Chapter 8: Bulletproof Hearts
612 Words
Chapter 8: Bulletproof Hearts
The shot echoed like thunder, ricocheting off the steel beams of the warehouse. For a moment, everything froze.
Lucy’s heartbeat slammed in her chest as she clutched Jayson’s arm, her eyes searching the shadows.
“Jayson?” she whispered.
“I’m fine,” he said, voice sharp, steady.
But someone else wasn’t.
From the far end of the warehouse, a groan echoed. A figure stumbled forward—one of John’s hired guards, clutching his side, blood pouring through his fingers. Evelyn, crouched on a catwalk above them, lowered her silenced pistol.
Jayson had brought backup after all.
“Put the gun down, John,” Jayson commanded.
John’s face twisted with fury, his hand still hovering near the holster. “She ruined everything!” he yelled, pointing at Lucy. “Do you know how long I’ve worked for my legacy? The company was mine. All of it. Until she came along with her designer heels and sob story.”
Lucy stepped out from behind the pillar. “No, John. You lost everything because of you. Because of your lies. Your greed. Your obsession with power.”
“I gave you everything,” John hissed. “Eight years! And you threw it away like garbage.”
“You gave me chains,” she said coldly. “Jayson gave me wings.”
That did it.
John lunged.
The gun fired again.
Jayson tackled Lucy to the ground just as the bullet whizzed overhead, shattering a lightbulb. Sparks rained down like fireworks.
Evelyn’s voice shouted through a headset. “Backup en route. Hold position!”
Jayson rolled to his feet, pulling Lucy behind a stack of crates. “Stay here,” he growled.
“Jayson—”
But he was already gone, moving like a shadow through the chaos.
John ran deeper into the warehouse, rage turning to panic. He didn’t expect resistance. He didn’t expect her to be this strong. He didn’t expect his uncle to be willing to kill.
And most of all—he didn’t expect to lose.
Jayson caught him at the far end, slamming him against the wall, gun pressed to his temple.
“It’s over,” Jayson said, voice low, lethal.
“You’ll never win,” John snarled. “Even if I die, I’ve already burned your name. Your company’s crumbling. You’re finished.”
Jayson leaned in closer. “Wrong. You’re the only thing that’s finished.”
Sirens wailed in the distance. Police. Media. Everything was crashing down.
John knew it. He laughed—a broken, bitter sound.
“You love her,” he spat. “You really think she loves you back? She’s using you, just like she used me.”
Jayson’s grip tightened. “You don’t know the first thing about love.”
Behind him, Lucy stepped into view.
“I do,” she said.
Jayson turned, shocked.
Lucy’s voice trembled but her hands didn’t. “I love him. Not because he saved me. But because he saw me—when I didn’t even know who I was anymore.”
The look on John’s face turned from fury to utter disbelief.
Then—
Red and blue lights flooded the room.
Police stormed in. Guns raised. Shouts.
Jayson stepped back, letting them take John to the ground.
Lucy ran to him. Jayson caught her, pulling her into his arms, holding her like he might never let go again.
But as the cops dragged John away, he looked back over his shoulder—
And smiled.
A cold, knowing smile.
Lucy’s blood ran cold.
“What does he know that we don’t?” she whispered.
Jayson’s expression turned grim. “We’re about to find out.”
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- Writer
