Daniel slid his arms around the man’s waist and smiled. It was on the tip of his tongue to remind Edward that his large frame had been between the attacker and Daniel the entire time. That Edward had been the only one in true danger. But the words fell away when the bathroom door silently opened behind Edward and another man stepped inside. The driver of the red sedan.
Without hesitation, Daniel slid his hand under Edward’s shirt and grasped the grip of the pistol that rested in the holster placed against his lower back. Pulling the gun free, he lifted it while stepping into Edward, pushing him sideways. He thought he heard a horrified gasp from Edward, but the rest of the world slipped away. There was just the barrel of the gun the man was lifting to point at Edward. And just that easily, Daniel squeezed off three quick shots.
The noise was deafeningly loud in the underground bathroom. The man fell backward, hitting the white tile wall just inside the door. He was dead before he hit the floor. Two bullets to the chest and third to the head.
Daniel stood there in shock for a moment, his entire body numb.
Luckily, Edward wasn’t. Grabbing the gun from Daniel’s hand, he shoved it into his bag and then pushed Daniel out of the bathroom. Edward stepped out after him and shouted something while waving at the bathroom before they ran back to the platform.
The train was there. Oh thank God, the train was there. Daniel had never been so relieved to see anything in his life. The train would take them from this place, carry them somewhere deep within Paris where they could hide, and he could sort through what had just happened.
They jumped onto the train just as the doors were starting to shut. Edward hustled Daniel over to the far end of the car that was mostly empty and pushed him down into a seat. Good thing too, because he was pretty sure his knees were going to give out. Edward dropped into the seat next to him and wrapped his arm around his shoulder, pulling him close. Daniel was nearly sitting in Edward’s lap, but he didn’t mind. The firm pressure of Edward’s body was chasing away the shakes that were trying to creep over his entire frame.
Placing his hand against Daniel’s cheek, Edward placed several slow, gentle kisses across his lips and jaw. “Thank you,” he whispered. “You saved my life.”
Those four words finally penetrated the fog that was bogging down his thoughts. His brain kept replaying the moment when the man stepped into the bathroom and started to raise the gun. What if he hadn’t acted? What if he’d missed? What if he’d been a second too slow?
But none of those things mattered. He did act. He didn’t miss. He hadn’t been too slow. Edward was alive and safe, cuddled up against him like he meant to merge their bodies into one. He was alive and Daniel meant to keep him that way.
“Well, you’ve saved my life several times in the past few days. I thought I should return the favor,” Daniel replied. There was no missing the tremor in his voice or the fact that he was struggling to hold his smile in place.
“Thank you.” Edward pressed a kiss to his temple and closed his eyes.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere a little quieter.” He opened his eyes and smiled a little sadly at Daniel. “But it’s going to take us a few trains and a taxi to get there. I want to make sure we’re not followed. Hold it together for thirty minutes, and I swear I’ll find you a nice hotel to melt down in.”
“I’m not going to melt down.”
“Baby, I can feel you crashing now from the adrenaline.”
“I’m not going to melt down,” Daniel repeated. He was proud to hear his voice was firmer than it had been. The fire of embarrassment and anger helped to keep the shaking at bay, so he held on to it.
“Fine. Then you can hold me while I melt down in the hotel room.”
Daniel frowned. “Not funny.” He didn’t like being made fun of. He might have gone through training for this shit, but it wasn’t a normal part of his life.
“I’m being serious. No one has ever saved my life like that. And I should have seen him coming. My only thought was that you were okay when I should have been looking for his companion. I fucked up. I don’t fuck up…ever.”
Daniel lifted one eyebrow in question and Edward rolled his eyes.
“I’m not counting the mistaken identity. You are the fucker’s twin. Anyone would have made that mistake. Your parents would have made that mistake.”
“No, they wouldn’t,” Daniel said, but he was smiling at last. He didn’t know how Edward managed to get him to smile when they were on the run for their lives, but the man got him. More than anyone else had before.