Page 47 of Protecting Lanie

The room erupted into chaos—shouts, screams. The sound of bodies moving, scrambling.

Cerberus had entered. Reyna’s voice buzzed through the earpiece. “We’re in. Extraction is go.”

Archer shoved through the chaos, gun already drawn, ignoring the scrambling bidders trying to flee. The only target that mattered was Lanie. But Molina was dragging her backward towards an exit.

Not fucking happening.

Archer surged forward, but a guard stepped into his path, gun raised. Archer didn’t hesitate. One shot—center mass. The man crumpled.

Another thug lunged. Archer twisted, slamming an elbow into his throat before snapping his wrist, making the gun drop. By the time he turned again, Molina was nearly to the exit, dragging Lanie along. She was fighting. Kicking. Scratching.

Good girl.

Archer’s pulse roared in his ears as he sprinted forward, the hallway narrowing, the walls pressing in. Molina turned, wild eyes locking on him.

“She’s mine,” he sneered. “You think I’ll let you take her?”

Archer didn’t bother responding. Didn’t hesitate. He raised his gun, but before he could take the shot, Molina yanked Lanie in front of him like a human shield.

Her gasp was sharp, her hands clawing at his arm.

Archer froze.

Molina grinned, stepping backward toward a black door at the end of the hall. “See you soon,buddy.”

Then he was gone.

The door slammed shut. Archer lunged after them, his body brimming with lethal intent. His heartbeat was deafening, his blood running hot, his mind a singular, razor-sharp focus.

Lanie was his. And no one—no one—took what was his.

Molina thought he could escape. He thought he could keep her. Archer was about to show him exactly how wrong he was.

Archer’s pulse roared in his ears as he slammed through the door after Molina. His gun was up, his vision a sharp, deadly tunnel focused on the bastard dragging Lanie toward an exit at the far end of the room.

She was fighting. Hard.

But Molina was bigger, stronger. He had her arm twisted behind her back, forcing her to stumble as he yanked her toward the waiting SUV idling just outside.

They’d tracked Molina, his driver, and Lanie to the warehouse district. They were inside as Archer and his team made a silent entrance. Inside, the room was dark, industrial, the scent of gasoline and metal thick in the air. A single hanging bulb flickered overhead, casting long, shifting shadows across the concrete floor.

Archer stalked forward, every muscle coiled, his gun aimed. “Let her go, Molina.”

He didn’t stop. Didn’t even look back. “You don’t give orders here, Vaughn.” His voice was smug, gloating. “You think you’re in control? You don’t know shit.”

Archer’s finger tightened on the trigger. “You take one more step, and I put a bullet through your skull.”

Molina laughed, jerking Lanie tighter against him, using her as a human shield. “You won’t risk hitting her.”

Archer didn’t so much as blink. “You think I won’t kill you?” His voice was icy. Deadly. “You’re already a corpse. I’m just deciding where to put the bullet.”

Molina sneered, confidence oozing from every inch of his pathetic excuse for a body. “You should thank me. You wouldn’t even know what to do with her. A girl like Lanie? She needs...”

He never got the chance to finish.

Because Lanie made her move. She fucking fought. She slammed her head back into Molina’s nose, made a sharp rotation with her body, and then brought her knee up into his groin.

Molina choked out a guttural sound, his entire body buckling, his grip on her loosening.

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