Page 343 of Legacy
Adriana jerks, fury flashing across her face.
The gun twitches in her grip.
She shifts, her feet steadying, shoulders squaring, eyes cutting toward him like blades.
Damn it.
Don’t make me beg you to end me, Tesoro. Don’t make this the last thing you ever have to live with.
“Scarlet.” My voice cuts through the air, sharp, desperate.
Her eyes snap back to mine, glassy, wild, angry.
“Look at me,” I rasp, stepping forward, ignoring the guns that immediately train on my chest. “Focus on me.”
Her breath hitches, lips parting. “Angelo—”
“You need to survive this,” I say, my voice breaking, ragged. “You hear me? I need you to survive.”
Tears spill down her cheeks, her shoulders shaking, the gun trembling in her grip.
“They’ll kill you,” she sobs. “That’s what theywant—”
“I know,” I say softly, stepping closer, “but I can’t lose you.”
Her brows knit, a broken sound tearing from her throat. “No… I can’t… I can’t do this.”
“You can.” My eyes lock onto hers, holding her there, willing her to see nothing but me. “You’re the strongest person I know. You can.”
She swallows, tears dripping off her chin, mixing with the blood on her lip.
Her gaze flicks to Karekin, then back to me.
But she doesn’t really see me.
Her eyes sharpen, going past me, through me, like she’s already somewhere else—somewhere cold, final.
And I know that look.
It’s the look of a woman who’s decided.
The wrong choice.
“No,” I whisper, shaking my head, stepping forward, my hand reaching out, trembling. “Don’t—”
Her chin lifts, tears glinting on her lashes, her mouth a trembling line of iron.
“Failsafe.”
Her fingers twitch.
The gun rises.
Not toward me.
Towardherself.
“Scarlet!” I roar, lunging forward, the word tearing from my throat like a wound. “No—don’t!”
