Page 97 of Nikolai (Kansas City Reapers)

With her hand on the door, seat belt already removed, Maddy finally spoke.

“Niko, you can lie to yourself all you want. But ifyou think for a second that this decision had anything to do with me or my safety, you’re wrong. So motherfucking wrong.”

Before I could say a word, she had opened the car door, grabbed her bags, and slid out of the seat while I was still turning the engine off.

“Maddy, wait!” I hollered out after her.

I opened the car door, ready to pull her back and finish this. To actually have this fucking conversation. This was the right thing, letting her go to the new safe house. But I didn’t want things to end between us — not like this, at least. And I had fucked it up too much already.

With a renewed sense of purpose, I stepped out of the SUV, immediately reaching out for her, but she was just far enough away that I could not reach her. It was poetic, in a cruel sort of way.

As soon as she slipped from my grasp, my feet went into motion. I wasnotgoing to let things end between us like this, not without at least a conversation. Honestly, I should have done it back at the house, but I’d been too stubborn to see past my own issues.

We didn’t have time for my internal self-loathing. I needed to make this right. I made it two steps in her direction before it hit me.

Something wasn’t right.

Something in my gut screamed out a warning, alarm bells going off in the back of my mind. I’d learned to trust this instinct, honed by years of duty and hundreds of sketchy situations.

Something wasn’t right.

My eyes searched around the property for any sign of something out of place. I reached for her once more as she stalked away from the car.

“Maddy, get back here,” I hissed out, not wanting to raise my voice. I snapped my fingers to get her attention.

“Whatever, Niko. I’m not your fucking problem anymore, alright?” she spat over her shoulder, her eyes not meeting mine and her feet still pressing ever forward towards the house. She was only a few feet in front of me, but the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

Something was very,verywrong.

“Maddy, get back in the car!” I hissed.

“You know what, Niko?” she spat, dropping her bags and spinning on her heel to face me, a finger pointed in my direction with all the anger and vitriol she had been harboring since yesterday. “You think you can—”

But her words were cut off as the sound of a gunshot rang out.

Chapter 24

Nikolai

It was onlyher sudden movement as she spun to face me that saved Maddy’s life. The bullet whizzed right past her head, missing her by what looked like inches at most, passing so close that her hair fluttered in its wake. It hit the concrete instead, burying itself there like a nail driven into wood.

My ears rang as time slowed to a halt. Instantly, it was like a switch flipped in my mind as decades of training went into effect.

This was now a battle.

High caliber.

The shot came from close. At a downward angle.

It had to be from the roof!

My eyes shot up, scanning the roof just in time to see the barrel of a bolt-action rifle slide away from the peak, disappearing behind it.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as my head turned to see Maddy, her eyes wide with shock,hands covering her head. The terror written on her face could have made any grown man weep.

For me — I saw rage.

Rage. Violence. Vengeance.

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