Page 65 of Corrupted Deception

“It was hardly a betrayal,” I said with a scoff. “I’m not sure Cielo noticed with all the… distractions he had flitting around him. But regardless, it wasn’t like I had much of a choice,” I said while a prickling, defensive sensation climbed up my spine.

He eyed me for a moment like I had fine print written across my face and he was scrutinizing every word.

“I believe you didn’t,” he said with a satisfied nod after a moment.

My brow furrowed. “Just like that?”

“You’re not easy to read,signorina, but I have a… sense for the people who care about those who are important to me—a kindred spirit, so to speak.”

“I don’t—”

Aurelio’s phone rang. The sound felt sharp and shrill in the big, quiet space.

“Scusa, per favore,” he said as he retrieved his phone from where he had it hooked onto the waist of his pants.

“Get her out of there,” I heard Cielo’s voice bark through the phone at the same time the sensors at the edge of the warehouse’s lot tripped, filling the interior with a sharper racket than Aurelio’s phone.

“Si, Signor,” Aurelio replied smoothly as he surged to his feet.

“No, Aurelio,” I said as I got up and stepped into his path. “Please,” I said, holding out my hand for the phone.

With his brow slightly furrowed, he handed me the phone, and the moment he did, I dashed to the monitor by the door and flipped through the angles, watching as five jet black SUVs pulled into the lot and spread out around the building.

Shit.

I put the phone to my ear. “It’s too late to clear out, Cielo, but we’ve got this. Just… stay away.” I said as I flipped open the panel next to the keypad.

“Charlotte, you don’t think—"

“You have to stay clear of the lot, Cielo. Do not come here,” I snapped. There was no time to argue. “Now, I’ve kind of got things to do here. I’ll let you know when it’s over.”

I took a breath, and without waiting for him to reply, I hit the top two buttons inside the panel.

All the lights went out and the call cut off.

I handed the phone back to Aurelio, who’d come up behind me. He didn’t look angry, exactly, more like someone had rearranged all the fluffy ducks he had lined up in a row.

“Don’t bother,” I said when he turned on his phone and pulled up his contact list. I nodded to the monitor with the SUVs outside, now parked in a surround formation. “I just jammed the signals all around here.”

“Why did you do that?” he asked.

“So they can’t call for reinforcements.”

He nodded, his gaze fixed on the monitor while the wheels turned behind his eyes like he was cooking up a plan.

“Will you trust me, Aurelio?” I asked. I was so not in the mood to deal with another Maverick.

His brows raised. “I imagine I don’t have much of a choice unless I’d like to offer the gentlemen outside a round of target practice.”

“Fair enough.” It wasn’t trust, exactly. More like limited options, but I’d take it.

I ignored the nervous fluttering in my stomach and the cold sweat slicking my palms, and I pressed the lower left button inside the panel. A quiet grinding sounded right before a steel panel slid down and covered the front door.

Though I couldn’t see them, I’d practiced for this often enough I could envision the same type of steel panel sliding across the only windows on the upper floor of the warehouse and the access panel to the roof as well.

For better or worse, we were locked down now.

“All right, then let’s do this,” I said, wishing I felt as confident as I sounded.

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