Her hand rested lightly on my arm while they finished.
“You could’ve died,” she said quietly.
I looked at her.
Two weeks ago, she barely wanted to be in the same room as me.
Now she was standing beside me.
“I didn’t,” I said.
She exhaled slowly. “You better not die.”
The medic stepped back.
“All done, sir.”
I rolled my shoulder.
Still burned.
But it was nothing serious.
Zay leaned against the wall, watching everything.
“We’ll find whoever pulled the fuckin’ trigger,” he said.
“And when we do…”
His voice went colder.
“They dead.”
I stood up slowly.
Because whoever took that shot this morning just started a war.
And I was about to make sure they finished it.
$$$$$
Hours later…
Night settled over the estate slowly and warmly, the ocean looked like black glass, and the city lights below shimmered like gold scattered across the water.
We were eating outside on the deck. A long wooden table sat beneath low-hanging lights, plates spread out in front of all of us, like this was a normal family dinner instead of the aftermath of someone trying to take my head off twelve hours earlier.
Zay and Emily were at one end with their son between them, the kid happily tearing apart fried wings.
Emily had fries and fried shrimp spread across her plate while Zay stole half her food when she wasn’t looking.
Across from them, my mother sat next to me.
She had the same thing I did.
Wagyu steak, smothered potatoes, and steamed broccolini.
Meanwhile, Yuna sat beside me, demolishing a double bacon cheeseburger like she hadn’t eaten in a week.
