Chloe didn’t scream or duck.She was frozen, her eyes wide and brain struggling to catch up to what almost ended her.
The drone veered away, vanishing toward the treeline as if it were a fleeing insect.
Then the world detonated.
People shrieked and ran for cover.Others surged forward, already filming.Equipment toppled.The livestream feed dissolved into chaos.
Kayne was moving before the sound finished echoing.He vaulted the stage steps, grabbed Chloe around the waist, and drove them both behind a barricade, covering her body with his own, every instinct screaming to shield.
Her heart slammed wildly against his ribcage.“I’ve got you,cher,” he murmured.“I’ve got you.”
Her nails bit into his forearm.“It almost hit me.”
“I know.”
Anja slid in beside them, weapon drawn, eyes tracking the sky.“Drone’s gone.”
Chloe sucked in a shaky breath.“If I’d been two inches to the left ...”
Kayne cupped her face, forcing her to look at him.“It wasn’t.You weren’t.I’m here now.”
Her composure finally shattered, and raw, naked fear flooded her eyes.
“Someone really wants me dead,” she whispered.
His teeth clenched.“Then they picked the wrong damn day.”
The noise beyond the barricade swelled.People shouted, and sirens approached, turning the entire moment into a national spectacle.Chloe flinched and pressed her forehead into his shoulder.
“This is going everywhere, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” he said quietly.“It is.”
For once, she didn’t pretend she was fine.She just held on.Kayne held her back, fully prepared to take down anyone who thought they could extinguish her light and walk away.
#
Chloe’s hands wouldn’tstop shaking.Not violently, nor enough for anyone else to notice.Just a faint, persistent tremor that lived below the surface.Apparently, her nerves hadn’t gotten the memo that the danger had already passed.For now,she amended in her head.
Kayne stayed close, a solid presence at her back while park security and law enforcement swarmed the stage.The music was off, and the crowd had been pushed farther away.Someone had draped a jacket around her shoulders at some point, though she couldn’t remember when, only that it smelled of Kayne and steadied her more than it should have.
She remembered the sound, though.That sharp mechanical whine.The rush of air.How close death had come without actually touching her.
You’re okay,she told herself.You’re still standing.
Still, her breath hitched every time someone raised their voice or equipment clanged metal against metal, her body reacting faster than reassurance could catch up.
“Ms.Giordano?”
She turned at the sound of her name and found Aiden Kerr, Sandy’s newest hire, hovering a few feet away, hands half-lifted as if he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to exist in her orbit right now.He looked shaken, his normally eager expression pulled taut with concern.He wore his usual web-team hoodie, sleeves shoved up his forearms, ID badge hanging around his neck, eyes flicking quickly past her shoulder before settling back on her face.
“I, uh, are you okay?”he asked.“That was scary.”
She forced a breath into her lungs and her shoulders back.This was the moment where she could buckle inward, or she could choose something else.
“I’m okay,” she said, surprised to hear how steady her voice sounded.“Shaken, but fine.”
His relief came fast.“Good.That’s good.I saw the feed cut out, and then people started screaming, and I thought—” He stopped himself, swallowing.“I’m really glad you’re okay.”
