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Waking up in a cold sas nothing new to Gunner His life was ether like a broken strand of lights that his subconscious forced hiht

Prior to the one day that defined his lifeone horrific reenactunfire, exploding IEDs, and other forms of death and destruction

Now, the first thing he saw, hts when he closed his eyes, was the wo hiht you loved me”

She’d never actually uttered those words to hihtmares when her eyes met his at the very moment she realized he’d killed her

Lena Hess had been under K19 Security Solution’s protection since the day he and his three partners opened for business Prior to that, her detail had been the responsibility of an elite teaents, called the Special Activities Division of the agency’s National Clandestine Service, or NCS

Had he loved her? For a while, he thought maybe he could In what felt like the briefest of ht of the woned over her life In an instant, she was gone again, unable to pull herself out of what they noas mental illness

If only they’d kno to help her…but that didn’t matter now It was too late She was dead—and he’d killed her

“Don’t do this, Lena If you think I won’t shoot, you’re wrong,” he shouted

Her eyes darted between him and his business partner—a man like a brother to hiun still pointed at her

Gunner watched as she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tightened her finger on the trigger Before she could get the shot off, he fired

He ran toward her, catching her before her head hit the concrete

There was no question she was dead; he’d hit her square in the chest with a 45 No one could survive a shot like that