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“You can tell ,” he assures me

I know this I have absolute trust in him that I can do exactly that Even if what I tell hih to know he’ll get there I just know it

“I love you” The words are simple, yet the surety in my voice reverberates between us “I’ve never said those words to anyone buttheiven lightly”

I don’t even holdfor his reaction Whatever it hten, the green going pale but not in a cold way Instead, his expression waroes soft with pleasure

He opens hisI had hoped for in return

Except a monstrous sound erupts from behind us—an explosion, I think The van rocks so hard o up as he throws hili past his driver’s side

His arms come around my shoulders, and he protectively pushes my head doard the center console

“What in the fuck?” he growls as he holds o taut, and he rears backward I openhi north up the street, screa

Griff sticks his head slightly out the , looking left toward the café, and my stomach pitches when he snarls, “Goddamn it, motherfucker”

I shift in h the van to the tinted s in the double rear doors The cafe where Ken was sitting is on fire, and there’s a large, blackened hole in the sidewalk right in front of it The glass where he would have been sitting is in shards on the ground, and injured people stagger out the door

“Was… was… that a bomb?” I ask

He doesn’t respond,his hand on the key to crank the engine as his eyes coa—”

When his words fall flat is when I feel the barrel of a gun press against the back of erGriff’s eyes flare for a ht crack

I freeze in place as I hear the door unlatch, knohoever is on the other side of that gun is opening the van My heart is pounding so hard I’ht explode from my chest, and I’m immediately covered in a cold sweat Without a doubt, it’s the worst fear I’ve ever experienced in ileAaron again

“Move over,” a man says in a thick, Russian accent

“Do as he says,” Griff says quickly but with a level of calm in his voice that amazes me