Page 49 of Possessive Bodyguard Summer

I turned just enough for him to see my face. Whatever he saw made him release me immediately.

He drew his sidearm. "I've got your six."

Together, we moved toward the house. The silence inside was deafening.

Then, I heard it. A growl. Deep, steady. Maverick. It echoed from upstairs.

A second later, another voice floated down the hallway.

"Monroe. I know you're in here. It's time to come home."

Maverick's growl deepened. Another step creaked overhead.

"Come on, sweetheart."

Mercer's tone made my skin crawl.

"I know about the baby now."

My blood ran cold.

"You don't have to run anymore. We'll raise our baby together."

Their baby?The bastard actually thought?—

A sharp bark exploded through the house.

Mercer laughed. "Move, dog."

Another step. Then another. Rafe and I reached the base of the staircase.

I leaned just enough to look around the corner.

Mercer was halfway up the stairs. Gun in his right hand. His attention completely fixed on the hallway above. He never looked behind him. Never saw us.

One more step from Mercer was all it took.

Maverick launched. He didn't hesitate. One second he was at the top of the staircase.

The next he was airborne. Mercer barely had time to turn before eighty pounds of military-trained dog slammed into his chest.

Both of them crashed backward.

The gun discharged, the deafening crack echoed through the house.

Glass exploded somewhere behind me.

Mercer's body hit the hardwood with a sickening thud, but Maverick never let up.

His jaws clamped onto Mercer's arm, pinning it to the floor as Mercer screamed.

"NOW!" Rafe shouted.

I was already moving.

Two strides. One kick. The pistol skidded across the foyer.

Mercer swung at me with his free hand.