Page 197 of Obsessed by My Ex's Mafia Uncle

“Finally!” Aisha grunts as the steel door slides shut between us.

“This way.” Atelia grabs my arm.

We run, our footsteps ricocheting wildly around the narrow space.

The tunnel smells like seawater and rust, with emergency lights flickering dimly overhead, staining everything in red pulses.

Aisha keeps looking back.

I keep holding Blue.

And Atelia keeps pushing us forward.

“Hurry,” she snaps.

My leg still aches faintly from the old injury, pain pulsing harder the faster we move.

The tunnel finally slopes upward after what feels like forever.

Then moonlight appears ahead, spilling cold through the exit.

We come out to the shore, bursting out onto wet sand and salty air.

The ocean is black tonight, waves slamming against the cliffs nearby while a small boat rocks several yards away near the dock.

Relief hits me so suddenly my knees nearly buckle.

We made it.

We are about to dash for the boat when something smashes hard against Aisha’s skull and she drops instantly.

My scream catches halfway out as I turn to see that it was Atelia who had hit her with her gun.

“Atelia what the fuck…”

Pain explodes across my temple before I even finish speaking as her gun slams into the side of my head hard enough to send the world sideways.

I hit the sand violently, Blue crying out as I twist instinctively to shield her beneath me.

Everything rings, salt and blood flooding my mouth.

“What…” My voice comes out broken. “Atelia wha…”

Blue is sobbing hysterically now beneath my arms.

I drag us backward desperately across the sand, vision blurring while Atelia watches me with something almost disgusted curling across her face.

And suddenly the blood on her clothes feels different.

Intentional.

Deliberate.

My heart drops so hard it feels endless.

“Atelia…” My voice shakes violently. “What are you doing?”

“What am I doing?” She stares at me like she doesn’t recognize herself anymore.