Layla’s POV
Then I saw movement.
An SUV pulled up.
Gun shots exploded.
The air smelled of burnt rubber and gunpowder, sharp and acrid, as the last echoes of gunfire faded into the night.
My body laid pressed to the asphalt, trembling violently, my hands clutching at my chest like I could hold my heartbeat in place. The world was spinning, the streetlights wobbled like candles in a storm.
A shadow rose decisive and deliberate. The man in the black SUV stepped out , tall, broad-shouldered, his presence slicing through the panic around me. His eyes locked on mine before anyone else, a calm certainty radiating from him.
“Ava !” The voice was familiar, steady, a lifeline. I squinted through the blur of fear and recognition hit me like a punch.
Caleb.
I opened my car door without he
