Page 73 of Critical Strike

He threw himself at Ballard, driving him to the floor where they landed in a tangle of arms and legs.

The man barely noticed since a cat who thought he was a dog still held on tight, claws sinking through Ballard’s sleeve. “Get it off! Get it off!” he screamed.

Luke pried the cat free and set him loose while he pinned Ballard to the floor. “You’re finished,” he spat, disgust and rage finally coming to the surface now that Claire was out of this monster’s crosshairs.

“No!” Ballard struggled, still holding the gun now pinned between them. He kicked, screamed, bucked in the effort to throw Luke off him. “No, this isn’t how it ends!”

Luke took hold of his wrist, pressing hard with two fingers just below the heel of his hand. No matter how a person fought to hold their grip on an object, there was no fighting that pressure point.

Ballard’s hand fell open long enough for Luke to snatch the weapon away. He slid it across the floor before delivering a sharp blow to Ballard’s jaw, knocking him unconscious.

It was over.

What a weak, pathetic monster he’d turned out to be.

“What do you think you’re doing?” A familiar pair of thugs ran from the corner office with their guns drawn—it had to be Ballard’s, Luke realized, and probably had a separate entrance. That was how he’d managed to get up here without them knowing about it.

Weston had been waiting by the stairwell all along and jumped into action, followed by Chance and Brax.

When one of the thugs aimed at Chance, Weston drove his head into the man’s stomach, knocking the wind from his lungs before they both hit the floor. He took the man by the wrist and slammed his hand against the floor once, then twice, before the gun fell free.

Chance and Brax made quick work of the second attacker, who quickly realized he was no match for two skilled gunmen at once. He raised his hands, dropping his pistol. He might have even looked relieved that it was all over. Chance zip-tied him while Weston did the same with his thug.

Claire. Where was she?

Luke stood, allowing his brothers to make short work of the unconscious Ballard. He looked around, his chest heaving. “Claire?” he panted. “Where’d you go?” There hadn’t been any shots fired. What could’ve happened?

She emerged from under one of the nearby desks with Khan in her arms. “Is it over?”

Emotion swelled in his chest. He nodded, opening his arms. “It’s over. Thanks to that attack cat you’re holding.”

Weston laughed. “There I was, wondering if it was a good idea for you to bring him with us.”

“Good boy. Good boy.” Claire’s tears soaked into the cat’s fur while Khan licked his paws like he hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary, like he hadn’t saved his owner’s life.

Then again, Luke thought as he took them both in his arms,it could’ve been pride in a job well done. He thought it might’ve been, knowing the cat in question.

“I thought I was about to lose you.” Now that it was over and he was holding her trembling body next to his, he could admit that much.

“You thought that? You thought it?” Her eyes were sharp when they met his, sharp enough to surprise him. “What did you think you were doing back there? Offering yourself up to him. You know he could’ve killed you, right?”

“I wouldn’t have let that happen.” He smoothed sweaty hair back from her forehead and cheeks. “So long as I knew he didn’t have you in his crosshairs, I could’ve taken care of myself.”

“You’re sure about that?”

“You doubt me now, Kitten?” He pressed his lips to her forehead, eyes closed, thanking anything and anyone listening that the woman in his arms was exactly who she was.

Even now, having come so close to dying, she would think to scold him for putting himself in harm’s way.

“Cops are a minute away,” Brax announced with a satisfied smile.

That smile lasted only a second before the stairwell door burst open and a team of security guards poured onto the floor.

“So much for security.” Chance smirked, his hands raised. He approached the men and explained what had taken place, that the police were on their way and all would be settled when they arrived.

Luke was only dimly aware of this as he held on to Claire. He had all he needed right there.

“Did you mean what you said?” Her voice was muffled, her mouth near his shoulder, but he heard the hope there.