Page 98 of Parker

He reached around with one hand, his other arm and both legs keeping his form as steady as possible while his frozen fingers wrapped around the weapon’s rubbery grip.

Despite having been submerged, the weapon had been designed to fire regardless. But as Parker lifted it against the water’s pressure and pointed it at the back of the man’s head, a sliver of doubt almost caused him to hesitate.

Almost.

Ignoring the burning in his starving lungs, Parker did a last-second check on Quinn’s position. Confident she wasn’t at risk of being hit by a through-and-through, he pressed the tip of his barrel to the back of McMahon’s head, curled his finger around the trigger, and squeezed.

The muffled shot bubbled out, the water around him darkening with the man’s blood, brains, and bone. But Parker paid no attention to that. He was already pulling Quinn to the surface.

They broke through together, her gasps and coughs like music to his ears. If she was coughing, that meant she was breathing, andthatmeant she was still alive.

She won’t be for long if you don’t get her sweet ass out of this water.

So that’s exactly what he did.

Though it took longer than he’d have liked, Parker eventually got them both over to the water’s edge. While Delta kept watch a few feet away, the men of Charlie Team were right there waiting to pull them both to safety.

In a whirlwind of activity, he and Quinn were separated as the others rushed to their aid.

“Here.” Asher wrapped a blanket around Quinn’s shoulders. “The other team had these stashed in the back of their SUVs.”

Shaking from head-to-toe, she pulled the thick material closed beneath her chin. “Th-thank…y-you.”

“Ambulance is on the way.” Winters thrust a second blanket in Parker’s direction. “Hunt put in a call to their team’s CPD contact.” He helped reposition the welcomed sheath. “Apparently Delta Team has the same sort of agreement with their local law enforcement as we do with ours, which means we control whose names are included in the official report”—his pointed gaze bounced from Parker to Quinn, and back again—“and whose aren’t.”

He gave the man in charge a shaky nod. “Ap-ppreciate that.”

Winters continued the after-action update, but Parker was too busy staring at his future to really listen.

Standing a few feet away, Quinn was dripping wet as Kellan and Asher hovered protectively nearby. Her lips were blue, she had a black eye and swollen jaw, and her teeth were chattering so loudly he could hear them.

And she was hands down, without a doubt, the single most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

I almost lost her for good, this time.

Unable to keep from it a second longer, Parker ignored Winters’ after-action report and shrugged the blanket from his shoulders. Letting it fall to the ground, he covered the distance between him and Quinn in four long strides.

The men standing around them continued to talk about damage control, locating Reynolds’ body for confirmation with authorities, and other things he didn’t care about. Right now, the only thing on Parker’s mind—the only thing he couldsee—was her.

Without a word, he closed right in, framed her ice-cold face with his equally chilled palms, and slammed his mouth to hers. Eyes closed and his heart full of more emotions than he could possibly name, Parker took a precious moment to relish in the fact that she was okay.

Freezing cold and a little banged up, but Quinn was alive, and that’s all that mattered.

Tasting of love and fear, river, and insurmountable relief, it was the best, most meaningful kiss of his entire existence. And when he finally, finally began to believe the truth of what he was holding—the truth of what he was feeling with his hands and lips and heart—Parker slowly pulled his lips free.

“D-don’t ever…d-do something…like th-that…ag-gain.” His warning gaze pierced hers as he rubbed his hands up and down her arms in rough, robust motions.

But of course, the amazing, unapologetic woman simply shrugged. “C-couldn’t…let h-him…sh-shoot…y-you.” Quinn’s stuttered voice sounded rougher than normal as she added a mind-blowing, “I l-love…y-you.”

She’d mouthed those same words to him just before vanishing over that fucking ledge. They’d meant everything to Parker, but hearing her actuallysaythem…after nearly dying in that goddamn river…

“Ah, sweet-heart.” Tears mixed with river water as they dropped down his already-damp cheeks. “I love y-you, t-too. So fucking much.”

They met in the middle, their frozen lips sealing their declarations in a hard, desperate, grateful kiss. Seconds later, though he hated like hell to do it, Parker cut the moment short to deliver the bad news.

“McMahon is g-gone, but…w-we still haven’t f-found Reynolds y-yet. He wasn’t in the b-building, and—”

“J-Justin’s d-dead.” A dark shadow clouded her baby blues, her wet hair slapping against her cheeks with a shake of her head. “He’s g-gone.”

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