Page 272 of Iced Up Love: Part Two
The first shot cuts through it.
It’s distant.
Sharp.
Wrong.
And for half a second, the room doesn’t react, like it hasn’t quite caught up to what it means.
Then the second shot follows.
Closer.
And everything breaks.
The sound fractures the room open, screams rising almost instantly, chairs scraping, people rushing, the careful structure of the night collapsing into chaos in seconds.
My body locks into focus immediately. Lucian is already moving toward me, his voice low but urgent as he reaches me.
“It’s Vargas,” he says. “They’re hitting the perimeter.”
Of course they are.
My hand finds Lia without thinking, pulling her into me, my arm wrapping around her, anchoring her against my body as I scan the room, already mapping exits, movement, threats.
“Jackson,” I call.
He’s there instantly.
Close.
Ready.
“Stay with her,” I tell him, my voice sharp now, controlled but absolute. “Do not let her out of your sight.”
“We need to get Zach,” Lia says, her voice tight, urgent, cutting through everything else. I see him the second I look.
Zach steps down from the stage without hesitation, no pause, no glance back, cutting straight through the chaos toward us with the same calm precision he carries on the ice. People move around him, security shifting bodies, redirecting the crowd, but he doesn’t break stride.
“I’m here,” he says the moment he reaches us, his hand coming to Lia’s arm, grounding her on the other side.
Gunfire cracks again.
Closer now.
Return fire answers.
Security is already engaging.
“Move!” Christian’s voice cuts through the chaos. “Back exit, now!”
The crowd shifts, pushed, guided, controlled chaos as people are funneled toward the rear.
“Stay tight,” I say, my grip firm on Lia as we move, Jackson at her other side, Zach just behind and beside us, his hand never leaving her.
We move as one.
Fast.
