Impatient.
Wolf didn’t knock like that unless something mattered.
I crossed the apartment quickly, every instinct sharpening as I reached beneath the old side table near the stairs.
Flick’s eyes widened slightly when I pulled the handgun free from underneath it.
Yeah.
Life had changed.
A lot.
I checked the magazine automatically before sliding the weapon against my back beneath my shirt.
When I looked up again, Flick was staring at me differently.
Not scared.
Just… seeing me.
Really seeing me.
The Army Ranger.
The man forged out of all the years between then and now.
“You keep guns hidden around your apartment?” she whispered.
“The Town’s gotten rougher the last few years.”
That wasn’t exactly a lie.
Her gaze dropped briefly toward the weapon before lifting back to mine.
“You ever have to use it?”
Too many times.
I didn’t answer.
Didn’t need to.
Something in my face must have said enough because her expression softened with quiet heartbreak.
God.
Ihated that look.
Not pity.
Never that.
Just sadness for things she hadn’t been there to witness.
Things I was glad she’d never seen.
Another knock downstairs.
