“Ten o’clock!” Thayer shouts and pushes me into Fabien. We hit the ground as Fabien pulls the trigger.
No waiting. No questioning. Justpulls the triggerwithout a second thought. The man with the luggage crumples to the ground. Oh myGod.What if he?—
Another shot rings out, then another. Thayer leaps to his feet, vaults over the man prone on the ground in a pool of his own blood, and races after someone else.
“Stay down,” Fabien growls, when I hear another gunshot.
Someone leaps at us from the side. Without thinking, I scream, my voice penetrating the air. I knife our attacker. The knife cuts through clothing and flesh like it’s a laser. Something warm and wet hits my hand. I go to strike again, when the deafening sound of a gunshot rings out right next to me.
Oh my God.
“Are you alright?” Fabien shouts.
“I’m fine,” I mutter. “Stop yelling and move this gorilla weight off me.”
With a grunt, he pushes my attacker off of me. I take one look at my blood-covered hands and the dead man on the asphalt, fall to my knees, and vomit.
Fabien gathers my hair.
“It’s alright,” he says with a sigh. “Jesus, it’s over.”
I don’t respond because I’m absolutely mortified and trying not to splatter his shoes. They’re expensive. God, the thoughts that come to my mind when I just knifed a man.
“Clear!” Thayer says. “Let’s move!”
Weak from vomiting, I stumble to my feet. Fabien lifts me straight up and cradles me against him.
The way he holds me, like I belong to him.
Like I’m special to him.
Like I’m his.
“Whatever you do, do not kiss me right now,” I say through pinched lips, which is a lot harder than it looks.
He growls something unintelligible in French.
“I have vomit breath. I will never live this down.”
He pulls me to him and plants a hard, warm kiss on my forehead.
“Get in the fucking car.” His command is redundant because he’s actually putting me in the car while he’s talking to me. I let him buckle me like I’m a child, because he looks like if he doesn’t get something he can control in the next ten seconds, his brain is going to explode or worse.
We get in the car, Thayer shuts the door, and we take off for La Maison.
“A small ambush,” Thayer relays.
“They had no time,” Fabien says.
“Agreed. All is safe at La Maison.They’re secured.”
Fabien nods. “Excellent. Did they get anything from the man they captured?”
Thayer grunts and looks away. “He killed himself before they could question him.”
I hold my hand to my mouth, afraid I’m going to vomit again. Fabien looks at me sharply. “We’ll talk about this later,” he says in a low voice to Thayer. “Nicolette, if you can’t do this...”
I swallow hard. “I can do this. I just need some water.”
