Page 42 of Saving Meri

He knew.

He knew the second the alarms had gone off that this was it. That the empire he had built, the empire he had bled for, had crumbled beneath the weight of a single mistake.

Her.

He should have never marked her. Should have never let himself think he could strike at Cerberus this way and then sell her off to his wealthiest client.

Now, he was running.

The sound of boots behind him sent another shot of adrenaline through his system. He pushed forward, lungs burning, pulse hammering.

A shot rang out.

Agony tore through his knee, dropping him instantly. He hit the cold stone floor with a cry, his hands scrambling against the slick surface, trying to push himself up.

Another shot.

His other knee.

DeLuca screamed.

A shadow filled the tunnel entrance. Slow, deliberate steps echoed against the walls, closing in with the kind of patience that made his blood run cold.

He knew before he saw him. Bear—the man who had torn through his operation like a goddamn hurricane. The man who had ripped Meri from his grasp… the man who was about to kill him.

Bear crouched, his gun held loosely in one hand, his expression unreadable. “Not so fast, DeLuca.”

DeLuca gritted his teeth, trying to drag himself backward, leaving a smear of blood in his wake. “You don’t have to do this,” he gasped. “You got what you wanted.”

Bear cocked his head, his voice almost lazy. “Not yet.”

DeLuca swallowed hard. “I can make you rich. I can?—”

Bear shot him in the elbow.

DeLuca howled.

Bear sighed, standing to his full height, towering over him like the executioner he was. “I’m not interested in your money.”

Blood dripped onto the floor, mixing with the dirt, the sweat, the fear. DeLuca tried again, his voice shaking. “You need me. You think you’ve won? There’s always another buyer. Another ring. You can’t stop it—not without some inside help.”

Bear lifted his gun, leveling at the point between DeLuca’s eyes.

“We’ll see about that.”

He never heard the shot that killed him.

MERI

Meri stood in the middle of the blood-streaked front lawn, surrounded by the wreckage of the night. The air was thick with smoke and the coppery tang of death, the compound still humming with the aftermath. Bodies littered the ground, weapons discarded, walls marked with bullet holes and blood splatter. The fight was over.

But her hands still shook—not from fear. Not from regret. But from the sheer force of everything that had brought her here.

The man who had touched her, who had tried to break her, was gone. Bear had disappeared into the tunnels after DeLuca, Fitz and Archer close behind him. She had heard the gunshots, muffled but still audible, and knew exactly what they meant.

DeLuca was dead.

It should have felt like victory. Like closure. But instead, it was just... quiet.

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