Page 72 of Hope & Harmony

“We received a call from a concerned party, ma’am. We also noticed pieces of a shattered cell phone directly beneath your back window.”

I stifle a scream as Professor Morgan jams his gun into my shoulder.

“I… I dropped the phone out the window. I was going to head down soon to clean it up. I’m sorry for the trouble, Officer. But you can go.”

“He’s not going anywhere, and neither am I.”

I gasp at the second voice—one with a rock-and-roll edge. Gunnar. Gunnar came for me.

“I’ll break down the door myself,” Gunnar continues.

Then the door bursts open. Two armed police officers enter, pointing a gun at my voice teacher. “Drop the gun, sir.”

Professor Morgan’s eyes are wide and bloodshot. “I’ll shoot her. I swear it. I’ll shoot her before I let any other man touch her.”

My heart is going to explode. Tears stream down my face. When did I start crying?

But then, a ray of light appears behind the cop. Gunnar is standing in the doorway.

“Blaire!” Gunnar roars. “You’d best get the fuck away from her, asshole!”

“You can’t touch her again if she’s gone,” Professor Morgan says, ice in his tone.

“Sir, please be quiet,” one of the officers says to Gunnar. Then, to Professor Morgan. “If you shoot her, I’ll shoot you.”

Professor Morgan fixes his gaze on me. “Better us both be gone than have some other man touch her.”

“Has he hurt you, ma’am?”

I shake my head, my heart pounding. “Other than frightening me to death, no.”

“How long has he been here?”

“Since about eleven last night. He forced his way into the apartment, and then he threw my phone out the window when someone called and I screamed for help.”

“Drop the gun,” the officer says again.

I wipe a tear from my cheek. “Please, Professor Morgan. I’ll do whatever you want. I won’t make the album. I won’t kiss Gunnar anymore. Please.”

“The hell you won’t!” Gunnar cries out. He leaps past the cop, straight for Morgan’s legs.

A gunshot booms through my apartment. My ears start ringing, and then all sound is muffled. I watch the action unfold like a silent film.

Gunnar is on top of Morgan. The gun is on the floor, just out of Morgan’s reach. Without thinking, my heart racing, I get to my feet and snatch the gun.

The cop says something, but I can’t hear it. He probably wants me to drop the gun. I slowly back up to my coffee table, gently lay the gun on top of it, and then put my hands behind my head. The cop nods and points his gun at Professor Morgan. He yells something at Gunnar.

Gunnar gets to his feet, and before Morgan can do the same, the cop cuffs him, places his hands firmly on his shoulders, and escorts him out of my apartment.

Gunnar rushes toward me as my legs crumple beneath me.

And then…

Nothing.

CHAPTER 9

GUNNAR

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