The next hour was a blur of activity. It took Liv several minutes to fully believe they were getting rescued by a SWAT team and it wasn't just a dream. She and Ezra were both groggy as they were led out of the panic room.

As they began to wake up, they became aware of what was going on around them. The power had been turned back on and all the lights were on. It felt too bright after they had spent the night in almost complete darkness.

They watched as a team of medics brought in a gurney and rolled Tommy out on it. There were SWAT and police officers everywhere. A few minutes after Tommy was wheeled out, another medic team appeared for them. They were offered gurneys to be rolled out on, but they both declined.

But before they were allowed to walk on their own, the medics examined them. They were concerned about Ezra having a concussion. They did let him walk but stayed right by his side. Ezra reached for Liv's hand as they were led out of the office and she took it, grateful to have something solid to hold on to.

For the first time, they were able to fully see their surroundings and it was a disaster. As they walked down the hallway, they could see that every office had been torn apart. Files and papers littered the floor and all the drawers and cabinets were open. As they reached the end of the hallway they found the glass walls of two offices were shattered.

"This is crazy," Ezra said.

When they reached the bottom floor it was just as busy with uniformed officers. Outside, the whole street had been closed off and was filled with emergency vehicles. They were led to the back of an ambulance, told to sit and someone wrapped large blankets around them. They sat in a silent daze for a while.

"Hey," Ezra finally said, gently bumping her shoulder with his.

"Hey," she said back, looking at him.

In the morning light, she could fully see the damage done to his face. His left eye was swollen and a ring of purple was beginning to form under it. The bruise on his chin was also turning purple and there was an angry red mark on his right cheek.

"How are you?" he asked.

She grinned. "Probably doing better than you look."

He started to smile but it turned into a painful wince. His hand went to his cheek and he winced again. "Be honest, how bad does it look?"

"Not bad. I'm sure all your model girlfriends will be impressed," she teased.

"Stop," he said through gritted teeth, gently smacking her. "Don't make me smile. It hurts."

"I'm sorry," she said, holding back a smile. "How are you doing?"

He shrugged. His hand moved along his face, finding all the different bruises. "Not too bad, considering the night we had."

"I know," she nodded. "You got punched!"

"Several times. It was a real party."

She laughed. "You have a weird definition of a party." His laugh turned into a groan of pain and he smacked her again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," she said, trying to block his hits. He scowled. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "I promise, I will only say serious, boring things from now on."

But she was saved from talking about boring things when a police officer approached and began asking them questions.

They walked him through their night, starting with the elevator. It was entertaining to watch the officer's eyebrows steadily rise in amazement as he listened.

"And that's when you decided to create those 'firebombs' and throw them off the roof?" the officer asked.

"Indeed. It was Liv who came up with the brilliant plan," Ezra boasted.

Liv smiled at the pride in his voice.

"That was pretty brilliant. If not for that, we wouldn't have a clue anything was wrong here," the officer said, clearly impressed. Liv could feel her cheeks heating up.

"Well, Ezra was smart to play drunk. It probably saved his life," she offered as a distraction from all the praise.

Ezra laughed and took her hand. "Thanks. But playing drunk isn't impressive."

The officer agreed with a chuckle. "There are skills of all different sizes," he said. "And all were needed in the case of tonight. As an officer of the peace I do feel like I need to add that while your 'firebombs' were a great idea, I have to advise against you throwing fire off the roof again."

"Not even when this one gets drunk?" Liv jokingly asked, bumping Ezra with her shoulder.

The officer laughed. "Alright. We will need a more detailed police report from both of you, but that can happen later at the precinct after you have received medical attention."

Like they had been summoned, two medics appeared. "Wait, officer," Liv called, as she ducked around the medic trying to examine her. The police officer stopped. "Do you know why the men broke into the building?"

"They aren't a chatty bunch, but we did find several building inspection papers on them," he said. "We aren't sure what it means, but we figure we will find out more once we speak with your main boss."

Her ears perked up. "The inspection papers didn't have to be for Hamel Construction, did they?"

The police officer's eye brightened in surprise. "What do you know about Hamel Construction?"

"Not a lot. But you should look into Joseph Hamel. It's his company. I'm not allowed to say much because of client confidentiality, but look up his contracting deals from last year. You might find some interesting things."

The officer smiled. "Thanks for the tip."

Liv nodded and turned to find a medic waiting for her. The medic led her to a different ambulance and told her to sit. Liv thought the whole thing was unnecessary. Her biggest complaint was sore feet. The medic seemed to agree there wasn't much wrong with her when she told Liv she was fine after a few minutes.

Liv yawned and added tired to her list of complaints. She wasn't sure the single word 'tired' could fully encompass the level of exhaustion she felt. She yawned again and stood. If the police and the medics were done, did that mean she could go home?

She looked around. No one was paying her any attention, except Ezra. He had left his ambulance and was walking towards her. She met his gaze and he gave a weak smile followed by a wince.

"You should stop smiling," she said, as he neared. Once he reached her, she directed him to sit.

"Is that because I'm a hardened lawyer who doesn't care about anyone, as long as I win?" he asked in a husky voice.

Her eyes went big as she bit back a laugh. She knew if she laughed, he would laugh and then it would turn into him groaning in pain, but what he had said was so ridiculously outrageous.

"Only if we were living in a bodice-riper," she joked.

He frowned. "What's that?"

She shook her head and chuckled. "I was only saying you shouldn't smile because it looks painful."

"True. But you're worth the pain."

She couldn't fight back the laugh now. It escaped from her, bright and joyous. She didn't think the Ezra Lexington of seven hours ago would have ever let those words leave his mouth, let alone thought them.

"I knew it!" she beamed. "It's the way you always look in pain immediately after you smile at me."

His laughed turned into a groan and he glared at her, but she didn't feel guilty. He was the one who had smiled at her first, plus there was something endearing about him wincing.

He took a deep breath and leaned against the side of the ambulance. "They're going to take me to the hospital," he said.

Her eyes jumped to the two medics that had been examining Ezra. They were packing up their bags. She looked back at him and her body seized up.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

She could feel the hallow fluttering of anxiety starting to creep into her chest.

"Yeah, they're just being cautious," he said. "They want to give me an MRI to make sure I don't have a concussion."

She nodded. He had received several hits to the head. She told herself that it made sense, but it did nothing to lessen the tightness in her chest. She tried to take a deep breath but found she couldn't force the air that deep in her lungs. She tried to shake the strange feeling off and focused on Ezra. He looked exhausted. She took his hand.

"Better safe than sorry," she said.

He smiled tiredly and squeezed her hand. "Yeah."

His dark eyes studied her and she found herself doing the same with him. It felt silly. In a week or so, they would be back to working in the same office. They could see each other whenever they wanted, but she couldn't help feeling a strange panic at the thought of not being near him. As if just being with him offered protection.

"Listen, Liv," he said quietly, his gaze still intently on her. "After everything that happened tonight, I don't want things to go back to the way they were." He paused and frowned. "Well, I do want work to return to normal, but I mean with you. I didn't even know your name, and now I can't imagine being separated from you. Is that crazy?"

She smiled as he voiced her exact feelings. He continued to talk, awkwardly stumbling over his words as he tried to keep himself from sounding desperate but failing. As she listened, her brain brought back something her father had told her. It was about the bond the people develop after they've been through something traumatic together.

He said that it was a survival instinct that helped people work together and get through dangerous situations. The feelings didn't just go away after the danger did. The people who had been through the situation together had a bond that no one else would understand.

But at the same time, he told her a lot of people misunderstood the lingering feelings. He said he had seen people get involved romantically based on the traumatic connection, but the relationships never lasted long. The feelings did eventually leave, and a healthy relationship couldn't be based on trauma.

Liv focused back on Ezra as he said, "What do you say?" He searched her face. "Dinner, when life is back to normal?"

She smiled, and gently cupped his face with her hands.

"Maybe," she said doubtfully.

He pulled away from her hold and she couldn't blame him. She felt the same things for him. Just the thought of him going to the hospital and leaving her had made her anxious, but she knew it wouldn't last. Over the next weeks and months, the feeling would fade, and they would settle back into normal life and whatever they had built on those fading feelings would break.

"Listen, I know how you feel. I feel the same." His eyes brightened with hope, and she continued quickly. "But, these feelings are a product of last night. It happens all the time to people who go through traumatic things together. It forms a bond, but it won't last."

He scooted further back as if distance could keep him from hearing what she is saying. "But I don't feel this way just because of what we went through," he said. She looked at him skeptically and he raised a hand as if to keep her from jumping to conclusions. "You are probably right, about trauma and all that, but I don't want to take you to dinner just because of what we went through."

He moved closer and reached for one of her hands. "One of the good things that came out of this mess is that I got time with you. Was it under extreme circumstances? Yes, but it gave me an opportunity to learn so much about you. And the amazing things about you. Under normal circumstances, how long would it have taken for me to learn you know how to shot a gun?"

She smiled. "Well, considering you didn't even know my name."

"I meant if we were getting to know each," he said quickly, trying to gloss over that major hole in his argument. "If we had just struck up a conversation during a coffee break one day, how long would it have taken?"

"I've never seen you take a coffee break." She watched as it seemed to take all his self-control not to shout in frustration.

He glared at her with annoyance. "Liv," he said, her named mixed in with an attempt at a calming exhale.

She rested her hands on his arm and smiled at the fight still in his eyes.

"Let's make a deal," she said. "One month. We won't do anything for one month. If after that month, you still want to take me out to dinner, then ask me."

"Will you say yes?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I don't know how I'll feel about you in a month."

He mulled over her deal with a crease between his eyes. After a silent minute, he offered her his hand. "Deal," he said, a determined look in his eyes.

She took his hand and they shook.

"Deal," she repeated.

She went to let go, but he held her hand tighter and pulled her close, his free hand cupping the back of her neck.

"Technically, we didn't specify when the month starts," he said, leaning in.

He paused with his lips just an inch from hers, his eyes searching hers.

She grinned.

"Lawyers and their technicalities," she said before she closed the distance and pressed her lips against his.

**********************************************************************

GOOD GRACIOUS! What was that!! Where is my happy ending! Where is the moment where they ride into the sunset together after their harrowing adventure!

I GAVE YOU A KISS!!

YES! But before that you were all 'Oh we are dealing with trauma, we shouldn't date until A FREAKING MONTH LATER!'

FOUR KISSES! You gave me one in Every Second! (If you haven't read it yet you can find it on Joy's bookshelf)

Please, I gave you a million in the final chapter.

🙄 You're being dramatic. I blame the readers. They have encouraged you since chapter one. Whatever, lets see what the readers think.

Vote, comment, follow and oh my goodness only one more chapter left!