HARDCORE: Storm MC(52)

“I thought that would get your attention, Parker.”



“What’s your game here, Ronn?” Dom was buying time; even I knew that much. The idea was to get the bad guy talking, and try to maneuver into a better position to pull a fast one. Dom wasn’t no dummy. I loved my man.



Whaaat? Did I just really think that out loud in my head? Was it true? Did I love him?



Yeah, it felt right. It felt like I loved him.



I almost started to cry. I loved him, and he was in the middle of saving me from hell, and now we were going to die. I looked up at his beautiful, angry, protective, wonderful face, and tried to memorize it, right there. Excellent timing, right? I impressed myself.



Whoa, focus, Sienna. I was all over the place.



“My game.” Ronn was talking again. “You know, Parker, after we had our little talk last night, I realized that I was about done playing number two to Fielding. His… shall we call them predilections? His predilections have been cutting into my business costs, not to mention my energy. You follow any of that New Age wisdom that’s flying all over the place now? You gotta protect your energy field, man. It’s time I cleared mine of any energy vampires. The way I see it, Fielding has become a major energy vampire, and I can’t take that shit anymore. Not to mention, with Clav out there, that’s a concern; he might talk. And now you, and this bitch of yours. You both just know too much.



“It’s time I shut you all up for good, gather up my earnings, and enjoy life in another locale—one that doesn’t share extradition with our great nation. So, you see, you all being here today is like Kismet; I’d be stupid not to take advantage of this wonderful convenience. Say bye-bye to your sweetheart. It’s time for lights out.” With that, Ronn straightened himself, put both hands on his little handgun, and suddenly aimed it again at Dom’s head, his hands tightening around the gun.



I shrieked. Dom roared and dropped his arms from me and the other girl; we weren’t really prepared for it, so both of us fell down and away from him pretty darn quick.



The next thing I knew, the gun went off. It looked like Dom was linebacker-style tackling Joey Ronn into the library, and Ronn was kind of starfished to the floor.



Both men grunted loudly, and Dom growled through his teeth, “Fuuuuck.”



Oh my god, he was bleeding out the back of his shoulder; he must have been hit by that bullet. I’d never seen an exit wound before, but I identified it easily. His beautiful skin was blown—I had to train my eyes elsewhere or I’d have gotten sick all over the place.



“No! Dom, oh my god, Dom!” That was about as cohesive as I could get at the moment.



“Babe, you gotta get that gun.”



Jeez, how did he do that? The answer was obvious: Dom was a huge guy in comparison with Ronn, so he probably had a good forty pounds on him, too. Even shot through the shoulder, Dom had straddled on top of Ronn and managed to get hold of Ronn’s wrists, pinning him to the floor. He had slammed the one hand holding the gun so that Ronn lost control of his grip and the gun had gone flying into the library.



Shirtless and bloody and in super-aggressive pose, Dom still radiated hot. I had just been watching the scene in some awe at the masculine show of dominance that was happening right in front of me. It was impressive.



I was still flopped on the floor in the alcove and had to crawl past the men to get into the library to reach the gun. Aware I was only wearing a big T-shirt and nothing else, and not wanting to get anywhere near to Ronn in my weakened state, I hesitated.



And even in his pain, Dom saw it and managed to smile at me, trying to give me a confidence boost. His look told me without words not to worry about getting past them, and that he had the situation under control.



I made it past the two of them and retrieved the gun in the middle of the area rug. It was way heavier than I had imagined it would be, and I wanted to see what it would feel like to aim it. Since Ronn was an ideal target and already pinned to the floor, I figured this was a prime opportunity. I took it.



Dom glanced up and caught me in the act. “Whoa, babe, I’m too close. Don’t aim it anywhere near me, all right?” I looked at his face; he had the strangest, cutest expression on his face. It was a mixture of a grimace—I imagined that was from the pain—and a tiny smile. I imagined that was for me.



“Okay, Dom.” I lowered my arms immediately. They were happy with the reprieve. When had they gotten so weak? “Baby, don’t you need a doctor? Your shoulder—”



“I’m fine, Sienna. It hurts, but it’s not as bad as you think. Don’t worry about it, okay? Let’s focus on what needs doing here.”