Page 55 of Guarding Bristol

Off limits.Get your head straight.

Eventually, he drifted into a light doze, only to wake with a start in the darkness later.

His eyes slowly adjusted to the dimness.The house was still and silent, but something had woken him, and it wasn’t Bristol.There was no hint of light in the hall coming from under her door, no indication of movement or stirring on the other side of the living room wall.

His muscles tensed when he caught the edge of a silhouette moving across the blind on the kitchen window.Someone was in the backyard.

Immediately, he rolled to one knee beside the couch, reaching for the weapon he’d left beside his phone on the coffee table.There was no time to warn Bristol.He had to intercept and neutralize the threat before whoever it was got inside.

A nearly imperceptible scraping noise at the back door raised the hairs on the nape of his neck.He hurried over on silent feet, got there in time to see the door handle shift slightly.

He waited behind the door out of view from whoever was on the other side, coiled and ready.Watched the door crack open a fraction of an inch.Waited a second longer, until a foot and leg slipped inside.

He slammed his shoulder into the door full force, crushing the leg between the jamb and the edge of the door.An enraged howl rent the air as he brought his weapon up and spun to confront the intruder, finger on the trigger.

As he turned, the door burst inward without warning, catching him off balance.He lost his footing, had to throw out his hands to catch himself and keep from sprawling face first on the floor.His weapon slipped from his grasp and hit the tile.

Before he could recover it, out of the corner of his eye he saw the assailant’s arm come up.TJ quickly rolled his body to the side and swept a leg out, knocking the attacker’s feet out from under him.The instant the guy hit the floor with a pained grunt, TJ dove at him.

He seized the attacker’s wrist, wrenched the pistol from his grip.It fell to the floor with a clatter just as an elbow flew at TJ’s face.He dodged it at the last moment, used the momentum to flip over and throw a punch at the guy’s throat.

The man had good CQB training because he managed to block it and land a punch to the side of TJ’s face.TJ’s head snapped to the right, stars exploding in front of his eyes.He rammed his fist into the guy’s diaphragm.Managed to wind him, but they were grappling on the floor now, both of them struggling to get the other in a headlock.He was bigger than TJ, and motherfucking strong.

TJ spotted the dark shape of one of the pistols lying close by.He flailed a hand out for it while keeping his other arm locked around the bastard’s throat.

He barely had time to register the silhouette looming above them, just a split second for his heart to seize as he braced to be shot by the new assailant.Then the attacker’s arm slashed down, immediately followed by a loud thump.

The guy in TJ’s grip jerked like he’d been shot, a howl of agony ripping from him as he stopped fighting entirely and slumped to the floor, clutching his side.

TJ looked up at the silhouette, stunned to recognize Bristol standing there, face set, bat poised in her grip like she was ready to take the guy’s head off.

Chapter Nineteen

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Heart hammering halfwayup her throat, Bristol gripped her bat with bloodless fingers, ready to hit the attacker again if he so much as twitched.Thankfully, she didn’t have to, because TJ pounced on him, wrenching the guy’s arms behind him and securing them with a...sock?

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