I’m already pushing off the floor when Ryder says, “Up.”
Aurora jolts awake, breath catching as she scrambles onto her elbow, eyes wide and searching. She looks disoriented enough to hurt my chest.
I’m beside her before she can panic.
“Hey,” I murmur, gripping her arm. “You’re good. Come on.”
Her gaze jumps to the door, then to the others. The color drains from her face, but she moves.
Good.
“What is it?” she whispers.
“Company.”
Zane’s already on his feet. Ryder positions himself beside the door. His head tilts slightly, listening.
A voice cuts through the metal. “Open up, Callahan.” Silence. “Or we drag her out piece by piece. Your choice.”
Aurora goes still behind me.
Another voice, amused: “Boss says you’ve gotten soft. Thought we’d check.”
Another one. “We know you’re in there. He’s been watching your every move.”
Aurora’s fingers tighten in my shirt.
My jaw sets.
Ryder doesn’t answer.
The first hit slams into the door hard enough to rattle the entire unit.
My heart does an inconvenient skip.
Ryder doesn’t look at us when he says, “Back wall. Now.”
I guide her backward, putting my body between hers and the door without thinking about it. Finn Reilly, ladies and gentlemen. A man with commitment issues so profound they should have their own diagnosis, and yet my body has decided on a very firm moral stance regarding Aurora Harper.
No one gets through me to her.
Simple.
The first hit to the door rattles the whole damn unit.
Aurora flinches hard. Her fingers dig into me.
“Finn—”
“I know.” My voice comes out calmer than I feel. “Stay behind me.”
The door tears open, cold light floods in, and one of them steps forward slowly, like he’s enjoying this.
“Yeah. Boss was right. You’re compromised.”
Then he moves.
Zane intercepts him before I even register what he’s wearing. Just a blur of motion and then the sound of body meeting concrete in a way that definitely hurts.
