“NO,” I roar, pulling back on his sharp hold, ripping my hand free, and racing back around the small podium until my body hovers in front of Jasmine’s. She meets my fearful eyes as she thrashes against her binds. “I’m not leaving without you.”
“Get me out of here,” she begs, flinching as another bullet plunges into the column above our heads. “FUCK.”
I immediately get to work, my fingers fumbling with the cuffs as Roman barges back into me, the searing rage in his eyes knowing no bounds. His strong arm scoops around my waist and he hauls me back, tearing me away from the woman I so desperately promised to save. “NO,” I scream, clawing at Roman’s back as a painful sob tears from my chest. He pulls me away from her and the fear in her eye kills me. “I promised. I promised her. She has no fucking hope like this. She’ll be dead before the cops can get to her. Roman, please.”
Regret shines heavily in his dark eyes, but he has one thought and one thought only—get us the fuck out of here. “She’s not our fucking problem. Let her master risk his life instead.”
“HE RAPES HER. ALL THE FUCKING TIME. HE’S NOT COMING FOR HER.”
“Please, don’t leave me,” she wails, pulling harder on her binds, her face a mess of smudged mascara. “Please. Help. Help me. I just want to go home to my baby. He needs me.”
I tear at his back, my nails digging deep crevices into his skin. “PUT ME DOWN.”
“FUCK,” Roman roars, his frustration getting the better of him. He spins around and drops me to my feet before shoving me hard. My body falls toward the girl and I dive for her ankles as Roman takes her wrists.
She panics at having Roman so close to her, and I don’t doubt that she’s able to recognize him from all the haunting stories we’ve seen splashed across the news, but her will to survive shines through and she’s not blinded by the fact that right now, Roman is the one person standing between life and death.
She’s freed within moments and Roman grips my hand, shoving his palm against my back and pushing me toward the edge of the podium. He jumps down, bypassing the stairs and tugging me with him, catching me before I get the chance to fall. He reaches up and does the same with Jasmine, not being quite as careful with her, but all that matters is that she’s free.
We barge through the bodies as Roman does his best to barricade us from the shots. His gun is out and proud, shooting off perfect shots despite the chaos surrounding us. We get halfway through the crowd before three FBI agents bear down on us, their biggest prize ever in their sights.
“FUCK,” Roman roars, his eyes darting left and right for some kind of way out but they come too fast, determined to capture the most feared fugitive in the world. “GET DOWN,” Roman yells back at us just as a spray of bullets come hurtling toward our faces, the agents more than willing to sacrifice me and Jasmine if it means getting to Roman.
He shoves me down hard and I drop to my knees, pulling Jasmine down behind me.
Roman groans, clutching his arm and my eyes go wide. “You’ve been shot,” I gasp as Jasmine’s fingers are crushed beneath a heavy boot.
Roman clenches his jaw and glances down at his arm. “It’s fine,” he hisses as the FBI agents close in on us. “Flesh wound.”
“But—”
“No, you don’t have time for this bullshit,” he says, digging his hand deep into his pocket before pressing the key to the Escalade into my hand. “Get the fuck out of here. Run as fast as you fucking can. We will come for you.”
I gape at him, my heart racing in the worst kind of way. “What?”
“NOW. GO.”
Fuck.
Pain tears at me as I watch Roman get to his feet and face down the FBI agents like a fucking warrior, and with one last lingering glance, knowing this could be the last time I ever see him, I take Jasmine’s hand and fuck right off out of there.
We race and weave through bullets and bodies as the agents step out of our way, seeing that we’re nothing but victims fleeing for safety. I’m sure they’ll come looking for us later, but for now, they have much bigger problems.
We break out through the crowd, leaving the wild gunshots behind us as we hit the spiral staircase. My hand grips onto the banister as I bolt up the stairs while Jasmine clutches onto me, her energy quickly dwindling but she pushes through, determined to get out of here. She has a family at home, a baby who needs her, and all I want to do is find the brothers and bring them with me. My priorities are as fucked up as they come and after the shit I’ve involved myself in over the past few months, those agents should be arresting me right along with the rest of the bastards in this room.