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Tears stream down my cheeks. “I’m here, Dominic,” I whimper. “Don’t worry, I’m here.”
“Are you hurt?” His voice is so weak I can barely hear him.
My heart breaks. He’s broken and bloody, yet he’s more concerned about me.
Milo ignores us, holding up what I assume is a detonator, judging by its big red button on top. “Building’s rigged. Now we just need to get the hell out of here and—”
Faster than I can blink, Dominic jumps to his feet with whatever strength he has left. His hulking frame knocks Milo to the cold cement floor. My heart lodges in my throat as I helplessly watch. It’s a storm of violent, bloody fists. Milo loses another tooth to accompany the ones he’s already lost. Dominic has the upper hand, smacking the detonator away.
Elio swoops in, chasing after the device as it skitters across the floor. “Jesus Christ, be careful! The whole place is gonna blow with us inside!”
I finally feel the duct tape around my ankles give way, ripping with the force of my kick. My hands are still bound, but at least I have mobility. I throw myself after Elio, tackling him as hard as I can before he can reach the detonator. I’m at a disadvantage with my hands stuck behind my back. Elio makes use of this fact, moving quickly to wrap his arm around my throat. I’m trapped in his chokehold, squirming for freedom as he squeezes tight.
“I fucking hate you,” he seethes against my ear.
“Good,” I growl. “Because I fucking hate you, too!”
I immediately chomp down on his arm as hard as I can. My teeth break skin, the taste of salty copper coating my tongue as Elio howls in pain. Dominic is still in the middle of his fight with Milo, but I can take care of myself just fine. Tapping into the well of rage storming inside me, I make sure to give Elio a piece of my mind.
I kick with all my might, check him in the gut with a good ram of my shoulders. Somewhere in the middle of the chaos, I finally manage to pry my hands apart. I scratch and I claw and slap him, making sure to leave Elio no time to recover. He might be twice my size and three times as strong, but there’s no limit to my fury.
Screw the odds.
I lose it on Elio, climbing his back like a tree while I bite and claw at his neck and shoulders and face. He tries to slam me against a shelf, the hard impact of the metal stinging against my spine and my head. I don’t feel the pain, though. Too much adrenaline. With the threat of death lingering over us, all I can do is fight.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Milo take a nasty right hook to the jaw. His eyes roll back as his body slumps to the floor. Out cold.
Dominic is winded, but not out for the count. He rushes Elio, matching my furious blows. Elio throws me off him and I land with a hard slam.
Right in front of the detonator. I pick it up quickly, minding the button that could end all of us in one fell swoop.
“Run!” Dominic shouts at me.
“Not without you!” I scream back.
With one mighty shove backwards, Dominic throws Elio against the nearest shelf. A few of the lighter items fall off, burying Elio under a mountain of fake cash. Dominic moves swiftly, taking my hand as we race up the stairs toward the second level. From where we are, I see a swarm of Elio’s mercenaries flooding in through the exit, their guns raised and ready to shoot anything that moves.
It’s time to strategize. We continue to climb the stairs toward the roof of the warehouse. My lungs are on fire and the muscles in my thighs and calves burn like fire is in my blood. I’m breathing so hard my throat feels ripped to shreds. Dominic shoves through the roof access door, the muggy air sticking uncomfortably to my skin.
There’s no way down. I can hear our enemies approaching from below.
We’re trapped.
Dominic takes the detonator from me before looking deeply into my eyes. He’s in rough shaper. Rougher than rough, practically on Death’s doorstep.
“I love you,” he says. “Never forget that.”
My heart twists in my chest. Why does it sound like he’s saying goodbye? In exactly two seconds, I realize why.
There’s no time to protest. Dominic grabs me by the shoulders, pulls me toward the edge, and we leap off the roof. He presses the detonator’s switch. I shriek as I plummet feet-first into the dark waters of the Hudson River while the sound of a terrifying explosion rattles my eardrums. The warehouse ignites into a ball of flames, pieces of the walls shooting out with violent force. The heat at my back is unbearable, but it lasts only for a second before I’m suddenly engulfed on all sides by frigid water.
My senses are shot. I can’t see anything, can’t feel anything. For a second, I wonder if I’m dead. In a panic, I accidentally try to draw in a breath. Holy shit, I’m going to drown!
My body kicks in before my brain does. Kicking with all my might, I somehow manage to pull myself to the surface. I hack and cough, both because of the water in my lungs and the heavy smoke filling the air. Disoriented, I stare up at the remains of the warehouse. It’s an inferno. There’s no way anybody inside could have survived that.
Elio and Milo, along with their team of paid thugs, are most likely dead. And Dominic…
Dominic.
