AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Serge raises a brow. “Isn’t that sweet.”
“Shut up, Hannah.” My voice is rough.
“Seriously.” She stands, both hands in the air in front of her in a gesture of surrender. “Owen wanted nothing to do with it, but I thought I could win big. I thought I could come here and show you up.”
Fuck. What the hell is she doing?
Serge slowly rotates so his gun is on Hannah. “Really?”
“Yes.” The way her lip trembles makes my insides twist. “Please, let him go.”
Serge closes in on Hannah, his gun aimed directly at her forehead. The easy smugness is now gone, replaced by rage and something swirling and uncontrollable. He backs her up against the desk, pressing the gun right into her skin. If he pulls the trigger, there won’t be anything left of her.
“She’s a cop.” The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them, and they suck the life from the room.
“What?” Serge looks at his henchmen and then me.
“If you kill her, you’ll have the full force of the Victoria Police hunting your ass down.” I suck in a breath. “But I’m not a cop. So I’m your better option.”
“He’s lying!” Hannah is looking at me with huge eyes.
“I think you’re right.” Serge stares at me. “Heislying.”
“We’re not really married.” I grit the words out. “We’re colleagues. I’m a security consultant who was brought on to track a jewellery theft ring at 21 Love Street. Hannah is not my wife.”
“Then why put yourself on the line for her, huh? You think I’m stupid.” He shakes his head. “I know what two people in love will do for one another. They’ll sayanythingto protect the other person. I would know if either one of you was a cop.”
I can’t breathe. Panic has seized my chest and I know I have to do something, or else there’s a very real chance one of us will get shot before backup arrives. I will not allow it to be Hannah.
The gun is back on me, thank God. Hannah is shaking her head at me, like I’ve lost the plot. I have. I left protocol in the dust the second I exited the main room.
“There’s only one way for you to get out of this. Go now, before our backup gets here.”
Doubt flickers across his features. He doesn’t know whether to believe me. “You’re bluffing.”
“Nope.”
“Well, then thereisonly one way out of here.” He turns back to Hannah. “And the only good cop is a dead cop.”
A sound outside makes everyone crank their head to the door. There’s screaming and shattering glass, and chaos is coming from the gambling room. The door to the corridor must be open. Backup is here, but until I see the unit of men and women in their tactical gear, I’m not safe and neither is Hannah. I use the moment of distraction to lunge forward, grabbing Serge’s gun and wrenching his arms up. It goes off, shattering the light overhead, and plunging us into semi-darkness.
There’s a sound of gasping, a scuffle and another shot goes off. I hear shouting, but something doesn’t feel right. There’s a pain in my side. But I keep going. I’m on top of Serge, holding him down. We’re struggling. I throw a fist, but I’m starting to move slower.
A second later the SOG members filter into the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Hannah
MYEYESFEELcompletely raw. After exhausting myself trying not to cry in front of my colleagues, I eventually took a shower so I could do it in peace. Last night should have been a bad dream. But now, I’m curled up in a hospital chair waiting for Owen’s eyes to open. I want to take him home so he can wake up somewhere that smells like life—like bread and coffee and fresh sheets.
He got shot trying to protect me. The doctors told us the bullet missed his organs, but he lost a fair bit of blood. If the special ops team hadn’t arrived when they did, the outcome could have been very different. I could have watched him bleed out on the floor. I could have watched him die.
The thought brings on a fresh wave of tears. My knees are drawn up to my chest, and I wrap my arms around them. I don’t know whether it should make the situation better or worse, but this morning I got my period. Yep, not pregnant. I took one of those early-signs tests just in case, but the results were clear as a bell. Over the past week I’d grown curious about the idea of having a child, enough to know with certainty it’s something I want in my future.
The problem is, I also know with certainty it’s something I want with Owen.
Last night, when I thought Serge was going to shoot Owen, I was beside myself with fear. It’s made me understand him a little more. Nearly losing him has messed me up inside. I’m jittery and tense and I snap at anyone who comes within a metre of the room.
