Gun drawn, Nate watched in horror as the bastard trying to kidnap Gracie reared his fist back and punched her hard in the side of the head. Protective instincts unlike any he’d ever felt before reared up and took over.
With his pulse racing and heart pounding, Nate pushed his way through the crowd of gawking people. He’d never wanted to pull his trigger more, but there were too many innocent bystanders to risk taking a shot.
“Get out of the fucking way!”
He continued to shove people aside who were just standing there, watching like it was some sort of goddamn reality show. By the time he got to the curb, the man had already slid the door shut, and the van was speeding off.
Nate’s eyes shot down to where Kole was hovering over Gracie. His heart damn near stopped when he realized she wasn’t moving.
“Sarah’s inside. I’ve got Gracie,” Kole yelled. “Go!”
Running as fast as his feet would take him, Nate followed the van down the street. Horns honked, and the sound of sirens grew louder and louder, but he didn’t stop. Not until he realized his efforts were futile.
The van was too fast and had covered too much ground. Not caring that he was still in the middle of the busy street, Nate stood there a minute, catching his breath as the van peeled around a corner two blocks down and vanished.
His gut churned, and his chest ached, knowing the men who’d just tried to take Gracie from him had gotten away. At least the fucker didn’t get her in the van before they took off.
Gracie.
Tucking his gun into his waistband, Nate sprinted the rest of the distance back to where she was. Once again, he found himself pushing against several strangers’ shoulders to make his way to the woman who had, in a week’s time, managed to become one of the most important people in his world.
Finally clearing the group of people, Nate looked down at one of the most beautiful sights he’d ever seen. With Kole by her side, Gracie was sitting up and talking.
“Gracie?” he choked out her name.
A set of gorgeous, terrified eyes rose up to his. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. His chest tightened as he realized she was struggling to keep it together.
Crouching down next to her, he did his best to keep his own voice calm and steady. It was nearly impossible, given the fear and rage still threatening to consume him.
Very slowly, Nate brought his hand to where she’d been hit. To her credit, Gracie only flinched a little. Thankfully, she didn’t completely pull away from his touch.
Brushing some hair back so he could get a better look, Nate literally had to bite his tongue against the stream of curse words threatening to fly out of his mouth when he saw the nasty bruise already forming on her cheekbone.
“Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah. I think so.”
Her voice was small and shaky, but just hearing it again sent a wave of relief coursing through his system.
“Ah, thank Christ.”
Nate blew out a loud breath as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He couldn’t deny the bit of satisfaction he got from feeling her hands on his back, gathering his shirt in her fists.
Not caring in the least that they were surrounded by a bunch of people, they sat like that for several seconds, each holding on to the other as tightly as they could.
Jake’s booming voice spread over the crowd. “Let us through, please.”
“Come on, guys,” Matt offered Jake support. “Give us some room.”
Gabe wasn’t quite as polite with his request.
“You heard ’em. Back the hell up.”
“Gracie?” Sarah came bolting through an open space. “Oh, thank God!”
She pulled Gracie from Nate’s arms and into her own. “I was so afraid I’d lost you again.”
“I’m okay, sis. I-I’m okay.”
