59. Leona
LEONA
The rest of the guys waited behind Obi, watching me like their hearts were being torn from their chests.
“Go, Leona,” Obi urged. “Before your window closes.” ‘
I threw my arms around his neck. His arms closed around my waist like a vice.
“I love you,” I whispered.
He squeezed me back. “A h?r? m g? n'anya.” I recognized those words. He’d whispered them to me before. “I love you.”
Tears pricked my eyes.
“You are the plan. You’ve been the key all along, Leona Vero. Ever since I first saw you,” he murmured in my ear before he gave me a hard kiss. When he let go, a tear trailed down my cheek. “Get to the parking garage in the basement. To the northwest corner.”
Gunshots spurred me forward at the same time Obi pushed me out of the stairwell and down the hall. I didn’t say goodbye to everyone. We were out of time.
I turned on my heel and ran.
The rest of the guys sprinted in the other direction, drawing them away, distracting them so I could escape. All too quickly, they disappeared from my sight.
This had to work.
This had to work.
I said it to myself over and over again. I found the main stairwell we’d used before and sprinted down it, level after level, until I reached the underground parking garage. I yanked open the door and ran northwest, just like Obi said.
The door to the emergency exit stairs swung outward. I raised my gun as I skidded to a stop.
“What the fuck?” I muttered under my breath. “Badawi?”
The FBI agent’s eyes went wide as they latched onto me. “Vero,” she said, out of breath.
We froze, staring at each other while the seconds ticked by. “You need to move,” I said, angling for the door. Obi wanted me to go this way. This was the path of my escape.
“We don’t have much time,” she said, holding her hand out.
“What?” I glanced behind her. In my earpiece, the guys shouted surrender. They were giving up their guns. Letting themselves be arrested.
“Let’s go, Leona,” she coaxed. “If we’re escaping, we need to go now.”
“What are you doing here?” The pieces started clicking together in my head. “Why are you helping?”
Badawi blinked while she gripped the crash bar of the door harder. “I don’t think you’re the enemy we should have,” Badawi said carefully. Her eyes looked earnest. “Come with me. Before it’s too late.”
Grunts of pain echoed in my ears. My men. I could still hear them. Ryuji had been fucking shot. I looked over my shoulder, ready to go back—plan be fucking damned. My fingers felt numb on my gun. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to not do this. To not leave them behind.
But the sound went quiet.
The comms were cut. I pulled the earpiece from my ear—it was useless now. I smashed it under my boot.
“Let’s go.” She grabbed my hand and tugged. “If anyone sees you, I can’t get you out.”
Obi wanted this. Somehow, he arranged for Badawi to show up here. This was my chance, but it came at the cost of leaving them.
It was a price we all agreed to pay.
Badawi led us up the stairwell again, back onto the street. She walked swiftly, arm pressed against mine, head down. I hid my gun on the far side of my body and prayed nobody saw us dart down the sidewalk and turn a block later.
She shoved me into the passenger side of a nondescript sedan. The car door slammed as she collapsed into the driver’s side.
Don’t look back.
If I turned around, I would go back. I knew it. I bit my lip and dug my nails into my hand so that I’d stick with the plan.
Trust Obi.
Trust the plan that he and Max came up with.
Trust my men.
Trust myself.
Badawi’s car pulled into the road before it merged into traffic.
She drove toward the tunnel without another word.
Neither of us spoke as she left the city, but the radio on her dashboard crackled quietly with reports and updates.
All of my men had been arrested. The voice reported that they had resisted their arrests and that two of them had gunshot wounds that needed attention.
No mention of Greco or his men, the mercenaries, or the car bomb.
Badawi thankfully said nothing while I let out a rattling breath and tried to keep the tears from falling. At least they were alive. Arrested, but alive. For now.
The cops cheered on the radio about how they’d saved the mayor’s life. I bit my cheek to keep from screaming. We’d saved her! Greco was the one who almost blew her up!
“Where should I go?” Badawi asked as she drove south through New Jersey.
The city wasn’t safe. Ciel was right—I still had allies. I wasn’t alone.
“Philadelphia.”
My phone was still in my pocket, so I sent a quick 911 message to the girls’ group chat. Then I texted Giulio and Felix to take our men underground. To hide and await further orders.
Badawi merged onto I-95 South.
In the rearview mirror, I watched as Greco got everything he wanted. My empire crumbled to pieces. I left it behind.
And my heart hardened for the road ahead.