Page 299 of Vicious Temptation

A gunshot blasts beside my head, and one of the cuffs breaks free from the chair. I tear my other hand free and try to stand, but the bullet wound in my thigh nearly sends me back to the floor.

Across the room, Remi rips the knife from the sheath at her leg and drives it beneath Elena’s ribs. Elena cries out as Remi yanks the blade free and scrambles away.

“Remi!” I force my injured leg beneath me. “We have to go.”

Elena lies on the concrete, struggling for air as blood spreads beneath her.

Remi gets to her feet and turns toward me, tears streaking through the blood on her face as she takes in my injuries. “Thiago,” she whispers.

I start toward her, but something behind her moves. Elena reaches across the concrete for her pistol and manages to wrap her fingers around the grip.

“Remi, watch out!”

But Elena aims at me this time. Remi spins and fires twice, both bullets striking Elena in the head and knocking her backward.

Remi spits blood beside Elena’s body. “Bitch.”

My gaze falls to the biometric monitor, still strapped around Elena’s wrist.

Fuck. Remi just stopped her heart.

“Run!” I grab Remi’s hand and pull her toward the door, ignoring the pain ripping through my thigh as I force my injured leg to keep up. Matteo is several feet ahead of us, while Kai has Amalia in his arms and is already carrying her through the doorway.

“Faster!” Matteo shouts.

We’re almost there when the explosion hits.

The force tears Remi’s hand from mine and hurls us across the room. I hit the concrete hard enough to lose track of where I am as part of the ceiling collapses between us and the doorway.

A high-pitched ringing drowns out everything around me. Dust fills my mouth and nose, and I cover my face as debris continues falling from above.

Then the heat reaches me. Flames spread across the collapsed section of ceiling, cutting us off from the doorway and everyone on the other side.

“Remi, where are you?” I shout, spotting her a few feet away and dragging myself closer. She’s already pushing herself upright by the time I get there. I pull her against me, checking her face and arms for injuries. “Baby, are you hurt?”

“I’m okay.” She touches the side of her head and looks at the blood on her fingers before her gaze snaps toward the collapsed doorway. “Mamá.”

She tries to get up, but I catch her before she can move toward the flames. “Did they make it out? Did you see them get out?”

“Your dad had her. They were ahead of us.”

“That doesn’t mean they made it.”

“I know.” I stare at the wreckage, but there’s no way to see what’s on the other side. “Matteo was with them. We have to trust that they got her out.”

Her eyes stay on the flames for another second before returning to me, and whatever she sees has her expression crumbling. “Thiago, you’re bleeding everywhere.”

“I’ve seen better days.”

“Don’t joke right now.”

“I’m trying not to scare you.”

“You think I’m scared because of the blood?”

I look past her instead of answering.

Fire has consumed the debris blocking the doorway, and smoke is already spreading across the ceiling. I scan the room for an exit, a window, anything we can use, but this part of the building is completely sealed.