Page 119 of Scarlet Angel

“And then?”

“Ash had his daughter drop off a vehicle for us.” The door closes behind us, and floor lights shine along a narrow, winding tunnel. The air is damp, and condensation coats the stone walls.

“Clever.”

“It’s a backup plan we engineered years ago. A smart man always has multiple exit points from his home. I built this tunnel before moving in.”

“You always anticipate the worst?”

“Car bombs breed distrust.” He’s referring to his parents.

“So it seems. You trust Ash?”

“With my life. And his daughter has no association with me. She’s not on anyone’s radar. The spot she left the car is on a small dirt road with tree cover.”

“And I assume few know about this tunnel?”

“Ash, me, you, a cleaner Ash hired…and the men who built it. But those men built it before the owner was known, and they’re from a firm that specializes in privacy.”

“Tell me about this place in Greece. Does it have tunnels, too?”

“Bulletproof glass and a safe room, but no tunnel to the sea. But the sea is right out the door.”

“I didn’t pack a suit. Think it will be safe for us to go into town?”

“You won’t need a suit, love.”

We grin at each other. In that second, all is right in the world. In a life of fleeting moments, this is one I will treasure.

The ground trembles beneath our feet.

Our steps slow. Nick places a palm on the stone.

The trembling intensifies.

Smoke clouds the light further down the tunnel.

“Run!”

Nick’s shout jolts me into action.

“As fast as you can, run!”

CHAPTER31

NICK

Blackness falls.

The fiery heat singes skin and burns eyes.

The floor lights flicker and die.

Fuck no.

Scarlet screams. Terrified.

I slam into her back.

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