Her heart began to pound so hard, she thought it might explode.
“I’ll put a bullet in her head and send you the video,” he snarled. “You think I won’t?”
Tess sucked in a shaky breath.
This was it.
He meant it.
She tried to shift, to roll, to get her head out of the way—anything—but the restraints held tight. Her shoulders burned from where she’d been dragged earlier and her current position. Her cheek throbbed where she’d been hit.
“Say goodbye,” Diego said, his voice cold now.
Her body shook uncontrollably, and she lost control of her bladder. There wasn’t room for shame—only terror. She was about to die.
She braced herself, praying it wouldn’t be painful. Praying Andy wouldn’t blame himself. That he would recover from another devastating loss of a loved one and somehow move on with his life, becoming someone she and her parents would be proud of.
Her lungs froze, then?—
Something clattered across the floor.
A metallic scrape.
A half second of confusion.
And the world exploded.
The blast was blinding even through the hood—white light burning through the fabric like the sun pressed against her face. The noise that followedwasn’t just loud—it was violent. A crack that punched the air from her lungs and ripped through her skull.
She screamed as the shock wave hit her body like a vicious shove, rolling hard onto her side. Her shoulder slammed against concrete, breath knocked out of her.
Her ears rang—high, sharp, and endless.
For a moment, there was nothing but that ringing. Then pandemonium bled through it.
Heavy footsteps moving fast.
Men yelling.
Someone cursing.
She couldn’t tell what was happening.
Her heart leapt into her throat.
A single gunshot cut through the cacophonous din?—
Close.
Sharp.
Final.
Her body went rigid, and she waited for the pain and darkness that was sure to follow.
But neither came.
Something large and heavy dropped beside her with a sickening thud, close enough that the impact vibrated through her ribs.
