Page 303 of Vicious Temptation

Grabbing the front of my shirt, she clings to me tighter. “Not without you. I won’t leave you!”

“I’ll be right behind you,” I tell her, praying she can’t hear the uncertainty in my voice. “I promise.”

The building groans around us, and more concrete crashes to the floor, sending sparks and burning debris across the room.

“Please, baby. I need you to trust me.”

Her eyes hold mine. “I do. I do trust you. But I don’t want to lose you again.”

After everything I did to break that trust, I don’t know if I deserve those words.

She nods reluctantly, clutching my wrists and kissing my palms, then crawls toward the opening. I stay right behind her as we make our way through the smoke and broken concrete. Every movement sends a fresh burn through my thigh and ribs, but I keep going. I can’t stop while she’s still trapped in here with me.

I need her safe.

The moment Remi reaches the opening, hands grab her beneath the arms and pull her through.

“No!” she cries, twisting toward me as they drag her away from the breach.

“It’s okay. I’m right here.”

She reaches back for me, and our fingertips brush before another pair of hands comes through the opening and grips my forearms. They haul me forward, but my shoulders catch on the jagged concrete.

Remi’s face crumples with panic. “Thiago!”

I try to force myself forward, but my body has nothing left to give.

“Get him out!” she screams. “Matteo, get him out!”

Their grip tightens, dragging me against the opening again as my vision blurs at the edges. Remi is still screaming my name, fighting to get back to me as darkness closes in.

She’s the last thing I see.

Seventy-Four

Remi

Through the narrow window in Mamá’s hospital room door, I watch her sleep.

The bullet missed her heart and the major vessels around it, but it still did enough damage to require surgery. The doctors expect her to make a full recovery, and I’ve heard those words enough over the last three days that I should believe them by now.

But it’s hard when I can see the monitors surrounding her bed and the IV disappearing beneath the hospital gown covering her arm.

Papá stands beside me, his hands tucked in his pockets. He hasn’t left her side for more than a few minutes at a time since she came out of surgery, and even now, his attention never strays far from the woman on the other side of the glass.

The absolute love of his life.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

He turns to me, his brow furrowed. “For what?”

My eyes stay fixed on the window. “Thiago knew about our family because of me. I told him everything, and Elena used it against us.”

“No.”

“Papá, you don’t have to pretend⁠—”

“No. You don’t get to carry this one, princesa.”