Page 28 of Saving Meri

“They can try,” Bear growled. “But they won’t touch her.”

Fitz studied him for a long moment before shaking his head. “Jesus. You’re gone for her.”

Bear didn’t deny it. He didn’t need to. Instead, he turned and went back to the bedroom.

Meri was awake, propped up on one elbow, the sheets slipping down to reveal bare, golden skin marked with the faintest hint of last night’s pleasure. She blinked up at him, sleep-drunk and beautiful, her voice husky as she murmured, “What?”

Bear crouched beside the bed, brushing his knuckles over her cheek. “Get dressed, little one. We’re leaving.”

Her brow furrowed—not in fear, but in curiosity. “Leaving?”

“My place. You’ll be more comfortable.” He traced the edge of her jaw, watching the way her lips parted slightly beneath his touch. “And I’ll be able to keep a better eye on you.”

She swallowed, her pulse fluttering against his fingertips, but she didn’t argue. That in itself told him everything.

Fifteen minutes later, they were in his SUV, part of a three vehicle convoy, driving toward his loft.

Bear drove with the strategic focus that came from years of surviving hell. His SUV was the middle vehicle with Fitz leading, Archer bringing up the rear, and a small team dispersed between the two. The windows were bulletproof. The doors reinforced. Standard precautions for a high-value extraction… and Meri was the highest value of all.

She sat rigid in the passenger seat, her hands clenched in her lap, her eyes flicking to every shadow, every passing vehicle. She felt it too. The unease. The wrongness in the air.

Bear’s grip on the wheel tightened. They were ten minutes out from the loft when his gut twisted.

“Heads up,” Archer’s voice came over the comms, voice low, calm. “Tail at five o’clock; he’s been on us for three blocks.”

“Got it,” Fitz responded. “Another at seven. Bear, you see anything?”

Bear’s voice came through, dark and clipped. “Shit. There’s a third at one o’clock.”

His jaw clenched. Ambush.

Then came the hit.

The world exploded in sound and motion as a truck barreled out of an alley and slammed into the right side of Fitz’s SUV, sending it spinning. Tires screeched. Metal crunched. A second truck rammed Archer’s SUV from behind.

Then impact.

The third truck slammed into Bear’s vehicle broadside, shoving them hard into the curb. Airbags deployed, punching the air from Bear’s lungs. Meri yelped beside him, but she was already moving, bracing, thinking.Good girl.

“Move!” Fitz roared over comms. Gunfire erupted.

Bear reached under his seat, yanking the spare Glock from its holster, then turned to Meri. “You know how to use this?”

She swallowed hard, but there was no fear in her eyes. “Yeah,” she rasped. “Archer taught me.”

Bear shoved the gun into her hands, his fingers tightening over hers, making sure she felt his control, his command. “Stay low. Stay close. You shoot if you have to.”

She gave one sharp nod. “Got it.”

Bear shoved open his door and fired.

One. Two. Drop.

The first two bastards went down before they could register the counterattack. The others scrambled, using their trucks as cover. Across the street, Fitz and his team were already engaged, bullets destroying the quiet of the morning. Archer had pushed his SUV into a defensive angle, using the reinforced frame for cover as he and his team laid down suppressive fire.

“Four o’clock!” Archer called. “Coming in fast!”

Another truck screeched around the corner, blocking their exit.

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