Chapter 50
Chapter Fifty
Riley recoiled at the sound of the gunshot. Heart hammering against her sternum, her head swiveled to the ballroom doors. Where was Colton? A shout from the lobby brought her to a stop, and she yanked her arm free from Nowell’s grasp.
Not again. This couldn’t be happening again.
John and three other men made a beeline toward the doors, weapons drawn. Others stayed with the crowd, instructing them to hunker in place.
Nowell grabbed her arm again and steered her toward the bar instead of continuing to the exit they’d designated as her emergency egress. Trevor kept pace on her other side.
“What’s happening?” Her voice quivered with a surge of adrenaline. “Is Colton okay?”
Nowell nodded. “He ordered us to keep you inside until Everett’s apprehended.”
More shouting from the lobby drew her protectors’ attention. Under her dress, she slipped out of her shoes and made a break for the lobby.
“Riley!” Trevor called after her. “Stop!”
If she could just see for herself …
“Riley!” Nowell’s voice came from too close behind.
She gathered up the full skirt of her dress, tapping into her high school regional champion sprinter days to stay out of his reach. If she could just get outside to make sure Colton was okay. That nobody else had been hurt on her account.
The glass doors opened with a shwoosh. Outside, Colton ran after a red-jacketed waiter. The man turned, aimed—
A shot rang out.
“Cole!”
Someone grabbed her from behind and pushed her to the ground. Her breath left her as she hit the pavement.
“Sorry, Riley,” Nowell said from on top of her.
“He’s down! He’s down!” a voice yelled from a distance.
Trevor positioned himself, weapon drawn, between them and the scene several yards away. Too many people. She couldn’t see.
Panic tightened her throat. “Who’s down? Who is it?”
“Everett,” Trevor threw over his shoulder.
“Colton—”
“He’s fine.” Trevor holstered his gun, still watching the scene in the parking lot. “Looks like Everett took one in the leg. Squealin’ like a stuck pig, as we used to say on the ranch.” He grinned down at them. “He’ll live, but he’ll be gimped up for a while.”
Closing her eyes, she put her forehead down on her crossed arms, her shoulders shaking as the torment of the last several months left in a torrent of tears.
Nowell lifted his weight from her and put his hand on her back. “You’re okay, Riley. It’s all over. You’re okay.”
When she could speak, she lifted her head and swiped at her cheeks. It didn’t matter if she had tracks in her makeup or stains from the pavement on her dress.
Colton was safe. And she was free.
“Thank you.” She swallowed the thickness in her throat. “All of you.”
Trevor glanced over his shoulder to his team lead. “Blankenship’s on his way.”
Nowell sighed as he stood. “I’m so fired.”
“We both should probably update our resumes.”
Nowell offered his hand to help her up.
“I got her.” Colton took her by the hands to draw her onto her feet, then lifted her into his arms, like he had at the Christmas ball. Holding him tight around the neck, she gave in to a fresh spate of tears.
“It’s okay, Ri. You’re all right.”
Once somewhat composed, she pulled back and wiped her face with her hand. “I thought he shot you.” Her breath hitched. “I saw him turn … and the gun—”
“I got him first.”
She nodded, unable to do anything but stare into those crystal blue eyes.
“What are you doing out here?” He still held her clutched to his chest, despite all the activity taking place around them.
“I had to see. Had to know you were okay. It wasn’t Nowell’s fault.”
Nowell cleared his throat. “One hundred percent my fault. Caught me off guard. Never had a principal run from me before. And she can sprint like a jaguar.”
“No. He trusted me to do as instructed, but I couldn’t leave with you out here facing what I didn’t know.”
Colton lowered her to the concrete, chilling her bare feet. His hands held tight to hers. “Scared me to death when I heard you.”
“I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad at these guys. They’ve done everything for me.”
“I’m not mad. Just relieved to know you’re okay. Oh. Almost forgot. Jamison, you can leave the SUV. Everett’s in custody.” After Paul’s response, he reached behind him and turned off the mic before taking her hand again.
Trevor pulled Nowell away by the arm, grinning back at them. “Our work here is done. You two take your time.”
Colton’s brows drew together. “Did you shrink?”
She lifted the skirt of her soiled dress, wiggling her toes with their magenta-painted nails. “Couldn’t run in those heels. The guys didn’t notice I took them off. That’s how I gave them the slip. They tried, Cole. But there was no way they were making me leave with you still here.”
She peered up at the face she loved with her whole heart, a wayward tear slipping down her cheek. “I didn’t want to lose you. I had to know you were all right.”
He studied her, his blue gaze penetrating. “Do you really believe you’re in love with me? With me and not”—he waved his arm around at the controlled chaos, red and blue lights flashing, cops and Petersen personnel swarming around the parking lot—“all this?”
“Yes. I know I’m in love with you, Colton Blankenship. I’m yours whether you want me or not.”
“I do want you. I always wanted you. I just couldn’t imagine that you could want me.”
“Heart and soul.”
Placing a hand along her face, his eyes lingered on hers before he bent to kiss her. Gently at first, then with more fervor as he wrapped her in his arms.
Finally. Back where she felt the safest. The most at home. With this man. She wanted nothing more than to stay here for a while.
But he instead pulled back and chuckled. “We’re not exactly alone.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the crowd gathered inside the glass doors, where the cop-valets had stopped them. Including her girls, her parents, and the Blankenships. Even in the cold, her cheeks heated as she turned back to him.
He ran the backs of his fingers down her face. “I’m in love with you, too, Riley Hudson.”
Her heart grew with her smile. “I knew you were.”
“I don’t know what I have to offer you, but I’ll give you all I can.”
She grabbed the lapels of his jacket in her fists. “I just want you.”
“That much I can give you. All of me, Riley. Everything I am is yours.” When she shivered, he shrugged out of his jacket and laid it around her shoulders. “Let’s get you inside. Your feet must be ice by now.”
Fireworks burst in the sky overhead from a nearby park.
“It’s midnight,” she whispered.
“So it is.” He leaned down and kissed her again, the past giving way to the future. A future she couldn’t wait to live. With this man who’d put himself in the line of fire to ensure she would have one.
She drew back and smiled up at him. “Best. New Year. Ever.”