Page 143 of Morally Corrupt

My whole body aches.

And if it's not enough that there's perhaps an army of men on my trail, I also see a car coming at full speed and lowering one of the windows to fit a gun through it.

Shit!

Given my physical condition, I'm not fast enough to duck before the bullet grazes the skin of my left shoulder.

"Mother fucker!" I curse aloud through labored breaths. "I can do this!" I tell myself, even though I start a mental countdown until my body will shut down.

I aim one gun towards the car with my remaining strength and shoot at the one tire and then a second. The car makes a screeching noise as the driver tries to maneuver it, and I know I've bought myselfsometime.

With one last deep breath, I take off again.

I don't even manage to cover a few meters when the sound of another car draws my attention. The vehicle in question is driving on the opposite lane, and it's getting closer and closer to me.

I chuckle in relief and run full force towards it.

Adrian opens the passenger door just long enough for me to get in. He then reverses the car and drives at full speed, leaving a storm of bullets in our wake.

I'm still breathing hard from the previous exertion, and I'm trying to calm my body down. My wound is also bleeding, as I feel the liquid trickling down my arm under the jacket.

After a few dummy turns, Adrian parks the car at a gas station. He stops the car and looks straight ahead with a blank expression on his face.

What's wrong?

I frown at this, not understanding his behavior.

"I'm fine," I add to break the silence. He doesn't answer, so I continue, "Really. You should have seen how many I took out." I give him a smile, hoping he'd say something…

"You fool…" He finally spits out the words and grabs me from across the seat in a bear hug."You fucking fool… how could you even think to do this?" His arms are around my torso, and he's squishing me. Not that I'm not enjoying it, but it's pressing a little on my wound, making me visibly wince.

"Ah," I mutter unconsciously as pain shoots through my arm.

"Shit. Are you okay? Where are you hurt?" He pats me down, looking for any sign of injury. His face is fraught with worry, and I can't help but smile.

Hestillcares.

I let out a dreamy sigh, which he immediately interprets as a pained sigh, and tugs at the jacket.

I help him take it off, and the moment he sees my torn bodice, he stops, his expression frozen.

"Tell me nothing happened," he pleads in an anguished tone. "Please tell me nothing happened to you." He tugs my head under his chin, holding me to his chest.

"Nothing happened. I promise," I whisper.

"You're sure?" He flattens his hands on both sides of my hair, looking at me with moisture in his eyes. "Don't ever you do that again. Ever… You have no idea what hell you put me through, B. Please… Never again."

There's just so much emotion in his voice that I can't help but promise him just that.

"Yes, never again," I mumble, enjoying the warmth of his body. The comfort of safety lulls me to sleep, and I can't help but succumb. "Promise…"

47

ADRIAN

Bianca's crazy if she thinks I'll allow her to put herself in danger to getsomeinformation. There's not even a guarantee that Jimenez would be the one to buy her. Just thinking about her proposition makes my blood boil. After seeing that there was no reasoning with her, I decide to leave and clear my head. Otherwise, I may have exploded.

Funny how I've always prided myself on being too levelheaded, but this new Bianca has a unique ability to make me lose my calm. I don't think we've ever had an argument in all our marriage, mainly because Bianca has never expressed a divergent opinion.

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