Page 68 of One Wild Night

I didn’t even think. I had no time before those fuckers pulled their triggers. In that instant, I had to make a choice: me or Siena? Of course, there was only ever one answer.

I dove in front of Siena and pulled her down with me just as the guns began to fire. I could feel the bullets as they ripped through my skin like fire, but all that mattered was Siena safely nestled in my arms.

How many times had I been hit? The stabbing fire seemed to come from everywhere, but then began fading away. Everything around me became almost dreamlike, as if I were floating. I could hear gunfire in the background, and people rushing around yelling, but one voice was all I could concentrate on.

“Ryan! Ryan! Look at me, please! Stay with me! Don’t you fucking goanywhere, do you hear me?!” Siena sobbed, looking down at me. She was holding my shoulder, pressing down hard. Fuck, it burned. I must have been shot there.

“Si...Siena,” I forced out, trying to lift my hand to touch her face. She must have known what I wanted, because she leaned her head down toward my hand.

“Why did you do that, Ryan?” she sobbed.

“I made...a choice,” I croaked. “You are...too...important...to me.”

“You jumped in front ofbulletsto save me.”

“B...because I lo...” I didn’t get a chance to finish as I began to choke on my own blood. Fuck, this was bad. Was I dying?

“CARLO!” Siena screamed. “We need to move himnow!He’s losing too much blood!” I could feel everyone rushing around me as I began to slip under.

I tried to rationalize my actions. I saved Siena. I had just sacrificed my own life for her. What did that tell me? I kept coming up with the same conclusion...the one truth I had been fighting for the last two years. I could no longer deny it.

I was in love with Siena Clark, and if I made it through this alive, I needed to tell her.

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To be continued in...

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