HE PAID ME $10,000 A WEEK TO KEEP HIM ALIVE IN THE DARK, BUT OPENING HIS CURTAINS UNCOVERED A DEADLY SECRET THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

The gunshot deafened me.

The recoil kicked hard against my wrists, sending a sharp shock up my forearms. Across the ruined bedroom, the mercenary holding the shotgun collapsed face-first onto the shattered hardwood floor, his weapon clattering harmlessly away.

Liam spun around instantly, his blue eyes widening in shock as he saw me standing at the top of the secret stairway, the smoking pistol still gripped in my white-knuckled hands.

For a split second, our eyes locked through the drifting haze of cordite and plaster dust. There was no judgment in his gaze—only ferocious, awe-struck respect.

"Down!" Liam roared.

I dropped flat onto the concrete steps as Leo fired a desperate volley toward the doorway. Liam returned fire instantly, his bullets tearing through the wooden dresser Leo was using for cover. Leo let out a shriek of pain as a round caught him in the shoulder, dropping his weapon and scrambling out into the dark hallway, leaving a heavy trail of blood behind him.

The upper floor fell into an eerie, suffocating silence, broken only by the crackle of burning drywall and the distant wail of police sirens approaching from the interstate miles away.

Liam limped rapidly to the stairway, dropping to one knee beside me. He took the pistol gently from my frozen fingers, tossed it aside, and pulled me fiercely against his chest.

"You're okay," he breathed into my hair, his arms locking around me like bands of steel. "You're safe, Clara. I've got you."

I buried my face in his tactical vest, my whole body shaking uncontrollably with delayed shock. "I... I shot him, Liam. I killed a man..."

"You saved my life," he whispered fiercely, his hand cupping the back of my head, holding me tight. "You protected me when my back was turned. Look at me, Clara."