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“I’m not a teddy bear,” I complain. “More like a grizzly bear.”
“You’re a grizzly bear who is a teddy bear on the inside,” she amends.
“Only for you,” I say quietly. “And only on certain days. Like today.”
Sienna and I sit there for a few minutes longer, drinking our thermoses of coffee as we wait for her first interview of the day to arrive. In that moment, surrounded by the calm stillness of the morning and the comfort of her presence, I felt a sense of peace wash over me—a feeling I never wanted to let go of.
I can’t let Rich hurt Sienna. Not after she’s brought so much into our lives. She’s changed us, changed me for the better. I was bitter and jaded before she sashayed into Caspian Springs in her Mary-Janes and schoolgirl skirts.
Now I feel like I can see a future for myself, I feel like I can dream again.
And nothing will stop me from protecting Sienna from danger.
Time speeds up again as I finally reach Rich, knocking the gun out of his hands. Rich dives for the it as I pull Sienna up and shove her behind me, towards Caleb.
She stumbles into him and he grabs her, protecting her while I face Rich, who holds the gun up.
“Don’t move!” he yells. I freeze in place, holding my hands up. Taking a careful step forward, I try to placate him.
“Rich, it’s me. It’s Dominic. You’ve known me almost my whole life. Put the gun down and we can talk, Rich,” I say.
“I said don’t move!” Rich repeats, pulling back the hammer with a loud click. My heart is pounding so hard in my chest that I feel like everyone can hear it. Blood pumps in my veins and I feel the adrenaline surge inside me as I take one more cautious step forward.
“I warned you!” Rich shouts, pulling the trigger.
The gun goes off in a flash of smoke.
Time slows down once again, the bullet almost frozen in the air as I stare at it.
Memories surface again, this time of when we first met Sienna.
“She’s dangerous,” I say, watching her from the window for a moment before we go inside. “She doesn’t belong here.”
She glances up and I catch sight of her face. It’s round, like a cherub, with an oval shape and soft, glossy red curls frame green eyes and full lips. The breath feels stolen from my lungs as I stare at her, wondering how someone who looks like an angel could be such a devil.
Time speeds up again as the bullet pierces me in the leg.
I scream in pain, going down on one knee as blood begins to pour from the wound, dripping onto the floor.
After the gunshot, Caleb lets out a strangled gasp, his eyes darting between Rich and Sienna, his expression torn betweenfear and determination. Rich then turns the gun on Sienna, intent on finishing what he started.
I can’t let that happen, so summoning all my strength, I continue lurching forward, refusing to let him gain the upper hand.
Before he can pull the trigger again, I shove him into the wall, his head bouncing off with a loud bang. His eyes are wild, darting around the room.
He grabs my shoulders and wrests them off of him. “You have no idea what you’re doing, Dominic. Sienna isn’t who she says she is. She’s a dangerous con artist. I was trying to save you from her!”
“You’re a liar,” I growl out, grabbing his wrist as I try to wrestle the gun away. Pain radiates outward from my leg wound like fire spreading through a forest. It consumes everything in its wake, leaving me feeling dizzy and cold. I keep fighting though, bending his wrist back as I try to remove the gun from his grip.
Sienna is screaming in the background as Caleb unties her, pleading for Rich to let us go.
Bastian takes a step forward, as if to intervene, but hesitates, unable to go up against the man he once considered like a father.
“Please, just listen to me,” Rich pleads as we fight for control. “Sienna came to me with a story about how she thinks I was responsible for the center closing. I told her it wasn’t true, but she threatened to kill me unless I came with her. She brought me here to Emily’s place to guilt trip me into confessing. She was the one who had the gun!”
Bastian’s eyes narrow with anger and disbelief as Rich's true intentions become clear. “You’re lying,” he screams, throwing himself into the fray. “You’re just trying to manipulate us, why else would you shoot Dominic?”
He almost manages to get the gun from Rich but Rich twists his arm, dropping him to the ground. “Enough!” Rich yells. “I’m cleaning up your messes once again.”
