Page 29 of Saving Meri

“Meri, cover me!” Bear barked.

She didn’t hesitate. Sliding low, keeping herself small, she lifted the Glock and fired. The shot clipped one of the men’s arms, spinning him back behind the truck.

Perfect. Bear used the opening, lunging forward, taking out another with a brutal shot to the knee before grabbing him by the collar and slamming him against the truck.

“Who sent you?”

The man coughed, blood trailing down his temple. “Who the fuck do you think?”

Bear’s grip tightened around the man’s collar. “Where’s DeLuca?”

The bastard just laughed. “You’re already too late.”

Bear pressed the muzzle to his forehead. “Try again.”

The man’s smirk faltered. “He’s coming for her,” he rasped. “And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Bear repositioned the gun, aiming it at the man’s shoulder, then pulled the trigger.

No hesitation. No mercy. The man went down screaming.

Gunfire still sounded through what had been a relatively silent morning. Fitz and Archer, along with their teams, held the enemy, but remained pinned down. The SUVs were compromised. They needed an exit now.

Bear turned back to Meri. She was still crouched low, gun steady, breath coming in sharp, shallow bursts. But her hands weren’t shaking.

She had held her ground.

Bear’s blood burned. She wasn’t just surviving—she was fighting.

He grabbed her, pulling her against his chest, feeling the wild hammering of her pulse beneath his grip.

His voice dropped into something dark and possessive, a promise. A vow. “You belong to me,” he murmured, threading his fingers into her hair, tilting her chin up so she had no choice but to see the truth in his eyes. “And no one takes what’s mine.”

She didn’t fight him. Didn’t pull away.

She nodded.

Bear turned, scanning the street. The fight was still raging, but Fitz had already started moving toward the last working SUV, covering Archer as they cut a path through the remaining men.

Bear’s grip tightened on Meri’s wrist. “Run.”

They moved as one.

Gunfire chased them. Glass shattered.

Bear didn’t stop. Didn’t hesitate. He threw open the door to the SUV, shoving Meri inside before sliding in behind her.

“Go! Now!” Fitz shouted from outside the driver’s door.

The tires screamed as the SUV peeled away, bullets ricocheting off the reinforced panels. Bear watched the wreckage fade behind them, but he knew this wasn’t over. DeLuca had made his first move—it wouldn’t be his last.

Meri sat beside him, still clutching the Glock, her breathing fast but controlled. Blood splattered across the front of her shirt—none of it hers—but her hands weren’t shaking. That was what mattered.

She met his gaze, fierce and unflinching. "Where are we going?"

"Home," he said, voice gravelly as he wove through the traffic, eyes flicking between the road and the rearview mirror. No immediate signs of pursuit, but he wasn’t naïve enough to think DeLuca’s men were done. In the distance, he could hear the wail of sirens.

"Are they following?" she asked.

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