Page 85 of Obsession & Oath

The sight of her, how broken she looks, makes something twist inside me.

I can’t stop the flare of anger, the sense of helplessness that rises up like a wave crashing over me. I see the damage they’ve done to her. Myfriend.

Leon steps forward, voice cold and sharp. Impressive, considering that his hands areshaking.“Take it off.”

There’s a pause. Then, one of the men yanks the bag from her head.

The sharp intake of breath cuts through the silence isCarmen’s.

Because once upon a time, Mia had been Carmen’s friend, too. Which is why I’d never told her, never wanted her to be burdened with this like I was.

But now, there was no escaping this.

Mia’s red hair is matted with dried blood, and her pale skin marred with bruises. Her wrists are bound, her mouth set in a tight line despite the evidence of suffering carved into every inch of her. But her eyes—her eyes still hold fire.

A whisper of movement, and Carmen takes a step forward without encouragement.

Leon stiffens beside me, and I feel every man in the room hold their breath as the two women begin their walk.

A slow, measured exchange.

Mia on one side.

Carmen on the other.

Each step brings them closer until they meet in the center of the warehouse, standing in the dim pool of light from the skylight above.

“Red,” Carmen sounds racked with guilt.

Mia looks at Carmen, and despite the bruises, despite the fucking months of captivity, she still manages a smirk.

“I’d say I’ve had worse,” Mia croaks.

Carmen doesn’t speak again. She just reaches for her.

Her fingers brush against Mia’s wrist, a fleeting moment of warmth in a place that has none.

But then the moment shatters. Time fractures.

One second, Carmen’s fingers are brushing Mia’s wrist. The next, the air erupts in gunfire.

The tender moment had surprised someone’s trigger-happy finger. Whether it was us or them, all illusions of this being a simple exchange crumble as reinforcements gather on either side of the warehouse.

Shouts. Boots scraping against concrete. The deafening crack of bullets ripping through space.

We move without thinking. Rocco reaches Mia first, yanking her back behind us, where Teo is already laying down suppressing fire. Leon’s roar cuts through the chaos as he commands our retreat.

But I don’t hear him.

Because Carmen stumbles.

I don’t know where the shot came from. But I do know when a sharp, breathless sound leaves her lips as she collapses to the ground.

My world stops.

Everything—every gunshot, every shouted command, every goddamn breath—ceases to exist.

All I see is her.

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