Page 3 of Gray

Her pulse skittered, her breath hitching as she froze in place.

“Hey, wait—” he said.

Lena’s frantic eyes slid to the door of the gym as another man came hustling out at the sound of her cry. He looked pissed as his narrowed gaze took in Lena and the man gripping her arm, but she was too happy to see him to care. A sweet sense of relief flooded through her, her entire body relaxing just a fraction.

“Gray.”

Her voice sounded breathier than usual, shaky. She tugged her arm free as the guy from IT whipped around to look at who’d approached.

“Are you okay?” Gray asked, his voice a low rumble as he moved toward them with a frown. “I heard you scream.”

Flustered, Lena felt her face growing warm. The last thing she needed was to look weak and incompetent again in front of the gruff former soldier. She already felt out of her element sometimes dealing with the work Jett and his team conducted.Sure, she might look organized and capable, but they were more adept at handling the dangers of the world than she’d ever be.

“I’m fine. He startled me when he came out of the gym. I didn’t think anyone else was down here.” She cleared her throat, both loving and hating the intense way Gray was watching her. “He grabbed my arm before I could walk away.” Her voice faltered, and she knew in that instant that Gray saw right through the brave façade she was trying to put up.

“Move aside, asshole,” Gray said, fisting the guy’s shirt and yanking him away from Lena.

“Hey, what the hell, man? I just wanted to get her number.”

Gray was already guiding her to the stairwell, giving the guy a scathing look over his shoulder. “You don’t fucking touch her.” His voice was deadly, brokering no argument. His eyes fell on one of the security cameras in the hallway, aiming in their direction. Gray pointed at it with his free hand, clearly knowing West Renkin, their IT guru, or someone in security would be monitoring it. “That guy needs to go.”

Gray yanked open the door to the stairwell, guiding Lena ahead of him. Gray’s astute gaze was already scanning over her as he took her upstairs, the man they’d left behind clearly no threat to him. No longer a potential threat to her. There was no way Gray would’ve turned his back to the guy if he thought otherwise.

Lena knew she probably looked terrified. Her heart was still beating a million times a minute, her palms felt slick, and she was sure her face was currently pale. She felt shaky as they began walking upstairs, suddenly realizing that Gray’s muscled arm was lightly wrapped around her, giving her support.

She didn’t feel scared with him, however, like when the other man had grabbed her arm. Instead, she simply felt…safe.

“Who the hell was that guy?” Gray asked, the deep timbre of his voice winding its way inside her. She remained pressed against his side, simply trying to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. She wobbled in her heeled boots, and Gray’s arm tightened around her. His entire body was tense, on-edge, and she tried to absorb some of his strength. He was angry on her behalf, yet barely anything had happened. Embarrassment washed over her.

“One of Jett’s new hires. I forgot his name.”

“He won’t be working here long,” Gray muttered.

Lena didn’t argue. She had plans to tell Jett about the incident herself, but she could sense that Gray was going to have words with their boss as well. Accidentally scaring her was one thing, but grabbing her arm so she couldn’t walk away? She’d been paralyzed, taken back to—she shuddered, the memories nearly overtaking her.

“Are you okay?” Gray asked more gently, ducking his head lower. She was average height for a woman, taller in her heeled boots, but Gray was still bigger than her. Stronger. He’d been working out and was dressed in gym shorts, a tee shirt, and sneakers, but Lena knew he was positively lethal. Gray wouldn’t have needed a weapon to take on that clueless guy from IT—or anyone else, for that matter. The Shadow Ops Team members were all former Special Forces soldiers. Just because they didn’t wear a uniform anymore didn’t mean they were harmless. Far from it.

“I’m okay, just rattled.” Her voice still sounded thin. Lena sucked in a breath, trying to steady herself. “I shouldn’t have gotten so shaken up over that. It just reminded me....”

“I know.” Gray’s quiet voice soothed something deep inside her. He wasn’t overly talkative or pushing her for information. Hewas simply there, literally holding her up as he escorted her away. “Shit. Why would Jett send you here at this hour?” His voice was gruff, and he seemed unhappy that she was alone downstairs so late. While Shadow Security employed both men and women, the fact of the matter was, most employees were male. Lena wasn’t a trained operative. She was Jett’s personal assistant. She ran errands. Made appointments. And she hated how vulnerable she felt at the moment because of a seemingly small thing. It’s not like she’d been attacked. A man had cornered her, not even realizing she was scared.

Her stomach churned.

“Jett needed me to inventory some ammunition.”

Gray muttered a curse. “I could’ve gotten that for him.”

“Guess he didn’t know you were here,” she said lightly, hastening a glance his way. They’d reached the lobby, and she faltered, her gaze landing on the windows and darkness outside.

“I’ll walk you to your car.” His voice brokered no argument. “Let’s get the numbers to Jett first. I want a word with him anyway.”

“Okay.”

Gray was already calling Jett as they moved to the empty area behind the receptionist’s desk, his phone at his ear. “Some asshole grabbed Lena just now,” Gray said without preamble, the irritation clear on his face. He was still looking her over, seemingly trying to make sure she was truly okay. Gray yanked out a chair, guiding her to sit down, and she gratefully sank into it. “He cornered her against the door to the armory. I was downstairs in the gym and—yep. Got it.” He set his phone down on the counter. “He’s calling security to pull up the feed. Jett will call us right back.”

Lena blew out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “What else did he say?”

“The guy’s done here. Security will escort him out.”

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