Page 1 of Protected By the Mountain Man

GRANGER

The second I step through the hospital doors, I find the nearest wall and press my palm against it. Keeping my arm straight, I drop my head and growl “fuck” at my feet.

It’s been over a decade since I was inside this building with my heart in my throat.

Over a decade since I lost my sister Ginny and became the only adult in my nephew’s life.

A decade since I gave a group of doctors the okay to remove his leg if they had to.

They hadn’t. He—and his leg—survived the horrifying crash that killed my sister.

But all it had taken was one man crazy enough to think shooting his niece…great niece? Hell, I don’t even know what their connection actually is, and it doesn’t matter, because Felix stopped Warren Sanders from killing Riley.

With his body.

Eyes scrunched closed, I suck in a deep breath and will myself not to lose it.

I don’t know how I managed to keep it together in there. All I knew was if I didn’t hold on to my emotions, Riley wouldn’t, and she was already on the edge.

Luckily these doctors did what the others had and saved Felix.

He was going to be okay.

I’d said that very thing to Riley too many times to count in the last few hours. Maybe I’d willed it into reality.

Or maybe we’d gotten lucky.

Damn lucky.

So damn fucking lucky.

Felix will make a full recovery and be home in a few days, a week at most.

Lowering my chin, I lean into the wall harder and rest my head on the back of my hand, blow out a rough breath.

Fuck.

My legs are still shaky, my heart still pounding in my chest like it’s trying to escape, and there’s something wedged in my throat restricting my airflow.

“He’s going to be okay. He’s going to be okay.” The words rumble over my lips and disappear into the cool night air.

I wish we could escape this nightmare. Wake up and discover it was all a bad dream. Unfortunately, it’s all too real.

“He’s going to be⁠—”

An angry shout has my thoughts splintering, my head lifting. Pissed off and loud, the masculine voice echoes across the parking lot in an inaudible rush.

Straightening, I turn, head swiveling as I try to figure out which direction the shouting is coming from when a distinctly feminine and panicked voice yells, “Let me go.”

I’m moving before I think. My feet thumping across the pavement, zig zagging between parked cars until I see shadowy figures two rows over. The closer I get, the clearer they become and it’s obvious a man is leaning over a woman, pinning her to the car at her back. It’s not a lovers’ embrace.

“Hey!” I push harder—each thudding step getting me nearer—yell louder. “Hey! Let her go!”

The guy jerks back, his head swinging around as he tries to find where I am. When his gaze lands on me rushing at him, he shoves the woman hard enough I hear the smack of her body hitting the metal behind her and takes off.

By the time I get to her, he’s halfway across the parking lot. For a split second I think about chasing him, but I can’t be sure the woman isn’t seriously hurt. Besides, he’s got a good head start on me and I probably wouldn’t catch him anyway; my legs aren’t as fast as they used to be.

Skittering to a stop, my gaze rakes over her slumped form. “Are you all right?”