I needed to go to her. But I couldn’t stop hitting the man beneath me.
My fist plowed into his face again and again until someone hooked me from behind and pulled me back.
“Enough,” Lucian said.
Duncan Hugo ceased to exist to me.
There was only Naomi and Waylay. Waylay knelt next to her, holding her hand to her chest. The tears welling in her blue eyes knifed into my gut.
“Wake up, Aunt Naomi,” she whispered.
I closed the distance and grabbed Waylay, hugging her to me.
“Make her wake up, Knox,” she begged.
My idiot dog crawled his way between them and started to howl.
Lucian was on his phone, holding his fingers to Naomi’s bruised neck. “We need an ambulance,” he said tersely.
Still clutching Waylay to me, I leaned over Naomi and cupped the face of the woman I loved. The woman I’d lost. The woman I couldn’t live without.
“Wake the fuck up, Daze,” I growled. My eyes and throat burned. My vision blurred as hot tears clouded everything.
I almost missed it. The flicker of those long lashes. Then I was sure it was a hallucination when those beautiful fucking hazel eyes opened.
“Coffee,” she croaked.
Christ, I loved this woman.
Waylay tensed against me, her arm nearly choking me around the neck. “You didn’t leave me!”
“Thank fucking God,” Lucian whispered, swiping the back of his hand over his brow and collapsing back on his elbows on the floor.
“Of course I didn’t leave you,” Naomi rasped. The bruises on her throat made me want to end the life of the man who’d put them there. But I had a more important priority.
“Welcome back, Daze,” I whispered. I leaned down and pressed my mouth to her cheek, breathing her in.
“Knox,” she sighed. “You came.”
Before I could answer, the side door I’d used to sneak in while Lucian created the distraction burst open. I saw the gun and the gleam in the man’s eyes and knew what was about to happen. Operating on instinct, I pulled Waylay to my front and used my body to pin her and Naomi to the ground.
Two shots rang out in rapid succession, but I felt nothing. No pain. Just my girls, warm and alive beneath me.
I chanced a glance up and saw the gunman on the floor.
“You fucking idiots,” Nash said, leaning against the wall. He had a cut on his face, blood on his t-shirt, and was sweating profusely.
“You did that right-handed?” Lucian asked, impressed.
My brother flicked him off as he slid down the wall. “I told you idiots I’m fucking good at my job.”
“Are we alive?” Waylay asked under me.
“We’re alive, honey,” Naomi assured her.
Carefully, I eased my weight off them. They both stared up at me with identical grins. I pointed at Waylay. “You’re gettin’ a damn birthday party. And after that, we’re gettin’ married,” I told Naomi.
Naomi’s eyes went wide, and she reached for me, hands frantically prodding my torso.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
“Are you shot? Did you hit your head?”
“No, Daze. I’m fine.”
“Did I hit my head?”
“No, baby.”
“I must have. I thought I heard you just say we were getting married.”
“You think I’m dumb enough to let you two go?”
“Uh, yeah,” Waylay, Lucian, and Nash said together.
“Can I have a dress for the party and a dress for the wedding?” Waylay asked.
“You can have ten dresses,” I promised her.
“You’re going to spoil her,” Naomi said, running her hand over Waylay’s hair.
“Fucking right I am. I’m gonna spoil you too.”
Her smile put pieces back together inside me that I hadn’t even noticed were broken.
“Where’s Duncan?” Waylay asked.
Lucian got to his feet and scanned the space. “He’s gone.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Nash muttered. “This is why amateurs shouldn’t get involved in police business.”
“I can’t wait till I’m a grown-up and I can swear all the time,” Waylay announced.
We all heard footsteps on the stairs at the same time. Nash shifted to point his gun at the door. I pulled mine from the waistband of my jeans and aimed.
Lina and Sloane burst into the room together.
“Christ, I could have shot you,” Nash complained, lowering his gun. “What the hell are you doing here? How’d you find us?”