CHAPTER 3
"Clear the main room! Find the girl!" a voice with a thick foreign accent barked through the swirling dust and smoke filling the penthouse air.
Leo didn't hesitate for a fraction of a second; he pivoted on his knee, exposing himself for less than a breath to drop the lead gunman with two precise shots to the chest.
The remaining two mercenaries opened fire, spraying automatic rounds that chewed through the leather armchairs, shattered expensive crystal vases, and tore the velvet drapes to shreds.
Clare covered her ears, screaming in pure horror as wood splinters and drywall dust rained down over her stained maid uniform.
Leo reached out with his free hand, grabbing her firmly by the nape of her neck to force her head down against his thigh while he swapped magazines with practiced ease.
"Look at me, Clare!" he demanded, his rough voice cutting straight through the ringing in her ears like a sharp steel blade. "Look at me right now!"
She forced her tear-filled eyes open, locking onto his intense, unyielding dark gaze that burned with a fierce, absolute promise of protection.
"I am getting you out of this hotel alive," Leo promised, his jaw tight as he squeezed her shoulder with iron strength. "Do you trust me?"
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"No!" she sobbed, the truth ripping out of her throat despite the deadly chaos surrounding them. "I don't trust you, but I don't want to die!"
A dark, dangerous smirk flickered across Leo's face for a split second before he pulled a flashbang grenade from his tactical coat pocket and pulled the pin with his teeth.
