive.
“I thought… I thought he was going to kill me,” she chokes out between ragged breaths. “I didn’t think you’d find me in time.”
“You don’t ever have to think that again,” I murmur against her hair. “You’re safe now. I swear.”
Her grip on me tightens.
“I heard the shot… I didn’t know who got hit. I thought it was you.”
“It wasn’t me,” I say softly, pulling back just enough to tilt her chin up so I can look her in the eyes. “Gabriel took the shot. You were never in danger—not with all of us here.”
Her eyes—red-rimmed, glassy—search my face. I don’t know what she sees, but whatever it is, it shatters the last wall she’s been holding up.
“I was so scared,” she whispers.
“I know,” I say, voice cracking just a little.
