A loud boom at the front door made me spin, my finger poised at the trigger.
The door busted open, and it was only a nanosecond of hesitation that saved his life.
We stared, our guns trained on each other, when Agent Light said, “Gun down, Leblanc.”
“Son of a fuck,” I ground out, slowly lowering my weapon.
He kept his up. “You okay?” he asked, scanning the house.
“Yeah, we’re good. What the fuck are you doing here?”
He didn’t reply as he rushed past me, clearing the house, and shutting the back door. When he was finally content that we were alone, he tucked his gun into his shoulder holster and stormed toward me. “You dumb fuck!”
“Excuse me?” I asked, my shoulders rolling back in defense.
The sirens drew closer.
“What the fuck did I tell you? Do not go off half-cocked!” he yelled.
“Light,” I started, not in the mood for whatever bullshit he was about to sling. Elisabeth was upstairs in a closet, scared out of her gourd. I did not have time for his shit.
“You could have gotten her killed!” he roared, stabbing a finger in my direction. “Clare. Tessa.” He paused, his face contorting with fury. “Elisabeth! Goddammit, Roman, I told you Noir was not to be fucked with. So you haul your ass over to his house and engage his wife? Who, by the way, I will fucking add, if you ever lay a finger on again, I will slit your goddamn throat myself.”
“What did you expect me to do after you show me a picture of my child and tell me that she’s in the arms of an abusive criminal?”
The muscles in his jaw clicked as he seethed, “I expected you to keep your shit together! But no, I had to sit my ass in a fucking car, watching your house all night long to keep Noir from coming in here and snuffing you out.”
I took a step toward him, bringing us nose-to-nose, and whispered, “This was one of Noir’s guys?”
He barked a humorless laugh. “Fuck, Leblanc. You signed your death certificate by showing up at that man’s house today. Putting your hands on his wife. Trying to take his family. I want you to imagine for a second some man showing up at your house and pulling that shit. You’d fucking kill them. Now, I want you to imagine a piece of shit like Noir, who’s killed men for innocently sitting in the same room as his woman.” He leaned in close, his eyes flashing malevolent as he whispered, “He’s gonna extinguish your entire family.”
“Fuck you!” I spat, bile rising in my throat.
He shook his head and backed away. “No. You fucked us both.”
Another surge of adrenaline hit me, causing my vision to tunnel. I didn’t give one fuck who this Noir guy was. I’d set fire to his world if he thought he was going to lay one fucking finger on Elisabeth.
“Put your hands up,” came from the front door, uniformed officers flooding in.
Heath kept his attention on me, his back to the door. “You need to get her away from here. You won’t be this lucky next time,” he said, slowly lifting his hands in the air. “Remember. Never seen me in your life.”
“Right,” I mumbled.
He nodded then called out, “Agent Heath Light. DEA. The suspect escaped out the back door.”
“Drop your weapons!” the uniforms yelled in a round of chaos.
“Right,” I mumbled again, squatting to set my gun on the floor.
Heath pulled his from his holster and did the same before retrieving his badge from his pocket. Once the cops were satisfied with his identity, he took over, passing orders out then getting on his phone to bark out more.
I didn’t waste a single second before sprinting back up the stairs to Elisabeth.
The closet door was thankfully still shut, and it was only that sight that finally made my heart slow.
“Lis,” I murmured quietly. “It’s okay, baby. You can come out.”
The door nearly clocked me in the face as it burst open and she came flying out. She launched herself into my arms, her green eyes consumed by fear. “Are…are you okay?”
“I’m good,” I assured, holding her tight.
Her body trembled in my arms, so I scooped her off her feet and carried her to the bed, sitting on the edge with her securely in my lap.
She was terrified, but she was putting up one hell of a fight. Her chin quivered, but not a single tear fell from her eyes.
“The police are here,” I told her, then kissed her forehead.
“I was so scared,” she replied.
I guided her face into my neck, struggling with the knowledge that I’d inadvertently caused all of this. “I know, but it’s over now. And everyone’s safe, okay?” Judging by what Heath had told me, it was a lie, but I’d make it the truth. Somehow. Someway.
“What the hell happened?” she mumbled against my skin.
This time, I only half lied. “I don’t know. You think you can get it together enough to come down and talk to the cops?”
She nodded then hugged me tighter, not budging off my lap. “I just got you back. I can’t…” She trailed off.