Chapter 5 - The Betrayal
The world seemed to stop spinning for one terrifying second.
Miles, the man who had brought me here, was a traitor.
Jared did not even flinch at the gun pressed to his temple.
With blinding speed, Jared drove his elbow backward into Miles's ribs, breaking bones with a sickening crack.
Miles gasped and dropped the weapon, falling to his knees.
Jared grabbed my hand, his grip like iron, and pulled me down the smoking corridor.
"Titan, heel!" Jared commanded loudly.
The massive Mastiff bounded through the smoke, sticking close to my side despite his weakness.
We reached a solid steel wall at the end of the hallway.
Jared pressed his blood-stained hand against a hidden scanner, and the wall slid open.
We rushed inside just as bullets rained against the closing metal door.
The panic room was brightly lit and heavily reinforced, smelling of stale air and copper.
Jared locked the deadbolts and turned to me, his chest heaving.
"Are you hurt?" he demanded, his hands quickly checking my arms for bullet wounds.
"I'm fine," I gasped, falling against the cold metal wall.
Titan collapsed at my feet, exhausted from the sudden burst of adrenaline.
"Miles let them in," I whispered, still struggling to understand the betrayal.
"Miles has been a dead man walking for months," Jared said coldly, reloading his rifle.
"I knew he was a Romanov spy, which is why I brought you here tonight to force his hand."
I stared at him, feeling a sudden flare of pure anger.
"You used me as bait?" I yelled, ignoring the fact that he was a lethal criminal.
Jared stepped closer, his dark eyes softening just a fraction.
"I brought you here because my penthouse is the only place in New York heavily fortified enough to keep you alive."
He reached out and gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
"I am not going to let anyone touch you, Willa."
His touch sent a confusing, dangerous shiver down my spine.
Suddenly, a harsh, static-filled voice crackled over the panic room's intercom system.
"You can't hide in there forever, Kensington."
My blood turned to absolute ice.
I recognized that cruel, arrogant voice immediately.
It was Brendan.
May you like
"Open the door and hand over my girlfriend," Brendan sneered over the speaker.
"Or we detonate the C4 explosives attached to the main structural pillars of this tower."
