*Leo*

The world came back to me slowly.

My head throbbed with every pulse of my heartbeat, my body aching from the brutal way I’d been tossed around.

I opened my eyes, squinting against the dim light that filtered into the room. The air was thick with tension, suffocating, and the first thing I realized was that I wasn’t alone.

Maria.

I blinked again, more sharply this time, and found her sitting beside me, just inches away. Her wrists shackled ...