He exhaled slowly through his nose.
Hang on,he thought, not sure who the message was for.
Behind him, police radios crackled.Shoes scuffed the pavement.The street buzzed with that brittle, post-violence energy: people talking too loudly, laughing too hard, trying to prove they were still alive.
Shock had a sound.This was it.
Kayne didn’t turn around yet because he knew the stolen Range Rover wasn’t about theft or even Leo.Hell, it barely even mattered whether the shooter had missed or not.
It was a lure.A clean one, too.The goal was to strand Leo, worry Chloe, and get her exposed.
His molars clenched as the realization locked into place with brutal clarity.They’d wanted Chloe out of the vehicle.Out in the open and distracted, rushing to Leo as she always did—heart first, consequences later.
And he’d stopped it.
Barely.
Kayne finally turned, his gaze snapping straight to the SUV.It was bulletproof and reinforced.Chloe was safe in there.She sat rigid in the passenger seat, arms wrapped tight around herself, eyes fixed on the scene.Her Kevlar vest was visible now beneath her coat.
A phantom weight made it hard to breathe.
Thank God.
The image of what could have happened tried to surface—Chloe stepping out, calling Leo’s name, confusion stealing a half-second she didn’t have—but he crushed it before it could root.
There was no armor for her head.No margin for error.He shoved the thought down before it could fully form, but it left a tremor behind that no amount of training could smooth out.
He’d protected principals before and high-value assets.People whose lives came with contracts and clauses.This wasn’t that.
This was personal.
He crossed back to the SUV, movements controlled, a predatory calm riding a surge of fury he didn’t dare let loose yet.He crouched slightly so Chloe could see his face clearly through the open door.
“You okay,cher?”he asked softly.
She nodded, but it was the brittle kind that meantI’m functioning,notI’m fine.
“They shot someone,” she whispered.“Kayne, they really shot someone.”
“I know.”He had the dried blood under his nails to prove it.His voice stayed steady for her sake, even as his pulse thundered.“You did exactly right.Stayed put.”
Her eyes flicked past him, following the path of the ambulance.“Is he going to live?”
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly.He never lied about things like that.“He lost a lot of blood.”
Her throat worked as she swallowed, guilt already creeping in where it didn’t belong.He saw it start and hated the bastard for that too.
Kayne straightened slowly, scanning the street again.There was no sign of the shooter or the weapon, only echoes.
Whoever was hunting Chloe had moved from fear to force, from shadows to bullets.And Kayne felt something old and dangerous coalesce: resolve.
His fear for Chloe wasn’t fading.It was intensifying.
The next time the bastard tried to use her heart against her, Kayne would be ready, because this was no longer about prevention.It was about ending it before someone else bled out on the concrete.
#
Chloe watched Kaynewhile he spoke to Leo.This was the look she’d learned to recognize: the one he wore when decisions had already been made and the world simply hadn’t caught up yet.
