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My jaw ached under Nathaniel’s grip as he forced my head back. The cold floor bit into my knees through the silk of my dress. Three of his men held Leo against the far wall – blood trickled from a cut above his eye, but his gaze never left mine.
“You’ve caused quite a mess.” Nathaniel’s perfectly manicured fingers traced down my cheek. “The board meeting tomorrow will be interesting. Such a shame about your public.
meltdown.”
“What are you talking about?” The transmitter burned against my palm, my thumb ghosting
over its surface.
His laugh echoed through the warehouse. “By morning, every news outlet will have footage of your drug–fueled breakdown at the gala. Security had to escort you out after you attacked several guests.” He patted my cheek. “The board will have no choice but to vote you out. Can’t have an unstable addict running daddy’s company.”
“No one will believe that.” But uncertainty crept in. Nathaniel had always excelled at spinning narratives, turning truth inside out until black became white.
“They’ll believe the security footage. The witness statements. The trace amounts of cocaine
in your evening bag.” His smile widened. “I’ve had months to prepare, darling. Did you think I
wouldn’t have contingencies?”
Another grunt of pain from Leo’s direction. I didn’t dare look
couldn’t risk giving away how
much he meant to me. The transmitter felt impossibly heavy in my hand. Three clicks or four?
Signal the team or kill the lights?
Nathaniel’s fingers dug deeper into my skin. “Now, about those offshore accounts you’ve
been accessing…”
My heart pounded against my ribs. One wrong move and Leo would die. One hesitation and everything we’d worked for would crumble.
The choice crystallized. My thumb settled over the button.
“Stop hurting him,” I pleaded, my voice cracking. My knees ached against the concrete floor as I watched Leo struggle against his captors. A trickle of blood ran down his temple, staining
his collar crimson.
“The great Victoria Lane, reduced to begging.” Nathaniel’s fingers dug into my jaw. “What would your father think?”
“The woman you married was a lie.” I met his cold stare, letting tears well up in my eyes. “Just like everything else about our marriage.”
The slap caught me off guard. Pain exploded across my face, the force snapping my head to the side. Blood pooled in my mouth where my teeth had cut into my cheek.
“You ungrateful bitch.” He yanked my head back by my hair, forcing me to look at him. “I gave you everything wealth, status, power. And you threw it all away for what? Some mafia
Marry My Ex–husband’s Rival
thug?”
My scalp burned from his grip, but I barely felt it. The transmitter pressed against my palm, its edges digging into my skin. Time seemed to slow as I watched his face contort with rage.
Four clicks. That’s all it would take.
I pressed the button in rapid succession, praying I’d made the right choice.
The warehouse plunged into darkness as the power cut out. A second later, the sprinkler system activated, water raining down in sheets. Through the chaos, I heard the confused shouts of Nathaniel’s men as their laser sights failed.
I drove my elbow back into my captor’s solar plexus, just as Sofia had taught me. As his grip loosened, I rolled away, the concrete scraping my knees through my torn dress.
Gunfire erupted, muzzle flashes illuminating the darkness like lightning. I crawled toward where I’d last seen Leo, my heart pounding in sync with the gunshots.
A hand grabbed my ankle. I kicked out blindly, connecting with something solid. Nathaniel’s
grunt of pain was deeply satisfying.
“Leo!” I screamed over the chaos.
“Here!” His voice came from my left.
I scrambled toward him, water streaming into my eyes. A bullet whizzed past my ear, so
close I felt its heat.
Then Leo materialized from the darkness, yanking me behind a wall of metal crates. His
arms enveloped me, and I melted into his embrace, the familiar scent of his cologne mixing with gunpowder and rain from the sprinklers.
“Using the building’s water system.” His breath tickled my ear, pride coloring his words.
“Shorted out their laser sights and night vision. Brilliant.
“Thank Sofia.” I pressed closer as bullets pinged off our shelter, sending sparks into the darkness. “She figured my knowledge of the warehouse’s infrastructure would come in handy. Said something about poetic justice – using my eye for building systems against Nathaniel.”
Leo’s chest vibrated with a low chuckle. “That woman’s getting one hell of a bonus after
this.”
“If we survive.” Water streamed down my face, plastering my hair to my cheeks. The silk dress clung to my skin, heavy and cold. Another spray of bullets struck our cover, the impact. reverberating through the metal.
His arms tightened around me. “Trust me, your little sprinkler trick just gave us exactly what we needed. Sofia’s team can move freely now their gear’s waterproof. Nathaniel’s men are flying blind.”
As if to prove his point, confused shouts echoed through the warehouse, followed by the distinctive sound of bodies hitting concrete. The gunfire became more sporadic, less coordinated.
Marry My Ex husband’s Rival
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