Page 84 of Barrett

His face turned an ugly shade of red. “My son has nothing to do with this.”

“Tell that to our witness who was taken by him and held against his will.”

“Noah doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He went willingly.”

“And yet, you knew one of the victim’s names. How?”

He didn’t have an answer for that.

“I repeat, put your gun down. There are multiple witnesses here who saw what you’re doing, what you took over from your son.”

The gun he had pointed at me shifted to aim at one of the men on the floor who visibly shrank away, trying to push himself against the wall and curl into a ball to make himself smaller.

“Don’t,” Reghan said with a deadly calm voice I’d never heard from him. Before we got together, he would let his anger show. This was completely different. I wanted to turn and look at him, but taking my eyes off the man in front of me was a mistake I wouldn’t make.

“Reghan Sutton,” the chief bit out. “Or are you Raiden? One of the mafia boss’s bodyguards. Who the fuck do you think you are to tell me to do a damn thing? You have no standing here.”

“No?” Jordan asked. His voice bled rage, but it was restrained too. While he wanted to unleash, he didn’t. Yet. “You think Reghan doesn’t have a right to carry the gun he has or to protect the men in this room? They’re under threat from you.”

The chief’s gun swung toward Jordan. “I could put a bullet in your skull and get a goddamn medal for it. Do you know how many people want you dead?”

“You’re going to kill me? I’m not even holding a weapon.” Oh, this was well played on Jordan’s part. He had guns on him but by not having one in his hand, the chief had zero reason to shoot him.

“Put the gun down,” I said between clenched teeth. I needed this asshole to get rid of it.

“No.”

He fired.

All hell broke loose.

I fired back on instinct and watched my aim hold true, hoping the other bullets didn’t ricochet. The bullet hit him in the shoulder. It wasn’t where I wanted to deliver it, but it kept me clean. When he dropped the gun and the phone in the opposite hand and pulled another gun out, I unleashed. Two more bullets left my gun and went into his chest. So much for keeping him alive.

I wasn’t the only one who fired. There were others who hit him, one in the head. There was no coming back from that as he dropped to the ground. The men on the floor pushed away from where he landed.

“Bear,” Reghan said, grabbing my attention.

I spun and found one of Jordan’s guards on the floor, bleeding from the abdomen. I didn’t know the man’s name and didn’t ask as I lunged forward and pulled out my phone, calling this whole nightmare in.

People I worked with for years from the station to emergency services rushed to the scene and started administering care. The man who was shot was taken out of there first. Rory went with him while the rest of us stayed where we were.

The chief was dead. There was a line of naked men, and I had a message on my phone of the video with proof of it all.

People rushed around us to do their jobs, ones I should be doing too. I should have helped, should have triaged. Instead, I threw my arms around the man I loved and thanked whoever was looking out for us that he wasn’t hurt.

Reghan held me in a crushing embrace while whispering in my ear how much he loved me and how he was never letting me go. Of course, he added that I would never be allowed to go first again since he was afraid I was going to die. I’d give him that concession… for now.

I spent the rest of the night and the next day going over the details with the higher-ups and one of Jordan’s lawyers present to have my back. Jordan and his men left long before me. I had a lot of questions to answer, including how I came to be with Jordan and those with him. Earlier, when the cops arrived, I told them I was on a date with Reghan when Jordan called, needing his guard. Since I was already with him, I was along for the ride. Lies easily fell from my lips. They didn’t go over well. I also didn’t give a fuck. No one had done anything wrong. We rescued those men. They couldn’t play Jordan off as the villain here.

I left the station much later. My badge, keys to the SUV I’d picked up and driven here, and my gun were turned in when I resigned. They didn’t fight me on it, not that I thought they would once they knew who I was dating.

Leaning against his Jeep with his arms crossed and a pissed-off look on his face was Reghan. He kicked off the truck and took powerful steps toward me, claiming my mouth in a bruising kiss once he had me in his arms. “Let’s go home, Bear.”

36

REGHAN

My body practically vibrated with need by the time we were in the elevator going up to my floor. Barrett was by my side. Several others were with us too, but I barely registered them. All that mattered was getting Barrett into my home and in my bed.

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