Page 26 of Break Me Not

“Hey! Stop!”

There was a sound. One loud enough to break through the loud conversations in the small gallery. I turned around to witness the glass of our display window slowly cracking.

“Move away from the glass⁠—”

But it was too late. People covered their faces with their hands as the glass shattered. There were gasps and some shocked screams, but for me, the world slowed down.

My eyes traveled over everything. The window. The people. The security. And then beyond that to the street outside.

It wasn’t empty, but one car stood out.

A car I’d lost in the divorce.

The security guards—no less than five—Jax had placed here were already filtering into the gallery and checking people for injuries. The lead man came straight up to me. He was wearing a dark suit and stood a few heads over me.

“Are you okay, Ms. Thorne?” His was the voice I’d heard yelling for the perpetrator to stop.

Fear and anxiety ran up my entire body.

“Yes, I⁠—”

Lillian was by my side, grabbing my arm.

“Oh my God, what the hell was that? Nothing got you, right?”

I shook my head. My heart was pounding in my chest, and there were so many things running through my mind that I didn't know what to do first.

My feet are on the ground.

I can feel Lillian's hand on my arm.

I can smell the cologne of the security guard in front of me.

I can hear the whispers of the crowd.

I took a deep breath.

“There was a car speeding down the street. Send people to see if you can find it.”

“But we are here for you⁠—”

“Don’t question me. And get the other ones to start administering first aid.”

His face hardened, and it looked like he wasn’t going to listen to me, but then he nodded.

I looked at Jen and Milo, and luckily, neither seemed to be injured.

“Okay?” I mouthed to them. They looked at each other, then nodded.

I walked past the security guard and started talking to the crowd.

“Everyone, I'm so sorry about this, but we're going to need to close early. For those closest to the window, please stay behind. This lovely security team is going to check your wounds. Jen, Milo, please make sure everyone uninjured is seen to the door. Thank you for understanding.”

My team started working immediately, and in a matter of ten minutes, everyone near the window was being checked while everyone else had left. Lillian asked if she needed to stay, but I sent her home.

There was no telling if he would come back and try and wreak more havoc, so I didn’t want to chance anyone who wasn’t needed getting caught in that.

Jen helped call the ambulance, and even though many of the injuries were not that serious, we made sure all of them got checked by professionals.