Page 155 of SINS & Riley

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Groggy and with a guttural groan, he bites down hard and rips it free.

Fuck.

I summon whatever scraps of courage I’ve got left and wedge myself through the gap, shimmying out into open air.

A pounding rattles the door. The handle jerks, violently loud.

This is it. No more time. No more options.

I grip the frame, eyes locked on the awning below, praying I can hit it.

I suck in a breath and send up a prayer—to God, to Da, to Dante, to anyone who might be listening.

Please. For me and my baby. Let it be alright.

And then… I jump.

48

ZVER

I check my phone.

A thin blue dot blinks back at me from the screen.

Riley.

The signal leads straight to a rundown clinic on the edge of town. The same one she’d been to before.

Why here?

Was she brought back?

Or did she escape and crawl her way here?

I kill the engine and slide out, parking close enough to the front for a sprint but far enough not to draw eyes.

Silent steps carry me along the wall until I reach the front window. I press in tight, and peer inside.

Two guards.

Each one built bigger than my fucking car.

They’re both posted at the door down the hall like concrete statues.

And between them, Elena.

I don’t waste a second wondering what the hell she’s got smeared all over her face. Though it looks a lot like she drank Kool-Aid straight from the goddamn pitcher.

I studied the three again, realizing Riley has to be in the door behind them.

I’ve got one shot. And I’m running out of time.

Adrenaline tears through me, wildfire licking every vein. Glock locked in my grip, I move. Fast.

The door slams open under my shoulder.

One squeeze—my round punches through the guard’s shoulder, a spray of crimson across the wall.

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