Chapter 41
Zeus
“The senator is on the move, heading to the front. Several staff members are with her.” David’s voice in Zeus’ ear roused him from his thoughts. Even though he’d been trying to focus on what he was doing, it was difficult when there wasn’t much going on.
The shelter was set up for safety. There was a large courtyard leading to the main entrance, and he stood at the door, keeping an eye on the parking lot beyond it. So far, there had been no cars in or out since the senator’s arrival for her visit.
Beyond the parking lot was a wooded lot filled with tall trees.
Someone could easily hide out there, but they’d have to cross the parking lot and the courtyard to get to the front entrance.
There were fire exits, of course, but they were all locked from the outside—and each of them had someone from the senator’s security team standing on the inside of the building.
Zeus was outside with another of the senator’s team, also watching the parking lot. Dwayne Morris made Zeus look chatty, so they’d been standing in silence for close to two hours now. Was it any wonder his brain had occasionally drifted to thinking about Yas?
The way she’d cuddled up to him last night before falling asleep.
How soft and warm she’d been this morning before Tiger wedged himself between them, causing her to erupt with laughter while his tail thumped against the bed as he accepted his good morning pets.
They’d checked in on Sarah and Hope before leaving for the day.
He’d checked through her house with her before heading out for the day.
Although she’d been nervous, she’d insisted she was okay and that he needed to go.
It had been a nerve-wracking, distracted morning until he’d laid eyes on her at the shelter with the other staff, waiting to meet the senator.
They’d only glanced at each other, a slight smile playing on her lips, before she’d looked away.
If anyone other than Claudia had noticed, Zeus hadn’t seen it on their faces.
What he had noticed was how the rest of his team had noticed and greeted her.
Mason’s careful nod. Drew’s warm hug. David’s smile and wave.
Jensen’s cheerful wave. And, of course, her hug with Claudia, which lasted a few moments longer than her hug with Drew.
Zeus hadn’t gotten to see much after that because he and Dwayne had stayed in their positions out front as everyone else trooped inside for the tour.
Yas had glanced at him again as she’d gone past, smiling, but he’d kept his expression carefully blank.
He knew she would understand. His teammates could see his face, though they hadn’t been able to see hers.
“Copy that,” Dwayne said, responding to David. His head turned slightly, gaze sweeping across the parking lot, and Zeus did the same. Nothing moved. Nothing had changed. Dwayne glanced at him, and Zeus nodded. “Everything’s clear out here. No movement.”
“Good. Exiting in about thirty seconds. We’re in the main hall.”
It didn’t surprise Zeus when the doors opened, and he glanced over and saw Lincoln and David in the lead, walking in front of Yas with Naomi and the senator. Another woman was with them as well, an older woman on the plump side, who was beaming happily as she trotted beside Yas.
Miranda Sussex served as Naomi’s second-in-command at the shelter, handling much of the behind-the-scenes work.
She’d been with the organization from the very beginning and had passed her background check with flying colors.
A second group was following a few steps behind, consisting of the senator’s aides and a few other shelter workers, also all talking with each other.
The rest of the senator’s security team was bringing up the rear.
Naomi and Yas were on Zeus’ side, the senator and Mrs. Sussex on Dwayne’s side. Lincoln and David automatically started scanning the courtyard and parking lot, their heads up, gazes alert.
Forcing his own attention from Yas, Zeus did the same. He’d see her later; he didn’t need to give away his interest in her to his team right now.
After several hours of boredom and nothing happening, everything happened all at once, almost in slow motion.
A man stepped out from the woods on the other side of the parking lot and started running forward, his hand lifting in front of him as he ran between the cars.
“Gun!” Zeus yelled, his body moving before he could think, arms outspread, tackling Naomi and Yas.
Screams erupted from around them and from under him where Naomi and Yas now were.
The popping sound of shots being fired. Brick exploded behind them, and he felt the rocks against the back of his head, neck, and back as he held his position.
Beside him, Dwayne was covering the senator with his huge body, one arm over Mrs. Sussex.
More shots, from closer, rang out.
“He’s down!” someone yelled. “Converge on the parking lot.”
Zeus lifted his head to see Lincoln and David sprinting for the parking lot, along with several members of the senator’s team.
“Stay down, Senator,” Dwayne ordered. Like Zeus, he hadn’t lifted from where he was, practically on top of the woman beneath him. Mrs. Sussex was already sitting up, though, her face completely bloodless, phone already to her ear.
“There’s been a shooting. We need an ambulance,” she said into the phone. “And police.”
“Naomi!” Drew appeared beside Zeus, practically shoving him off to get to his wife. Zeus shifted, keeping his body between the women and the parking lot, just in case. He wanted to reach for Yas the same way Drew had for Naomi, but he knew he couldn’t… and she was already lifting her head.
“I’m okay, I’m okay,” Naomi said breathlessly. “Zeus got us down.”
“Then where the fuck did the blood come from?” Drew’s anguished question made Zeus’ head jerk around sharply.
“Blood?” Naomi asked, looking around as frantically as Drew had been.
“Oh…” Yas was on her knees, her hair half out of its sleek bun, hanging like a curtain across her face, her expression confused.
One of her hands hovered in front of her, her other arm hanging at her side.
The red jacket she was wearing had a dark stain on its shoulder, which was already spreading.
Her voice was soft. Almost awed. “I think I’ve been shot. ”
That was when Zeus lost his shit.
Yasmine
It all happened so fast.
One minute, she’d been walking between Naomi and Senator Marlin; the next, she was on the ground underneath Zeus, half on top of Naomi, with screams ringing in her ears.
She probably would have been screaming, too, except she could barely breathe under Zeus’ weight and with the fear pounding through her.
Shots.
Someone’s shooting at us.
Then Zeus was no longer on top of her, and she rolled to the side to let Naomi up.
Her knees and her elbow hurt where she’d hit the ground.
Everything ached, actually. Her ears were still ringing when she heard Drew asking about the blood, and she looked over to see the back of Naomi’s formerly pristine white shirt now a shocking bright red.
The same color as Yasmine’s jacket.
Her shoulder hurt.
Throbbed, actually.
It hadn’t hurt a moment before, but then she looked down at it, and it did.
A deep, sharp pain. Like she’d been stabbed.
No, not stabbed.
Shot.
“I think I’ve been shot.” Her voice came from so far away, like through a hollow tube, and her vision tunneled, then widened as she stared down at her shoulder and the spreading stain of darker red.
Someone scooped her up, and she screamed as the sharp, throbbing pain turned into white-hot agony.
Someone was shouting.
Lots of people were shouting.
Sirens. Shouting.
“I’ve got you. I’ve got you, princess. You’re going to be okay.” The strain in Zeus’ voice belied his words.
Yasmine tried to lift her head and her hand, whimpering as another lance of agony stabbed her. The pain went all the way up to the underside of her jaw and down her arm to her fingertips, radiating out from her shoulder.
“Don’t move, the ambulance is almost here.”
“What the fuck is he doing?” Mason’s voice cut through the din for just a moment, and then she blinked.
Quieter. It was suddenly quieter.
There was still shouting, but less of it.
“Get her arm stabilized, gentlemen. Only one of you can come with us.”
“I’m going.” Zeus’ voice was a growl.
“No, I’m going. I don’t know what the fuck you think—”
“Mason, stop.” Claudia’s command was like a whip crack. Her Dom voice. “Zeus, go with Yasmine.”
“What the fuck?” Mason’s voice rose higher, shrill.
Suddenly, Zeus was looking down at Yasmine.
“It’s okay, princess. I’m here. I’ve got you.”
“Okay,” she tried to whisper. She felt her lips form the words, but they felt puffy. Slow to move. She couldn’t hear if she actually said them or not.
“The bullet is still inside you,” Zeus said grimly. “We’re headed to the hospital. I’m going to stay with you, okay?”
“Okay.”
This time, she was pretty sure the words didn’t actually leave her head. She blinked again. Except it wasn’t a blink. Her eyes wouldn’t open back up again.
“Yas? Yas! Do something!”
The anguish in Zeus’ voice followed her down into the darkness.
Zeus
Pacing back and forth in the waiting area, Zeus ignored Mason’s glare and the confused looks Naomi was giving both of them.
Claudia was babysitting Mason, sitting next to him and talking to him in a low voice, while he responded with low, pointed questions.
Whatever she was saying to him didn’t seem to make a dent in his glare at Zeus.
Not that Zeus fucking cared.
All that he cared about was currently on an operating table because she’d been fucking shot. Even thinking about it made his stomach drop out.
Next to Claudia, Naomi was also sitting and waiting with Mrs. Sussex at her side, holding her hand. Drew had stayed back with the rest of Black Fox, Zeus supposed. He had no idea what had happened after he’d gotten in the ambulance with Yasmine. He hadn’t even asked Lincoln if he could leave.
He might be fired after this, but he didn’t care.
“Zeus! Where is she?” The question was high and shrill and came from the last person he’d expected to see. He spun around to see Sarah slowly walking into the waiting area, an older Asian woman at her side, both of them with faces full of worry.
Grace, his brain supplied after a moment. That must be Grace. She was supposed to come in today.
“Surgery. They’re getting the bullet out,” he said, dumbfounded as Sarah came over to give him a supportive hug. His arms went around her automatically. “What are you doing here?”
“You texted that you couldn’t come check on me today because Yasmine had been shot.” Sarah sniffed derisively. “Where else would I be?”
“Hello, I’m Grace,” the other woman said as Sarah let go of him, reaching out to shake his hand. She was taller than Sarah, thinner, more angular in her facial features, and her no-nonsense gaze reminded him a bit of Claudia. “How are you holding up, dear? Can we do anything for you?”
Zeus shook his head, partly in answer to her question and partly in disbelief.
He didn’t get a chance to answer, though, because there was an approaching cacophony of female voices. Recognizable female voices. Naomi jumped up from her seat and rushed toward the hall as Audrey, Ashley, Cassidy, Brenda, and two of Brenda’s friends came in.
As soon as Ashley saw Naomi, she opened her arms, and Naomi rushed into them. All the girls closed in around her, making sympathetic noises and tightening their grip on her. Zeus automatically took a step back, unsure how the women would react to his presence.
Brenda moved around them, though, headed right for him, and he braced himself for whatever she might say.
She was David and Audrey’s grandmother, and although they’d met, he hadn’t had much to do with her.
He did know that she hung out with the younger women a lot, and if he had to hazard a guess, the other two older women were from her book club.
Even he’d heard about the book club.
“Ah,” Brenda said when she reached him, studying his face. “So, you’re the one who’s been giving Yasmine some good, haunted dick spirit.”
“I… what?” Zeus floundered.
“She means big dick energy,” Claudia said from behind him, amusement threading through the tiredness in her voice. “Just ignore the outrageous shit. She likes to shock people.”
“Gotta get my kicks somehow.” Brenda tilted her head. For a woman who was more than a foot shorter than him, with flossy white curls all over her head and a purple shirt he just now realized depicted a cat taco, she was surprisingly intimidating. Reaching out, she patted his arm. “You’ll do.”
“Take it as a compliment,” Claudia muttered as Brenda turned away. “She likes you.”
“Um. Okay.” Zeus shook his head. He wasn’t entirely sure why that would matter to him, but there was a part of him that was relieved to hear it.
Especially since Mason’s glare had only softened, not let up entirely, now that Audrey had arrived.
Yasmine would probably prefer that some of her friends liked him.
“Ignore Mason. He’ll get the stick out of his ass soon.” Claudia glanced over to where Mason was now standing with Audrey, having some kind of discussion in hushed tones.
Zeus supposed all the secrets were coming out now. It didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered as long as Yasmine was okay.