Page 36 of She's Mine

16

ALYSSA

Iflinched at the sound of gunshots, and waited patiently for David to return telling me it was safe, but he was takingwaylonger than I expected. I had no idea if he was safe or not. For all I knew, the Bloodline could have broken in, killed David, and would come to murder me at any moment.

My thoughts spiraled, and I imagined similar attacks being conducted on my parents at the locations where they were hiding. Would they make it? Or would the Bloodline finally get the revenge against my family they thought they deserved.

I couldn’t stand it any longer. I had to dosomething. Without thinking, I grabbed the second pistol from the safe, and rushed to the door.

I ran across the hallway but stopped dead in my tracks when Lawrence and Mavis appeared in the doorway to their room.

“Where are you going?” Lawrence hissed in the darkness. “David said we needed to stay in our rooms.”

“Right, but he’s been down there too long. He could be in danger.”

Lawrence cocked an eyebrow. “And you thinkyoucould help him?”

“What?” I retorted, offended at Lawrence’s suggestion.

“Come on, Alyssa, you have no weapons training. Leave it to David, he’s the expert.”

“I can’t just leave him down there to die!” I insisted hotly.

Lawrence stepped out of the room and reached for the pistol I was holding. “Then letmego down there instead. David would never forgive me if I let something happen to you.”

I stepped out of his reach at the last second. “No way. Whoever is down there is part of the Bloodline. They’ve come for me. I won’t let anyone else get caught up inmymess.”

With more courage than I actually felt, I hurried down the stairs before Lawrence could stop me and rushed into the living room with the pistol raised.

I stopped, frozen, and all the fight left me as I saw David checking over the body of an unconscious and handcuffed guy on the couch.

He looked up at me, his eyes narrowing. “Alyssa, I told you to stay in our room.”

“I know, but I was worried,” I said, still not lowering the pistol.

David gave me a soft, understanding smile, got to his feet and gently pulled me into his arms. He carefully took the gun off me and pressed his lips to my forehead.

“I appreciate your concern, but as you can see, I have everything under control. I was just about to come upstairs and tell you it’s all safe. I do appreciate the bravery it took for you to come down here though.”

David smiled proudly at me, his eyes shimmering, and he inclined his head to press his lips to mine. The kiss was only brief, before I pulled away.

“Who is he?”

“Not someone from the Bloodline, so you don’t have to worry about that,” David said, wrapping his arms around me, and leading me upstairs. “He was just some burglar. But he did disable the security system, which is why no alarm went off when he entered -- meaning the police won’t have been notified yet.”

As we passed Lawrence and Mavis’ room, David called out, “Don’t worry. The intruder is unconscious and cuffed downstairs. I’m going to call the police now.”

David led me to the bed, and made sure I was comfortable, before he returned the pistols to the safe, and withdrew a phone I hadn’t even noticed when I’d acted in my haste to make sure he was okay.

David called the police, and explained what had happened to them, then turned back to me. “I’m going to keep an eye on the intruder until the cops arrive. You wait here. I don’t want the police knowing you’re here, just in case it complicates things.”

“Okay,” I agreed, knowing it would make things awkward to have to explain about The Bloodline, and me and my family going into hiding.

David pressed his lips to mine, and then said, “I’ll be as fast as I can. I promise. Please, just stay here and wait for me. No more heroics, okay?”

We laughed, and I felt some of the tension leave my body. “Okay.”

David slipped out of the room, and I heard him talking to Lawrence and Mavis, and then the three of them went downstairs. I hated being apart from him, especially after someone had just broken in, but I knew it was best for everyone if I stayed out of the way.

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