Page 97 of Deception & Desire

“I didn’t. I’m fine.”

“The hell you are,” he growls as he helps me to my feet. “We’re leaving. Now.”

“I’m going to the cell block. You can’t stop me,” I snap.

Dante groans, pinching the bridge of his nose like I’m the world’s biggest headache. “Teo will fucking kill me if I don’t get you out of here.”

“Then get me out of here…let’s just leave via the cell block,” I challenge, meeting his gaze. “It’s just over here.”

He exhales sharply, shaking his head. “You’re insane.”

I know the fight has left him as I slap him on the shoulder while making my way to the double doors on the far side of the room.

Dante is at my side in an instant, pushing past us to deal with the door guards stationed behind it.

“This must be it,” he mutters as we take in the long corridor and the door to the left where the guards had been posted.

I don’t hesitate to kick it down, bursting into the room with my gun raised.

But it’s not breathtaking green eyes that stare down the barrel. It’s brown one. Eyes I never thought I’d see here.

29

MIA

It’s a ghost.

It’s a wrathful God.

And he’s pointing a gun at Carmen’s face.

“Leon!” I cry, my voice breaking.

Leon is there, shirtless and blood-stained, and his chest rises and falls with every labored breath. His eyes lock on me instantly, and for a moment, the entire world narrows down to just us.

He’s alive. He’s alive. He’s here. He came for me.

A sob wrecks itself through my body.

In my periphery, Carmen flinches at the sound.

Leon immediately turns back to the woman before him, his face set in ruthless determination.

“NO!” I half scream. I pant in desperate relief as his finger falls from the trigger. “Don’t hurt her.”

He doesn’t drop the gun, doesn’t look away from her. “Are you all right, Mia?”

“You’re alive. God, you’re alive.”

“Mia,” he barks, and Carmen takes a trembling step back.

“I’m okay. Leon, leave her alone. She has nothing to do with this.”

I watch as Leon considers my words, eyes narrowing as he scans the threat before him. Then, with a small gesture with his gun, he says, “Untie her.”

Carmen swallows but does not reply. She’s clearly gathering her nerve to turn away from the gun to approach me slowly. I can see the terror in her eyes—she’s too young to be shaped by this world as of yet.

She should be out there using her degree to do something that excites her, living a real life, changing the world.

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