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I chose not to issue a verbal response. I simply lifted my brows, allowing her to weigh up her options as the silence stretched between us. Tension tightened my muscles as the seconds ticked by, but arguing with Carmen would only cause her to dig in her heels and prolong this standoff. She was an intelligent woman, a cunning strategist.
It took less than half a minute for her to accept the only course of action open to her.
“I will come with you,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “But not until you give your word that you will protect Marisol. No one touches her.”
“Agreed,” I snapped, impatient to get moving. “Drop those,” I gestured at her crude weapons. “I don’t want you getting any ideas about stabbing me in the back. I think you already know this, but I want to make it very plain that I am your only ticket out of here. Sticking close to me is the only way your friend survives.”
Carmen bristled as though I’d threatened Marisol personally, but I’d done no such thing. I had no interest in hurting the girl; her death was simply a cold fact if I didn’t escort her off the Ronaldo estate.
Regardless of Carmen’s interpretation of my emotional blackmail, it proved effective. She unfurled her fists, dropping the ice pick and gold statue.
I lowered my gun, but I didn’t holster it. There were dozens of other threats surrounding us, even if Carmen had been disarmed.
“Come on,” I urged, beckoning for her to join me.
Her jaw ticked, but she closed the distance between us, snagging Marisol’s hand and dragging her along.
When the women reached me, Carmen paused to fix me with a glare. “I go first. Marisol stays between us. I expect you to shield her back, no matter what.”
I glowered down at her, the furious expression immediate and involuntary. “You’re going to stay behind me.” No way would I allow Carmen to catch a stray bullet. If she thought she could escape me with a lucky death, she was sorely mistaken.
“I know how to navigate this estate. You don’t. I go first.” Her eyes flashed, glinting like steel. “I’m not stupid, and I’ve survived this long. I’ve survived worse than you, Duarte.” She issued the last as a challenge, a promise that she would find a way to eventually escape me.
Eventually. Not right now.
She was too concerned for Marisol’s safety to play deceptive games at the moment. Still, I didn’t like the idea of Carmen being exposed at the front of the group.
“I’m sticking right behind you,” I countered. “And if I order you to drop and take cover, you do it. Marisol will be with me,” I stipulated before Carmen could argue. “I’ll protect her.”
I wrapped my fingers around the young woman’s upper arm, tugging her close to my side. She stiffened in my hold, and I spared her a glance.
Her wide, chocolate eyes were flat, her lips pinched in a small frown. Despite the hellish violence around us, the woman wasn’t crying; she didn’t even appear frightened. She seemed…resigned.
I shrugged off her odd emotional state. As long as she wasn’t an impediment to getting the fuck off this estate as quickly as possible, I didn’t give a shit about what she was feeling.
“This way,” Carmen ordered, her usual cold, regal air returning.
As soon as we moved out into the hallway, another blast rocked the mansion. I grabbed Carmen, yanking her toward me so I could shield both women’s heads from falling debris.
When nothing hit, Carmen shoved away from me and continued her progress, breaking into a run down the long hall. The time for arguing and plotting was long past. This house was going to come down on top of us if we didn’t get the fuck outside.
Rodríguez had held back on the air assault until Sofia was safely off the estate, but the more time passed, the less restrained the heavy firepower would become. By now, Rodríguez himself had probably managed to withdraw back into the jungle. Which meant everyone left within the confines of the walls would be systematically slaughtered over the next few hours.
I raced after Carmen, pulling Marisol along with me. The woman was small, but she moved quickly, keeping pace with my much longer strides. Carmen led us down two flights of stairs, then started a winding path through a complex maze of rooms. In some places, huge chunks of plaster had crashed from the ceiling, and most of the enormous windows were shattered.
Carmen paused at an open threshold, glancing around the corner for hidden threats before leading us inside the room. The sounds of the broken mansion groaning to survive masked her gasp, but I saw her sharp intake of breath.
I stepped around her, checking the room myself, prepared to kill whoever stood in our way.
