The Last Time I Cried Your Name novel Chapter 426

The rain fell hard in the woods, drenching everything. Petty pressed close to Franco, tucked safely in his arms. Water rolled down Franco's face, tracing his cheekbones and dripping from his jaw onto her jacket.

The drops were steady and relentless. Petty could almost hear the echo of her own heartbeat in them.

Franco kept one hand tight around his gun while the other rested gently on the back of her head. His voice dropped as he asked, “Are you scared?”

Petty glanced up, just in time to see a bead of rain slide off his chin. It nearly landed on her face, but Franco let his hand slip from her head and brushed the droplet away with a flick of his knuckles.

He looked down at her and said quietly, “Your heart’s racing.”

Petty met his gaze, his dark eyes unreadable. “Scared of what?” she shot back. “That you might lose to Ned?”

Franco’s eyes were impossibly deep, almost shadowy. For a brief second, he set his jaw and grinned, a crooked, teasing smile that had something dangerous and something gentle in it. Petty froze, finding herself lost in that expression, the memory of seeing it before tugging at the back of her mind.

For a split second, she just stared at him. When she realized what she was doing, she snapped her attention away, embarrassed.

Then, out of nowhere, Franco pulled her tighter. The sudden move startled her and her breath came out sharp and quick. A laugh rumbled from deep in Franco’s throat—soft, so quiet it almost wasn’t there at all. It disappeared the next moment, as if he’d never made a sound.

Petty thought maybe she’d imagined it. Then his big hand landed gently on top of her head, patting over the hood she wore.

“Stay here and wait,” he murmured.

They both went still, neither making a move. Across from them, hidden behind a tree, Ned and Abbot were watching, just as motionless. The steady thud of shellfire was getting louder, creeping closer to their patch of forest, and a helicopter cut the sky, chasing the sound of the explosions.

If Petty and Franco stayed hidden any longer, someone would find them. Once Abbot’s team made it into the woods, Petty and Franco would be easy targets, boxed in with nowhere to run.

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