Victor smirked, stepping closer, hand outstretched. “Smart girl.”
My jaw flexed. I looked down at the duffel.
“You want it?” I said.
Victor gave a sharp nod. “Now.”
So I tossed it—hard—straight into the burning corner of the room. Victor went for the bag. I went to grab Serena. The wall behind him gave way, flames roaring through the gap. A heavy beam cracked loose and came crashing down.
Victor tried to lunge out of the way, but it was too late.
It slammed across his back, pinning him with a heavy crunch and a scream that echoed through the burning house.
The gun went off—a deafening shot into the ceiling.
Everyone ducked. My ears rang. Smoke rushed in. I grabbed Serena’s hand, tugging her to the exit while we still had one.
“Victor!” Jenese screamed, rushing to him.
He groaned, stuck beneath the flaming wood, the gun knocked somewhere near but out of reach.
“Help me get it off him!” Jenese cried, frantic, shoving at the beam.
Serena gripped my arm. “Miles. Now.”
“We’re leaving them?”
Flames crawled up the walls, cracking paint and licking the ceiling. Victor coughed violently, smoke curling from his clothes.
Jenese looked at Serena then, eyes shining, lashes wet with sweat and fear.
She let go of my arm—and took a step back.
The front door exploded open.
Dante barreled through in a rush of smoke, his eyes wide.
“Time’s up!” he shouted. “We need to move!”
Victor’s head lolled, then snapped up. Eyes bloodshot.
“You think saving me’s gonna fix shit? Iwillruin you. You and that cold bitch beside you. I’ll finish what I started!”
I froze. “You’re talking shit, and you about to die?”
A support beam gave way overhead. I turned just in time to see it fall. It slammed down onto Jenese’s legs. She screamed, the sound sharp and animalistic as fire surged up the wall behind her.
She writhed, trying to get free. “Help me!”
Serena staggered, caught between smoke and instinct, one step toward her?—
“Don’t,” Dante said, voice low, firm. “She made her choices.”
Serena looked at him, her face pale with smoke, but conflicted.
“She’s still a person,” she rasped. “Miles is right.”
“He dies in here, it all goes away,” Dante told her. “No trial. No blackmail. No tapes. No loose ends. It’s cleaner. You walk away free.”
