Zara's POV.
The sandstorm had barely settled, and already my throat burned like I'd swallowed smoke. My ears rang from the gunfire, but it wasn't just the noise—it was the truth I'd seen in Leo's eyes.
He didn't have a plan. He never did. He just…moved. Improvised. Survived. That was Leo. And yet—I stayed.
"Zara, move!" he barked, grabbing my arm and pulling me down behind a dented jeep riddled with bullet holes.
"Move where? Into the line of fire?" I snapped, loading another magazine. "You're the genius here, remember?"
He gave me that cocky smirk, the one that infuriated me and made my heart trip over itself. "Oh, so you do think I'm a genius?"
A bullet slammed into the jeep inches above my hea.md. I flinched. "Leo!"
"Okay, okay, not the time for flirting," he said, ducking lower, though I saw the spark in his eyes. He was enjoying this.
Madman. I peeked over the hood and spotted her—Aria. Calm as death, standing tall in the storm, her black scarf whipping around her face. She wasn't firing. She didn't need to. She was orchestrating, moving her men like chess pieces, every strike deliberate.
My blood boiled. "She's not even fighting. She's… she's playing us."
Leo's jaw tightened. "She's been playing me for years."
I turned to him, the wind stinging my face. "Then why does it feel like you're still letting her?"
For once, he didn't answer. And that silence scared me more than the bullets.
<<<<<
Leo's POV.
Her words cut deeper than shrapnel. Because she was right. Aria had her hooks in me long before Zara ever walked into my life. And though I hated admitting it, a part of me had never broken free.
But Zara…she wasn't just a mission. She wasn't just fire and sharp comebacks. She was my reason to want out.
"Leo," she hissed, snapping me back. "They're flanking."
I cursed under my breath, spotting movement in the dunes. Aria had split her men—two to the ridge, one circling with a truck-mounted gun. We had minutes. Maybe less.
"Cover me."
"Are you insane?" she snapped. "You'll get yourself killed."
"Trust me," I said.
Her eyes softened for just a second, a flicker of something raw and unguarded. Then she shoved a fresh mag into my vest.
"Fine. But if you die, I'm killing you myself."
I grinned. "That's my girl."
She rolled her eyes, but I saw the corner of her lips twitch. I broke cover, sprinting across the sand as bullets tore the air. Every nerve screamed, but adrenaline carried me forward. I dove, rolled, and fired three quick shots, dropping the man on the ridge.
"Show-off!" Zara's voice rang out behind me.
"Jealous?" I yelled back, already aiming for the second target.
"No. Terrified!"
Her honesty cracked something in me. Terrified—for me. Not the mission. Not the guns. Me. And I realized—Aria wasn't just trying to kill us. She was trying to break us.
<<<<<
Zara's POV.
Leo fought like a storm—reckless, wild, impossible to contain. I hated him for it. I loved him for it. And Aria knew that.
"Leo!" I screamed as a bullet grazed his arm, blood blooming across his sleeve. My chest squeezed tight, but he barely flinched. He just kept firing, eyes locked on Aria like she was the only thing that existed.
Aria raised her hand, and her men froze. Just like that—silence. Only the wind howled. Then she smiled. Cold. Beautiful. Terrifying.
"Zara," she called, her voice carrying across the dunes. "Tell me—do you really trust him? Do you really think he hasn't lied to you?"
I stiffened. Leo went still too. His hand dropped slightly, gun pointed at the ground now.
"Don't listen to her," he muttered.
"Why not?" I shot back, my voice trembling. "Because she's wrong—or because she's right?"
His jaw clenched. Silence. And that silence broke me more than a bullet ever could.
<<<<<
Leo's POV.
I'd taken bullets. I'd been tortured. I'd watched friends die. None of it compared to the look on Zara's face right now.
Doubt. Betrayal. And damn Aria—she knew it. She tilted her head, smiling like a queen who'd just claimed her throne. "You see, Zara? He's not your savior. He's mine. He always has been."
Zara's grip on her gun faltered, just slightly. "Leo… tell me she's lying."
I opened my mouth. Nothing came out. Because the truth? Aria wasn't lying. Not completely. And in that sliver of truth, I might have just lost the only thing worth fighting for.