Chapter 3 - The Marine's Reckoning
"Trent!" Helen screamed, rushing forward with her nails clawed out. "You monster! You broke into our home!"
Alex’s teammate, a muscular veteran named Marcus, stepped in front of Helen, catching both her wrists in a single grip and forcing her back into a chair with effortless authority. "Sit down, ma'am. Do not move."
"You can't do this!" Richard yelled, grabbing a kitchen knife from the butcher block. "I'll kill you!"
"Bad choice, old man," the third operator, Jax, growled. With a rapid wrist lock, he disarmed Richard before the blade could even point upward. The knife clattered uselessly onto the tile as Richard was pinned against the wall, his arms locked firmly behind his back.
Alex didn't waste another second on them. He dropped to his knees right beside me on the freezing floor. His tactical gear clanked against the tile as he pulled off his gloves, his broad hands suddenly trembling with terrifying tenderness as he cradled my bruised face.
"Clara..." Alex whispered, his voice cracking for the first time. "Clara, look at me. I'm here. I've got you."
"Alex..." Tears finally poured down my cheeks, hot and bitter. "The baby... please, my baby..."
His eyes drifted down to my stomach, then to the dark pool of blood staining my clothes and the tile floor beneath me. A terrifying flare of rage flashed across Alex's eyes, but he suppressed it instantly, focusing entirely on keeping me calm.
"You're going to be okay. Both of you," Alex swore, reaching into his vest to pull out a sterile medical wrap and a thermal blanket. He wrapped me gently, lifting my upper body onto his lap. "Marcus! Get the kit! She's hemorrhaging!"
"What is happening?!" Nicole screamed from the corner, crying hysterically as she cowered behind the island. "We didn't do anything! She fell on her own!"
Alex turned his head slowly toward Nicole, his cold glare locking onto her. "Every second of your live stream was captured on my server the moment her SOS went live. You streamed an attempted murder. You're all going to rot."
Trent, still on the floor clutching his stomach, spat blood onto the floor and sneered. "She's my wife! What happens in this house is none of your business! You broke in! The law will put you in prison!"
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Alex stood up slowly, stepping over Trent. He leaned down until his eyes were inches from Trent’s face.
"I didn't break in as a civilian, Trent," Alex murmured softly, pointing to a badge clipped to his chest alongside local police dispatch comms. "I called in an active high-risk domestic assault with my unit under emergency tactical assistance. The police are forty seconds out. But those forty seconds belong to me."
