Page 92 of Between Dusk and Dawn

"Okay," she whispered.

I jumped out of the chair. Fuck, that hurt. My ribs were definitely broken, but I’d deal with that later. I needed to get her to safety and get on with my fucking day.

That’s when we heard the crunching of boots coming back in and unintelligible words from Georgie’s minions. I grabbed her hand, putting it on the waistband of my pants, as a signal for her to hold on tight. Although my first instinct was to tell her to run upstairs, she would be first in line when they entered into the barn again, so there was no other option. Plus, she was safer behind me. I was confident in my ability to protect her.

"Never again will you feel unprotected, Muse," I whispered. "Never again will you feel unsafe. Never again will you spend a holiday without your family, because you are mine and I am yours."

That’s when the barn door flung open again. The first man was unprepared to see me standing and with a weapon, so he was an easy shot in the chest. Madison gasped, but I kept us going forward, her finger wrapped around my belt loop as I moved forward.

"You're a dead motherfucker," Enzo screamed from outside, and a few shots were fired.

"Fucking finally," I huffed.

"We’re moving outside, toward the door." I needed to protect what was mine—at all costs.

We quickly ducked beneath the large barn door, walking along the wooden slats.

"Me first," I told her as I popped my head out, gun raised and ready to shoot to kill. To my right was clear. Over toward the woods on the left was Enzo and about a dozen of my men. I knew they were outnumbered, but Enzo’s voice confirmed it.

"Two cars out front. Eliminated. The only target missing via the thermal cameras is Georgie, but we cannot seem to locate him."

"Take Madison," I demanded as he made his way over toward me, flanked by two armed guys. Madison let go of my waistband, and my attention snapped to her.

"Turn. Around." Her voice was even and cool while her hands lay in fists to her side. There he was. Georgie had a rifle in his hand and pointed at all of us.

"Ah, so now I see who you’ve decided to marry," Georgie said, approaching us. Any fucking closer and I would give the signal to blow his brains out to the sniper sitting on my roof behind him. A man I had a clear view of while Georgie had no clue.

"You are outnumbered," I told him, trying to make sure he didn’t come any fucking closer to my wife.

"Did you have this all figured out when you were living with my daughter?” He addressed Madison this time. “When you were hooking up with her boyfriend behind her back?"

I paused. Well, shit. He almost fucking had me there.

"How did you know?" Madison asked, her face scrunched. What a good little muse. She had mimicked the exact way my gun was held in Georgie’s direction. She looked like she knew what she was doing.

"I knew he was fucking around when I saw all the surveillance cameras being installed in your apartment one day. That afternoon, I went in with a device that showed where they were, and sure enough, none were in my daughter’s bedroom, but there were tons of cameras on your side of the room."

The corners of Madison’s lips tugged into a smile. "That’s why I love him, you know?"

My breath caught in my throat. She…she fucking loved me? Holy shit. I know I’d told her last night I loved her, and I meant every fucking word of it, but I didn’t realize…

"You love me?" I asked, my voice almost a whisper. The world seemed to fade away, leaving only Madison and the weight of those three words hanging between us. If I had to die right here, staring at my beautiful wife after she’d told me she loved me, I’d go happily. I didn’t care that this crazed man had a gun in my face. All I wanted to hear were those words come out of her mouth over and over again. It was a revelation that shook me to my core, and I found myself captivated by the authenticity in her eyes.

Her response echoed in the stillness, cracking the walls I'd built around my heart. "Yes, Walsh. I love you. More than I ever thought possible."

For a moment, time stood still. The gravity of those words sunk in, unraveling a cascade of emotions I never thought I'd experience. Madison, my muse, my solace—she loved me.

"If I could, I'd shout it from the mountaintops, carve it into the stars, and etch it into the very fabric of the universe. You, Walsh Solis, my husband, have become the meaning of my existence."

A lump formed in my throat, a mixture of overwhelming joy and a touch of disbelief. Madison, the woman who had seen me at my worst, who had stood by me when I pushed her away, loved me. The revelation resonated through the barriers I'd erected around my heart, crumbling them with each heartfelt word she spoke.

"From now on, we face whatever comes together, hand in hand. No more running, no more hiding. Just you and me against the world." She vowed.

"Down," Enzo screamed from behind us, snapping us back to reality. Blush rose to her cheeks as she realized she’d confessed all this outside her barn in the freezing cold with a gunman pointing a weapon in our faces. As soon as Enzo’s command registered, Madison ducked so her body was partially hidden behind mine.

"Are you fucking done with your love confession? I think it’s making everyone sick," Georgie huffed out.

"I am sorry about your daughter, Georgie." I stepped closer to him, leaving Madison next to Enzo. "She was in the middle of a conflict and got shot by our leader at the time who was high on adrenaline and alcohol."

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