Free Blake, Abby - Sweet Captivation [A Bride for Eight Brothers 2] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) by Abby Blake

something, and he didn’t want to live without love and family anymore.
    He turned awkwardly, still undecided on what to do, and that’s when he caught a glimpse of a familiar person entering Mikayla’s room. At first he was confused to see the man, especially here, and then with dawning fear he dumped the crutches, and half ran, half hopped back to Mikayla and Matt. Adrenaline buzzed his veins with every step.
    He pulled the gun from his waistband, grateful for the years of experience that made it a natural movement, flicked off the safety and barreled into the room. Two gunshots rang out simultaneously.
    Heart pounding loudly in his ears, every sense heightened, his mind crystal clear despite the danger, Bryce stepped over the man he’d just shot. Trying to still the shaking in his fingers, he grabbed the man’s gun, emptied it of bullets without touching the grip, and placed it on the cabinet beside Mikayla’s bed. Then he headed straight for his twin.
    Matt was slumped against the wall, the bullet having hit high in his chest. “I’m sorry,” Bryce said as he checked the wound. Blood had already spread in a deep stain around the bullet hole and Bryce grabbed Matt’s hand to place it over the wound. “Matt. Yo, Matt. Stay with me. I need you to press here.” Digging deep for the ice cool personality that had gotten him through many situations like this one, Bryce tapped his brother on the face to try and get his attention. “Press here,” he said again, pushing against Matt’s hand. Matt nodded, sort of, and then pressed harder. Bryce released a shaky breath. It had never been this hard to stay in control. The fact that his family was involved was definitely messing with his head.
    “Mikayla?” Matt managed to ask in a rough voice.
    “She’s fine,” Bryce lied. She wasn’t fine, she was spattered in her husband’s blood and seemed to be going into shock, but she was alive, and that was what counted. But the stubborn woman also seemed determined to get to Matt, so Bryce helped her onto the floor beside her husband. “I’m going to get a doctor. Make sure he stays still.” Mikayla nodded frantically, her fear and distress very obvious. Bryce glanced at his would-be assassin, bleeding and moaning on the floor, but knew the man was going nowhere so headed to the doorway. The hall was deserted, no doubt because of the sound of gunshots, so he limped to the nurses’ counter and found two women crouched under the desk.
    “I have two people with gunshot wounds in Mrs. Davidson’s room.” One woman looked absolutely terrified and probably unable to move, but the second woman nodded and crawled out from under the desk. She straightened to her full height, about a foot and a half shorter than Bryce, held her head high, and started gathering emergency supplies. As she moved quickly down the hall, Bryce glanced back at the pale woman still cowering from him. That’s when he realized he still had his gun in his hand.
    Thumbing the safety back on, Bryce tucked the gun back into his waistband before telling the woman to call the police.
    He didn’t look forward to explaining why he’d just shot a cop, but he needed to get this part of his life finished with. If nothing else, he wanted a chance to live a normal life. He headed back to Mikayla’s room, helped the nurse stabilize Matt, and then held Matt’s wife as she cried in his arms.

    * * * *

    “The bullet went straight through. The exit wound looks pretty ugly but Mr. Davidson should make a full recovery. He’ll spend some time in ICU, and we’ll let you know as soon as you can visit.” Mikayla nodded her thanks to the doctor and squeezed Bryce’s arm. The police had arrived soon after the gunshots, and of course the first thing they’d done was handcuff Bryce. It took several minutes of angry, exasperated conversation, but Bryce had given them a name and demanded that they bring the man here.
    Surprisingly, the police not only did as he asked,