Page 103 of Ready or Not

She whines, tossing herself at them. “They were here for me. He knows, without a doubt, that I’m alive.”

It’s when Mercy and Holt fight to get through the doorway that I finally feel like I can breathe.

Holy shit.

I’m pretty sure we just survived a full-on assault by the mob, or whoever those assholes are who are after Kate. My heart races as I finally realize the gunshots have stopped.

Mercy shoves Bishop aside, tilting my face up to meet his. He nuzzles his cheek to mine.

I stare up into his dark eyes as I say, “I don’t ever want to go through something like this again.”

“You won’t, love.” Mercy stares straight into my eyes as he says it.

I nod.

I truly believe he’ll do the best he can to keep his word.

Holt comes over, pulling me into his chest as Cooper’s electric scent wraps around me from behind.

“Landis is dead,” Holt says. “I stepped over his corpse getting in here.”

“I was going to try to shoot him,” I admit, still feeling seriously out of it. I glance at Cooper over my shoulder. “I checked for a safety just like you taught me, and I wasn’t going to hesitate if I got the chance.”

“You did amazing,” Cooper says, kissing my cheek from behind.

“Are the police ever going to arrive?” Marina asks.

Ranger chuckles. “About that, Mrs. Garza…”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Holt

The command center is livable, but the bottom floor of the house is in rough shape. We have no choice but to pack up and find somewhere else to stay.

“I believe the hotel my parents stayed at has suites,” Mercy says as we toss our luggage into the bed of my truck.

“Nonsense.” Ranger carries over Aurora’s bassinet. “My house is a five-minute drive. Andretti may think twice about making another move so quickly, but he won’t lick his wounds forever.”

“I think it might be time to have razor wire put over the top of the brick fence,” Garza says. He’s got the swing in one arm and several bags in the other. “These need to go inside the vehicle.” He shakes the arm with the bags.

“Is your mom okay?” I ask, scratching my jaw.

“She’s fine.” He grimaces. “Pat is definitely the favorite kid again, but what’s new?”

“We did ask her to cover up our crimes,” Mercy says, frowning.

“She repeatedly pointed out that we were simply defending ourselves from an attack and that the police should understand that.” Garza tosses the baby bags into the back seat. “It took Kate and Vale explaining exactly the type of guys we’re dealing with for her to accept that calling it in isn’t the right call. Her car is still here. One of my dads picked her up, but that was while you were gathering bodies.”

“Lexie and her team should be here soon,” Ranger says. “They’re very efficient with large cleanups.” His forehead wrinkles. “Although, after the basement and this disaster, I’m fresh out of favors. She’s quite pricey but the best there is.”

Mercy blinks. There’s something very incredulous about that look, but it goes over Ranger’s head.

“Any injuries?” I ask, looking at Mercy.

“Just the two men at the gate. Ramirez patched them up. They’ll be fine.” Mercy sighs. “A couple of the others have scrapes and bruises, but they’re so minor, it’s barely worth mentioning.”

That’s a lot better than I initially expected. They clearly had some prior experience with violent assaults, but they underestimated their targets.