7 Months (Time for Love 8)

“He missed,” I assured her, my arms tightening as fear and relief filled me. “I’ve got you.”

“He said he was going to kill you,” Ming murmured, and I felt the wetness of her tears on my chest.

“I’m okay,” I assured her, brushing my lips across the crown of her head.

“Okay,” she whispered, and we stood there holding each other while Zeke was removed from the trailer.

Chapter Thirty-Six ~ Ming

I was lying in Brady’s arms, my head on his chest, my hand across his stomach. We’d finally calmed down after the rush of adrenaline the situation with Zeke had caused in both of us. We’d given our statements to the police, and Brady had been instructed to go down to the station to talk to some investigator, but he’d taken me with him.

Said he didn’t want me out of his sight.

We went to his place after, and I wasn’t surprised to see Brock, Victoria, Brendan, and Bronagh there waiting for us.

Bronagh had collapsed in tears when I walked in, and she’d held onto me as if she were afraid I’d disappear if she let up an inch.

“I’m all right,” I’d said, trying to keep my voice calm and reassuring, but I was still a little worked up myself, and it ended up coming out like a question rather than a statement.

I looked over her head to see Brady enveloped in Brock’s arms, while Brendan stood right next to them, waiting his turn to put his hand on his brother and feel that he was okay, for himself.

“This danger shit is starting to become way too frequent,” Brock was saying as he held on.

Once they’d seen for themselves that we were both fine, Victoria talked them into giving us some space so that we could rest, and they’d left, albeit reluctantly.

Now it was just to two of us, and I was calmed by the distinct sound of Brady’s heartbeat beneath my ear.

“When he said he wanted to kill you…” I began, my voice sounding reedy to my ears. “I almost lost it.”

“Shhhh,” Brady replied, his hand rubbing circles on my back. “He never even got the chance.”

I lifted up so that I could look at his face

and argued, “He got a shot off. It could have hit you.”

“Nah,” he said with a grin, finally losing the hard lines that had been prominent all day. “He was a terrible shot.”

I rolled my eyes, knowing that he was just trying to ease my mind and the tension that we’d been feeling for the last few hours. Still, I didn’t like coming that close to losing him. No matter what he said now, I’d been there, and when that gun had gone off right as Brady was leaping at Zeke, time had stood still. I’d been frozen with fear until I realized that Brady was still moving on top of him.

“Those were the worst moments of my life,” I admitted softly.

Brady’s fingers ran lightly down my cheek, then cupped my chin, and the way he was looking at me warmed me through and through.

“When I answered that phone and realized that you were his target, not Nat, I didn’t know how to handle it,” Brady began, his tone low and full of sincerity. “That mind-numbing fear that I’d lose you … I had to tap it all down and rely on my training to push through, but there was no way I was going to let him hurt you.”

“It may sound crazy, but I was never afraid for myself. I knew you’d do everything in your power to get me out of there safely.”

Brady’s eyes closed, but I could still see the emotion on his face.

“You humble me,” was his barely audible reply.

I let out a small laugh and said, “You’re already the most humble man I know, but thank you.”

Brady was quiet after that, his eyes roaming my face as I leaned over him. It was like we couldn’t get enough of looking at each other. Assuring ourselves that the other person was unharmed and that we were still there, together, with the ability to hold each other.

I put all of my weight on one elbow, so I could trace his lips with my fingertip.

He was so handsome. His hair, his soulful eyes, those full lips that could make me swoon with one touch. And the beard he’d been growing since he was on a leave of absence, really made him look even more virile. Which I never would have thought possible.