Twisted, #2
Twisted Games
by Ana Huang
Contents
8. Bridget/Rhys
Overview
A gunman opens fire in the park, and Rhys shields Bridget before confronting the shooter. Rhys neutralizes the attacker and is only grazed, while a targeted father and his child survive. After police arrive, Rhys admits guilt rooted in a friend’s past murder, deepening trust and attraction while reaffirming limits.
Summary
Gunshots shatter Bridget and Rhys’s post-dinner walk. Rhys throws Bridget to the ground, shields her, and directs a dash to tree cover. He spots the shooter—an ordinary-looking man—aiming at a figure on the ground and decides to intervene, ordering Bridget to stay hidden.
Seeing a man and a child as targets, Rhys advances. The gunman spins and fires as Rhys shoots; the assailant falls, and Rhys staggers with a grazing wound. Sirens approach. Bridget runs to Rhys, who has disarmed the attacker, and she comforts the terrified boy while assuring help is coming.
Police secure the scene and demand hands up before separating witnesses. In the ambulance, Bridget confronts Rhys for risking himself; he reveals the wound is a graze. Preliminary police info suggests the shooter targeted the father over a failed business deal while high, leading to a chaotic, non-fatal attack.
Rhys admits he prioritized stopping the shooter over extracting Bridget, then confesses a formative trauma: as a teen, he watched a near-friend, Travis, get shot during a mugging and did nothing, vowing never to be a coward again. Bridget counters it wasn’t his fault, and their shared vulnerability softens their dynamic.
They sit together, shaken but safe. Rhys’s protectiveness intensifies, as does their mutual attraction, yet he reasserts internal boundaries: Bridget remains too young, innocent, and off-limits, even as their connection deepens.
Who Appears
- BridgetPrincess and client; hides during the shooting, comforts the frightened boy, worries over Rhys, and deepens emotional trust with him.
- Rhys LarsenBodyguard; shields Bridget, disarms the shooter despite a grazing wound, checks on victims, and reveals past trauma driving his actions.
- ShooterAttacker in the park; targets a father over a business grievance while high, is shot and disarmed by Rhys.
- The boyChild victim’s son; terrified beside his injured father, reassured by Bridget and Rhys before EMS transport.
- The fatherPrimary target; critically bleeding from shots, stabilized by EMS and expected to survive.
- Police and EMTsArrive to secure the scene, treat injuries, and take statements; transport the victims and shooter.
- Travis (from Rhys’s past)Rhys’s near-friend, murdered in a teen mugging; his death fuels Rhys’s vow against inaction.