“No one else?” Enzo pressed.
“No, I swear—no one else knows I found him—just us four, man, just us?—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Enzo snapped, and then—his eyes never leaving the guy—he nodded at Rio.
Everything in me stilled.
Enzo moved first, yanking Robbie back into his side, shielding him with one arm. The second his hand tightened on Robbie’s shoulder, Rio shifted.
No hesitation.
He placed both hands around the stranger’s neck—callused, brutal, sure—and squeezed. The body bucked, legs kicking wild and uncoordinated as Rio’s grip locked hard. He thrashed, gasping, eyes bulging with panic and disbelief.
Rio’s jaw was clenched, his face a mask offury and purpose. He didn’t speak. He didn’t shout. He just held on, fingers digging deep, until sounds went from choking to wet gurgles.
A sharpcrackechoed in the silence as Rio shoved the dead guy to the floor, following through with a final jerk that cracked his neck.
The body crumpled.
Still. Empty.
No one said a word. Not right away. The only sound was the rush of blood in my ears and the ragged breathing of the men still standing.
At last, Rio looked at me.
And I had no idea what he saw on my face.
Enzo stepped forward, his expression hard but focused. “We need to strip the body, bag it, and wipe the cameras that picked this up. Robbie, lockdown override, clear this zone only.”
Robbie pulled out his phone and tapping in the command, his hands shaking.
Enzo turned to Rio. “You okay?”
Rio pushed to his feet. “Yeah.”
Enzo glanced at me. “You?”
I swallowed. My throat burned.
Enzo’s gaze flicked to the body, and I blinked in shock, and then Enzo called my name, bringing me back.
“Lyric? What now?”
I thought on my feet. “No calls. No chatter. We burn this guy and every digital footprint he left behind. Tonight.” I paused, my chest tight, focusing on Rio’s set expression. “And then we get the fuck out of Dodge.”
TWENTY-TWO
Rio
“What the fuck!”Jamie snapped from behind us, stomping into the room like a thundercloud, Killian on his heels.
“They found him,” Enzo said. “I’m taking Robbie somewhere safe. You know where.” He bro-hugged Rio, who nodded, and all too soon Enzo was gone, Robbie in tow.
Jamie didn’t even glance at us as he opened a tablet, the screen displaying lines and lines of symbols and commands—technical information I couldn’t ever hope to understand. Lyric exchanged glances with me.
He’d seen me kill a man with my bare hands—and he wasn’t turning away. He wasn’t in shock. He wasn’t disgusted. He watched me as if heunderstoodor even approved. There wasn’t fear in his eyes, just brutal knowing, as if we were made from the same kind of violence.
Then he focused on whatever Jamie was showing him and gasped. Whatever he was staring at was bad.
