Page 53 of My Bodyguard’s The Boss

“You did,” Larry said, strained. “At least that’s what it sounded like. Read between the lines—oh, shit. Is that the crazy glass lady?”

Dominic frowned. “What?”

Larry’s eyes went wide. He started struggling. Not to get away, interestingly. Instead, he looked like he was trying to get further under Dominic. Like he was hiding.

Stomach dropping, Dominic turned.

Gail Dain stood in the driveway where Austin’s car had been. Her eyes were puffy, her cheeks streaked with mascara. She had a new tattoo: a bright red broken heart between her collarbones, still dotted with blood from the needle.

She was pointing a gun at them. No, not at them—at Dominic. Her hand was shaking, her finger on the trigger.

There were a hundred things Dominic could have done. Ran for cover. Shielded Larry. Charged for her. Try to talk her down. But at that moment, all his training fell away.

Dominic looked for Austin. His car was almost out of the gate. So close to safety. If he just got a little further⁠—

A deafening noise stopped that thought in its tracks.

Bang.

CHAPTER 18

Austin was almost through the gates when the gunshot rang out.

He slammed the brakes, heart racing, ducking low over his steering wheel automatically. No holes in the windshield—not bulletproof—or the windows—also not bulletproof. What the hell was he thinking, not upgrading when that last car guy suggested it?

He twisted to look through the back window and balked.

Gail Dain was on his lawn with a gun. And she wasn’t even pointing it at him. She was pointing it at Dominic, who was kneeling protectively over that goddamn paparazzi on the grass.

Austin cursed and clambered out of the car. The door scraped the gate, leaving a dent he couldn’t give a shit about. He had to know Dominic was okay. Even if he was stringing Austin along knowing he was going to dump him, he wasn’t going to let him get gunned down in Austin’s yard by Austin’s goddamn stalker. Where the hell was Brent?

Austin ran up, hands raised. “Gail! Hey! Let’s talk about this for a moment!”

“Austin,” Dominic barked. “Get back in the car!”

Austin only looked at him long enough to determine he wasn’t hurt. Neither was Larry. The bullet had missed them, carving a hole in the dirt next to them.

“Gail,” Austin said. “Look at me.”

Gail’s lip curled. She was crying, mascara streaking her cheeks. There was a broken heart tattoo bleeding into her shirt, which was so dramatic Austin would have laughed if he wasn’t scared shitless. The gun was still pointed at Dominic, her furious gaze drilling into him almost as good as a bullet.

“I’m everything you need,” Gail whispered. She gestured the gun at Austin with a shaking hand. “Who the fuck is he?”

“He’s my bodyguard,” Austin said.

“Austin,” Dominic said, voice low and urgent as he knelt up, his body still angled to protect Larry. “Stop talking. Let me handle this.”

They both ignored him.

Gail lifted her chin, still staring at Dominic like she was considering where to shoot. “What does he have that I don’t? Huh?”

Austin paused while he considered how the hell to answer that crazy question. Gail had nothing he wanted. Gail was mad, bad, and dangerous to know—everything that the public thought he was. But they were wrong. Austin was about as dangerous as a fucking Pomeranian. He just had a lot of tattoos and muscles and a resting bitchface.

But he knew how to play the role.

He straightened, lowering his hands. It felt crazy, but maybe he needed to match her crazy right now. That was what she always wanted, right? He fell into his Bad Guy posture—cocky, assured, and in this case, quiet. His character didn’t need to raise his voice to be intimidating. His character didn’t flinch when someone pointed a gun at the person he loved.

“He’s just a distraction,” Austin said with a calmness he didn’t feel in the slightest. “From what I really wanted.”