Page 11 of Tactical Lies

“Yeah. I came to make things right, but I'm making them worse. I won't do that to you, Becca. Besides, I don’t want Bella to beat me up,” he joked.

A tiny smile quirked up one side of her mouth. “She’s not your biggest fan that’s for sure.”

“I'm proud of you, Becca. What you’ve done, what you’ve built, how many people you're helping. I just wanted you to know.”

Her stance softened a little. “Thank you. I'm happy, Connor. Life didn't turn out the way I had always planned but I'm happy.”

While it hurt to know she could be happy without him when he could never be truly happy without her, Connor would never begrudge her that happiness. She deserved it. Deserved the entire world.

“I’m glad. I wish I’d handled things better, wish I’d never lost you, but I'm glad you're happy. I hope you get everything you want out of?—”

The unmistakable sound of gunfire erupted in the village, and Connor didn't hesitate, he threw himself at Becca, and took her down with him, rolling so his body took the brunt of the fall and then rolling again so she was beneath him as the shooting continued.

August 17th

5:45 A.M.

It wasn't until Becca was pressed into the ground, a rock or stick or something digging painfully into the small of her back and Connor’s weight on top of her, crushing her to within an inch of her life, that it actually clicked.

Gunfire.

The loud rapping sound was actually someone shooting a gun.

Or multiple guns.

Here.

In her village.

Where she lived and worked.

Where she’d dedicated the last two years of her life to helping improve the lives of the people who lived there by giving them medical care and an education.

Now someone was ruining what was supposed to be a safe place.

She couldn’t just lie there while the people she cared about were possibly being killed. Everybody in this village had become a part of her family, and her best friend was out there somewhere. What would she do without Isabella's support? Her friend had been a rock for her all these years, and she needed Izzy.

Only when she began to struggle to try to dislodge Connor’s body so she could wriggle out from underneath it, he pressed down harder upon her.

Shockingly, it didn't instigate panic like someone lying on top of her usually would.

Probably because she knew that even though Connor had broken her heart, he would never physically hurt her. Never ever in a million—a billion—years use his superior size and strength to cause her pain and overpower her, making her do things she didn't want.

More than that, she actually felt safe having him with her.

Nothing would hurt her as long as Connor was there.

He wouldn't allow it.

That she believed even as she knew she would never trust him with her heart, that he would and had shredded to pieces.

But he would protect her from whoever was attacking her village. The problem was, who was out there protecting her people?

“Connor,” she hissed, managing to get her hands up between their bodies and planting them on his massive chest.

“Shh,” he urged. There was fear in the blue eyes that looked down at her when he slightly lifted his head.

No.

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