Page 33 of Her Protector Daddies

The man behind me tripped forward, and when he crashed onto the ground, a pen protruded from the back of his knee. Wide-eyed and scared, Selena was crouched a foot away.

This asshole had been sneaking up on me, and she saved me.

I dropped onto the man immediately, driving my elbow into his collarbone and wrestling the gun from his hand. The pain from his injury was enough for me to quickly gain the upper hand and his weapon slipped from his grasp, skittering across the road and ending up under a car.

Two swift punches and he was knocked out cold. I cuffed him quickly and then, because he was still alive, I grabbed him by the shoulders and rolled him under the van.

It was the best I could do to try and prevent him from getting shot. Then I was on my feet, grabbing Selena by her arm and dragging her down behind the cover of another car. Just in time, as no sooner had I dragged her away than three bullets thudded into the ground where she’d been crouched.

“I told you to stay in the car!” I snapped, panting as I slumped against the door of a red sedan.

“I couldn’t,” she snapped back heatedly. “That guy was on you; you could have died, and I couldn’t—I couldn’t just sit back and watch!”

Selena’s chest heaved rapidly and she clutched so tightly at her shirt that the whites of her knuckles bled through. Without thinking, I reached over and took her hand. She latched onto me like glue.

“Okay, I’m sorry. But it’s not safe for you out here.”

A hail of bullets hit the ground near us, and we both flinched, curling closer to one another.

“It’s not safe anywhere!”

“Jay!” Tyler’s voice cut across the din of gunfire.

“Alive!” I yelled back.

Suddenly, the cacophony of gunfire was broken by the wail of police sirens, and Selena’s grip tightened on me. The cavalry was on its way.

And just in time.

Ten minutes later, silence had fallen over the street. Red and blue lights flashed wildly, blinding anyone who dared to look at them for too long, and the five remaining shooters were locked in cuffs by the side of the road, receiving various forms of medical attention.

“It must be insane,” Selena murmured, still clutching my hand while staring at the paramedics.

“What must be?” I asked gently, running my eyes over her.

“Having to provide medical care to the men that literally just tried to kill you.”

“It’s their job,” I replied. “Everyone is entitled to medical care.”

I cupped her face, and her eyes darted to mine, swimming slightly with unshed tears. Caressing her cheek, I double-checked Selena to make sure she really was okay and that she didn’t catch a stray bullet in the fight.

She seemed okay, shaken but alive, and that’s all I could ask for.

“I’m okay,” she said and a watery smile drifted across her face. “I saved your life so I think I deserve props for that.”

“You did, thank you.” It was all I could say because I was momentarily lost in her eyes. So vibrant, so full of life and she had acted without much thought. She put herself in harm’s way to save me, and that knowledge alone grows into warmth curling in my gut.

I almost didn’t make it home to Dae.

Thanks to Selena, I would.

“Jay!” Bailey’s bark of a yell drifted across the street and I turned to watch him stride across the road like the hounds of hell were barking at his heels.

“We’re okay, Bailey,” I assured him.

That didn’t matter. The second he reached us, with Tyler hurrying behind, Bailey’s fist collided with my face and I stumbled backward. Pain flared across my jaw, hot and tight from the punch and Selena squealed in alarm.

“What the fuck?!” Bailey yelled. “What were you thinking, bringing Selena here? She could have been hurt. Worse, she could have been killed! We’re supposed to be protecting her, and you bring her right into the middle of the fucking hornet’s nest!”

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