Page 40 of Heart of a Villain

Adrían glanced at Lee just as Lee looked at him.

“Now, Alpha’s already familiar with how these work,” she continued, “but none of you have run any of these obstacles before. This course is technically a rental, but I had a team of very diabolical engineers create a few extra obstacles per Dez’s instructions to ‘push the limit.’”

Dez nodded to confirm.

Sayeda returned to peering over the side, and Adrían kept one eye on her. If she fell to her death and left him for real this time, he would kill her.

“Joel, we’re pairing you off with your bestie,” Mo said.

Joel looked at Gage.

Gage smirked.

“Gio, my Gio? You’re with your brother. Lee…” Mo continued, calling out pair groupings as if they were all supposed to understand what each group meant or represented.

Most of the pairings made sense; he and Joel had similar builds and specialties, so it was easy to see how they would be an asset to one another. However, he’d expected Gage to be paired with Trevor and Mike with Lee. Instead, Trevor went with Dez while Gage was with Lee.

Mo went to stand next to Sayeda.

Adrían studied Giorgio, surprised to find him calm rather than warning Mo away from the edge with his eyes, but he knew he probably appeared just as relaxed on the outside. On the inside, panic clawed at his chest. Hopefully, they would soon wrap everything up, and Sayeda would be safely returned to the ground.

Mo waved her hands. “The first event?—”

Sayeda ducked.

Then, she gasped.

Adrían felt the bottom fall out of his stomach as she tipped backward, arms flailing, but instead of teetering forward, she slipped off the edge.

“Shit.”

His mind went blank.

The next thing he knew, she was tucked in his arms as their bodies landed on top of a rope net. They rolled several times before they settled in the middle of the fibers, and he glanced at the ground below, realization sinking in about what he’d done.

“They told me that you would jump,” Sayeda said, breathing so hard he barely made out her words. “I didn’t believe them, but they told me you would jump.”

He looked up at the platform.

Mo waved. “Adrían and Joel’s team has one point. Good job, Adrían.”

“Adrían,” Sayeda called.

He turned his head.

She punched his shoulder.

“Ouch, querida.” He restrained her, circling her wrist, which was so thin that his fingers significantly overlapped. “Why are you hitting me? I saved your life!”

“You didn’t know the net was there!”

“I…saved…your…life.”

She tried to yank herself free, but he tightened his hold, pulled her to him, and kissed the top of her head. He understood that they were safe and that this stunt had been part of the test, but he needed to feel the warmth of her body, needed to stroke her pulse. Life wouldn’t give him a second chance. If he lost her again, it would be permanent.

“Remind me to kill you later,” she said.

“Remind you to what?” He tilted his head. “To kiss me later?”

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