Smiling, I reached out and grabbed the man around the waist, easily lifting him into my arms. It wasn’t until the entire length of his body was pressed to mine that I was able to draw in a full breath.
“You took ten years off my life, Lany,” I whispered against his hair.
“I’m okay.”
I pressed a kiss to the top of Lany’s head before leaning back so I could look into his eyes. I wanted him to know how serious I was. “You’re also grounded.”
Lany rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t like I planned this or anything.”
I gazed out at the destruction, wincing. “No, that part’s obvious.”
God, I hoped the city covered the damage.
A racket at the back of the building made me tense. I stepped in front of Lany, raising my gun. If there were more of these fuckers, we were in trouble. Eddie hopped into view, his arm around Lyn’s shoulders. Clarke walked behind the two men, the flare of his nostrils his only giveaway at how pissed he was.
I didn’t blame the guy in the least.
This entire thing had been a mess from the very beginning.
“You two okay?”
Lyn nodded. “We’re fine.”
“What happened?” Eddie asked as he stared around in horror.
“Lany happened.”
It was pretty much that simple.
I hid my smile between clamped lips when Lany huffed behind me. “What happened to you two? I sent Lany out to you, but he said you guys had gone missing.”
“Some guys started down the alley,” Lyn said. “We felt we had to either drive away or hide. Since you guys were still inside and we didn’t know if you were going to need to make a quick getaway, hiding seemed like the better option.”
Eddie wrinkled his nose as if disgusted. “We hid behind the dumpster.”
Yuck.
“Clarke, did you call for backup?”
Clarke nodded.
“Then search these guys for weapons and then find something to tie them up. I don’t think my heart can handle any more surprises.” It was still beating out of control from watching Lany smash through the front window of the gallery.
“There should be some zip ties in the back of the SUV,” Clarke said.
“Right.”
I remembered that.
I kept a watch out as Clarke went to get the restraints. I wasn’t taking any chances with these guys. They had trouble written all over them.
“We don’t have to share this with my father and uncle, you know.”
I snapped around to stare down at Lany. “You don’t think they’ll figure it out?”
Lany grimaced. “He said he’d put me in jail.”
I frowned. “Who did?”
