Page 194 of Phantom Mine

“What are you doing?” My voice rose two octaves.

“You shouldn’t have dragged Matteo into this,” he announced, voice shaking with rage. “He didn’t suspect a thing. Then you come along and all of a sudden he’s poking his nose into our operation and ruining. Fucking.Everything.” He snarls. “Now I’m on the run because of you.”

Then, he typed something into my phone. Awhooshingsound echoed, indicating a message had been sent.

And the blood went cold in my veins.

“What did you just do? Please,” I begged. “Please don’t hurt him.”

Guido grabbed my jaw in his fist. He squeezed it until I heard it click. Searing, radiating pain shot up my jaw.

I jumped at the sound of a mechanicclick.

It was followed by a hiss, and then a flame burst to life between our faces. Guido was holding up a lighter, his featurestwisted into a taunting grimace when he caught the fear that flashed through my eyes.

“Rocco told me about Matteo’s little problem with fire. There’s something poetic about him conquering his fear to save you only to watch you burn to death in front of him, don’t you think?”

I’d spat in his face.

It hit him on the cheek and he jerked back. His eyes had met mine and I’d sneered. “You’re a monster.”

He landed a blow on my cheek that made my entire head snap to the side. I groaned and hid behind my hair.

Blood gathered in my mouth and I spat it out.

“When he comes for you,puttana, he’ll die too. And I want you to remember that this was all your fault.”

There was sick, depraved pleasure on his face and a matching terror in my chest and nausea in my heart at his words. Then he shoved the gag back into my mouth.

Matteo would come.

Even with the fire, even with the risk of death, even with every rational thought yelling at him to stay away, I knew he’d come for me.

I knew that with more certainty than I’d ever known anything else, because I knew he’d risk his life in a heartbeat if it meant saving mine.

And now he’s here with me and my worst fear is coming true, because we’re trapped.

He’strapped.

“Come on!” he calls over his shoulder at me as we move quickly up the stairs.

There’s fire on this landing, but the flames are low. They’re still ground level and not licking up the walls. Yet.

We’re on the landing and moving swiftly when there’s a small hissing sound. It’s at odds with the rest of the noises somehow, and it makes Matteo and I pause.

We look down and around at us, searching for the source of the unique sound.

Matteo stiffens before me.

And then I see it.

A tiny line of flames flick and dance up a wire. It casts a red-orange glow as it moves upwards with impressive speed. As it nears the final destination it seems to burn faster, hotter.

A second before anything happens, Matteo grabs my arm in a bruising grip that makes me yelp and spins us around.

The flame hits the electrical socket. There’s a spark, a moment of eerie silence, and then it explodes.

Bright light flashes out of the eruption with a bang, temporarily blinding me. A wave of heat blows out from it and a fireball forms, swelling instantaneously into an enormous and angry mushroom cloud that barrels towards us.

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