Page 88 of Fighting For You
“You want to get past me,Beast, you’re gonna have to make me.”
I wouldn’t have believed it years ago, but now that I’d accepted the truth about this man, it didn’t shock me when he pulled his gun and aimed it at Jude.
In seconds, too many things flashed through my mind as Jude took a giant step in front of me and raised his hands.No, you idiot!He was protecting me, even when he was already the target. Maybe Kurt really would shoot us both, but now this big, lovely, beautiful man was literally shielding me with his giant body and I loved him for it.
No, I loved him, full stop.
He’d told me time and again how he felt, but today, he’d laid it out plainly. My fear of rejection and being left had twisted such a beautiful moment into something to be questioned, but here he was, loving me with his actions like hehad so many other times before, even when I didn’t realize it.
And Jude telling me yes to whatever I wanted? It wasn’t him changing for me or humoring me. It was him giving me space. Space to come to him. Space to find my own footing in whatever I wantedusto be because he had already committed to thisus, all the way.
The pressure and adrenaline of seeing his life threatened distilled every frantic emotion into a clarity like I’ve never known, and even more, a certainty.
I loved Jude Rawlins. I believed him. And I wasn’t about to let a damn thing happen to him on my watch.
The certitude I was good at what I did infusing in me when I left the Saint office? It flowed through me now, highlighting another part of me that knew it loved this man, that I needed to take the chance on him because he’d already shown me he’d fight for me. That’s what he’d been doing ever since we reconnected in his cabin.
When Kurt’s weapon stayed trained on Jude despite my shouts to put it down, that’s when I got mad. And for once, my anger, my rage, it wasn’t directed at Beast. It would find its rightful target now.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Jude
Kurt being a murderous dickhead didn’t strike me as a real turn of events since he’d always struck me as a sociopath. But had I expected him to pull a gun on me in the name of some random Hollywood jerk who was hurting young women?
Somehow, I hadn’t.
In a combat situation, I’d draw, and he’d be dead in seconds. But we weren’t in combat, I wasn’t about to kill this idiot, and I didn’t want to give him any reason to shoot me or, far more importantly, Jess. My body would likely cover her and we were both wearing Kevlar, but still. Not worth the risk.
In the seconds these thoughts slipped through my mind, Jess evidently had other ideas. Before I could so much as tell Kurt to back down or assure him I wasn’t going to go for myweapon, she’d crossed the space and held her Glock to his temple.
“Shoot him and I shoot you. That easy.”
The utter steel in her voice spoke just as loudly as the muzzle of her gun at his head, but Kurt didn’t relent as easily as I might’ve expected.
“Jessie, come on. You’re not going to hurt me. And I’m not going to?—”
I dove behind the love seat right as I saw her move—she hammered both arms down on the one he held out and his gun fell. Thankfully, he hadn’t had a chance to squeeze the trigger, but I didn’t regret not waiting around to see if he would.
I popped up to the sound of scuffling and just in time to see Jess knee him hard in the groin, then shove him to the ground and wrench an arm behind his back, his face buried in the carpet, her booted foot pressing hard on the back of his neck, keeping him immobilized. She held it until I came to take it from her, and she nodded, then eased the bedroom door open.
A man’s agitated shout rang out and she was talking, but Kurt was babbling at me.
“My goodness, she just did all that to save you? So you really got what you wanted after all this? I’m surprised you both didn’t just take me out, get rid of the evidence.”
I nudged his arm further back, causing him to arch to avoid separating his shoulder. “Evidence of what? That you’ve chosen to be human garbage? That you’ve thrown away any semblance of moral judgement or personal values?”
He laughed. “Oh, please, like you’re some paragon of morality when you’re sleeping with my ex-fiancée.”
I didn’t dignify this because Jessemerged, her arm around the back of a girl who looked far too young to be there and absolutely terrified. At the same time, footsteps in the other direction drew near and we heard, “Weapons down, hands up.”
Ah, Silverton police had arrived. I tossed my gun away from Kurt, and Jess moved slowly to set hers on a side table near the couch, both of us raising our hands to show we didn’t possess any weapons.
“Go on to them, Brittany. You’re okay,” she urged, and the girl bolted down the hallway into the arms of one of the female officers who instantly ushered her away.
“This is ridiculous,” Kurt said from where he still lay, my foot on his neck to ensure he didn’t get any bright ideas.
“You being complicit in some pretty nasty business? Yeah. It’s pathetic,” I spat, more than done with this clown.
