Page 213 of Psycho

There was a shootout.

God, everything was such a mess.

Please let Dominic and Roman be okay.

What would I do if something happened to them?

How would Micah handle it if something happened to Roman—a man who had once been his entire world?

I got to the end of the block and slowed down, looking around.

Still nothing and no one, but Del Paso Heights wasn’t the kind of neighborhood anyone wanted to be caught dead in at this time of night.

And despite having grown up there, it felt like my mind was in a fog, and I couldn’t remember where I was for the life of me.

I looked around in a hazy panic, and then a flash of headlights came on from my left.

I was like a deer in the headlights.

I was stuck, frozen.

I knew I was supposed to get out of there, but I just… couldn’t.

Then the car stopped at the last second, and I let out a small sigh of relief.

My legs were so shaky, I was surprised I was even standing.

The driver’s side opened, and I prepared to be berated by an angry driver for standing in the middle of the street like this.

But when the man moved in front of the headlights of his car and revealed his face to me for the first time, I couldn’t help the shock that came on my face.

I blinked, and sure enough, he was still standing there.

“Garrett?”

He smiled, and something about his smile had me take a shaky step back.

His eyes took in the move, and he smiled a little. “Lainey, don’t you know how dangerous it is to be standing out here at this time of night? Someone could just come back and snatch you right up.”

“Right,” I said, my grip tightening on the gun. I almost forgot I was holding it, and the slight movement drew Garrett’s eyes.

He seemed amused that I was even holding that.

“Such a dangerous weapon for such a little girl. Why don’t you give that to me and I can drive you home? You’re living with that psycho, Micah Stone, right?”

How did he know that?

“That’s okay,” I said, backing away another step.

And another.

I froze when my back touched someone.

I turned around and looked at the face of a stranger.

My breath caught, and before I could even think of using the gun, something hard hit me from behind, knocking me down to the ground.

I hadn’t lost consciousness yet, but I couldn’t open my eyes.

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