Page 108 of Wicked Intention

It would only take a minute to look for the artifact. Less than a minute.

Ramos cared enough for his grandfather to protect the Disk of the Gods, but his successor wouldn’t. She’d be quick—if she didn’t find it in the desk, she’d leave—but she had to try to save it. It was too precious to abandon.

Finn headed straightfor the casita. Security was a fucking joke, but it wouldn’t last indefinitely. He needed to find Zo and Tia Izel and get them out of here. The guest house was completely abandoned with no sign of either woman.

He called their names, but when he received no response, Finn moved on to option number two. The suite he and Zo shared.

No guards in the house either. Finn was moving quickly toward the stairway when it registered that the door to Ramos’ office was ajar. Stopping, he slowly pivoted and retraced his steps, M4 at the ready.

It was probably a group of Ramos’ men looking for something that would give them an edge. Probably.

But the damn relic was in there.

Standing off to the side, he used the palm of his hand to ease the door open. He wasn’t surprised to see Zo standing by the desk, clutching the artifact. “For fuck’s sake, Zofia. What the hell are you doing?” he demanded quietly.

She jumped, so focused on the disk that she hadn’t noticed the door open.

Zo grinned. “Finn! You’re okay!” Her gaze traveled over him from head to toe and back again. She tried to jam the disk in the front pocket of her jeans, but it didn’t fit, so she used a rear pocket instead. She reached back into the open desk drawer and brought out a pistol, checking the clip. “Where’s the rest of your team?”

He ignored the question. “Where’s Tia Izel?”

Sobering, she said, “Tio Luis and his friends are with her. They were leaving that way.” With her empty hand, she pointed the direction Finn had been headed when he’d spotted the office.

“And you should have been with them.”

“The disk—”

“Fuckthat damn disk already,” he growled, furious she believed some lump of gold was more important than her life. “Let’s go.”

Without hesitating, Zo rounded the desk. “You must be really pissed off. You used my full name and said fuck twice.”

“Pissed off doesn’t begin to cover it. We need to move.”

She nodded, and he worked on corralling his anger. Emotion made people do stupid things that got them killed. He wasn’t dying today, and he wasn’t letting anything happen to Zo. In the seconds it took her to reach him, Finn managed to calm down. “Stay behind me,” he ordered.

Her hand curled around his forearm. “I’m glad you’re okay. I was worried about you.”

“But not worried enough about yourself to get your ass off the property.”

Zo scowled at him. “I was literally in the office for less than three minutes.”

“Three minutes is long enough for things to go to hell. Three minutes is enough to close up an escape route you might have been able to use. Three minutes is enough to get you killed.” Finn shook his head and worked harder to contain his emotions. If he couldn’t maintain control, neither of them was going to make it out alive. “We can’t argue about this now. Stay quiet and follow me.”

Another nod.

Getting out of the mansion was easy, but the fighting was much closer to the house now than when he’d entered it. Like he’d told Zo, a few minutes could change a situation drastically.

He kept her near the house as long as possible. There wasn’t any damn cover. A smattering of trees and small bushes wouldn’t do shit for them. At least the factions were too busy fighting each other to think about Zo escaping. “We’re running for the wall.”

Zo nodded.

“Now,” he ordered. He sprinted, and she stayed on his heels.

There was no cover at the wall either and he fucking hated how exposed Zo was. Finn jogged until they neared a gate to the outside. No guards, but it was closed.

He checked it out. Not locked.

But the barricade bar was heavy, and it required a mechanical device to raise it. “Keep an eye open,” he ordered. Without waiting for Zo’s nod, he used the crank. The bar slowly lifted. The fighting grew closer.