He’s scrabbling with two other guys, fighting both of them at once as they try and either pin him to the ground or throw him over the damn edge.
“RUN!” he bellows, glancing down at me. “Brynn, run!”
The adrenaline roars through me like fire, when suddenly, the kicked-in back door to the house falls off its hinges as two other guys come charging out, right for me. I scream, turning and booking it for the gate, but when two hands snag me, the scream curdled from my lips as they yank me back.
“BRYNN!”
There’s a roar, and then the sound of men screaming. I’m yanked around just in time to see the figures of two men in black hit the ground with a thud, and suddenly, like a savage, naked Tarzan or something, Colton leaps right over the edge of the balcony and lands in the grass with a snarl. His eyes are fierce, and his muscles are bulging and rippling as he shouts and charges, barreling right into the two guys holding me and slamming them to the ground. A shot rings out, and he winces, jumping away from the tuft of grass that kicks into the air. He whirls and charges the guy standing at the back door, slamming him into the wall and wrenching the gun away.
Hands grab me and I shriek as they yank me around until I’m face to face with him.
Lorenzo.
“You little bitch,” he snarls. “No one fucking walks out on a debt they owe me! Let’s go!”
He nods at the two guys, and they start to drag me to the gate, when suddenly, one of them slumps to the ground. And it takes me a second to realize the bang I just heard was a gunshot as I glance down to see him lying motionless in a pool of something dark.
Holy fuck.
“Brynn!”
Colton smashes into us like a fucking lion, throwing me away from Lorenzo and his other goon into the grass before he slams the goon into the fence.
“Colton! Behind you!!”
He whirls without even thinking, ducking on instinct as Lorenzo’s pistol shot goes over his head. And suddenly, I’m not watching Colton Kane the high school Principal. I’m watching Colton Kane the trained soldier. The Special Forces trained machine. He lunges, muscles rippling as he slams into Lorenzo, slamming him into the ground, whirling, and bringing his gun up in one smooth motion. The goon holding a shotgun aimed right at him grunts and drops the gun, tumbling to the ground before suddenly, it’s quiet.
Well, almost.
Lorenzo is screaming bloody murder, but Colton silences him with a fist to the face, turning his screams into muffled, blubbering cries. Colton looks up at me, his face hard and his eyes piercing into me.
“Are you okay?”
I blink, my mouth opening and closing.
“Brynn.”
“Yeah,” I nod slowly, still numb. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Can you get my phone from the kitchen?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
I run through the house and grab his phone, and when I get back out, Colton’s growling as he ties Lorenzo to the back porch with a garden hose. He takes the phone from my hand and glances at me.
“I’m calling the cops, Brynn.”
I pale. “Colton, if they come, and I’m here—”
“This ends now, baby,” he says quietly. “We’re past playing it safe. You could’ve been hurt tonight, or fucking killed—”
“I’m not letting you lose your career for me!”
“You are my everything,” he groans, moving into me and scooping me into his chest. “Brynn, the rest of it doesn’t matter. All that matters is you being safe.”
I bite my lip as my mind whirls, until suddenly I freeze as I look up at him.
“You protected me tonight.”