30 seconds till lift off And this ain't about rockets: chapter six

I knew I had to handle everything with precision the moment Ron got tangled in this scandal.

Ron wasn't the kind of man you could sway easily. Loyal to a fault. Steady as a mountain. For him to go through with this plan—especially knowing it meant his death—was no small feat.

And it bothered me. It dug into my chest in a way I didn’t want to name.

Still… I was impressed. I was more than impressed. Somewhere on the blurry line between admiring a man’s courage and falling stupidly in love with it.

I tore my attention away from the cliffside shadows outside the broken limo window and glanced at Alejandro. He was half-standing in the cramped space, chest rising and falling as he caught his breath—stealing mine without even trying.

“Snap out of it,” I muttered under my breath.

The limo was wide, yes, but he stood too damn close. His scent was everywhere—warm, sharp, maddening. I felt my throat tighten, an involuntary gulp betraying me.

What the hell was happening to me?

“Out,” I barked, shoving him back toward his seat harder than I intended. The limo rocked dangerously, metal groaning beneath us.

We were perched on the edge of a mountain road, the rear wheels half-suspended over a cliff that plunged into mist and darkness. One wrong movement and we’d go tumbling into the abyss after Ron.

“Hey—be nice. I saved your life,” he shot back, breathless.

I smirked despite myself and kept my gaze away from him. If he knew what I’d imagined doing to him… the positions, the sweat, the heat… nothing *nice* would come to mind.

“We have to be careful if we want to survive this,” I snapped. “You had one job—get us both to safety. But you just had to steer us right into a death trap.”

He shoved me hard. “Ugh! You prick! Get the fuck off my face!”

The limo groaned, sliding a few inches. The ground crumbled beneath the back tires. We both froze as dust drifted into the air.

“Erratic behavior isn’t going to save our asses,” I hissed. “Sit still unless you want to die.”

His breath fanned my cheek. Too close. Far too close. My heart pounded so loudly I was convinced he could hear it.

I tried to shift away, but the limo responded with a long, drawn-out creak that warned me to stay exactly where I was.

Death I could handle. But Alejandro seeing the physical reaction he stirred in me? No. That humiliation might actually kill me faster.

“Wait,” he murmured, lifting a hand toward the jammed door lock. “Let me try.”

He leaned forward, body pressing into mine as he reached. His cologne rolled over me like heat crawling beneath my skin.

No. Not now. Not when he was this close.

I could already feel the blood rushing downward, my body betraying me faster than I could think. I needed distance—ninety seconds, maybe less—before he noticed exactly what he was doing to me.

“Well, hurry it up,” I forced out, voice tight. “I don’t have all day.”

“Can you just shut up and let me do it?” he snapped, eyes locking onto mine—dark, irritated, beautiful.

“I wouldn’t bug you if you’d hurry.”

He sucked his teeth and continued working on the lock, his body sliding against mine in slow, torturous motions.

I clenched my jaw. Forty seconds. Maybe less.

His fingers fiddled with the mechanism, brow tightening. “Almost… just need—”

*Please,* I prayed to any god that would listen, *don’t let him look down.*

Thirty seconds.

Twenty.

Ten—

A sharp click cut through the silence. He exhaled, triumphant. “Got it.”

Relief shot through me so quickly my knees almost buckled.

“We’re leaving. Now.”

He pushed the door, and cold air flooded in. We scrambled out onto the gravel road just as the limo gave one last metallic groan.

I whirled around in time to see it tip—slow at first, then rapidly—before it toppled over the cliff and vanished into a cloud of dust far below.

“My car…” Alejandro breathed.

“Come on,” I said. “We walk.”

“You can’t be serious.”

I stopped, biting back my impatience. “What is it now?”

“Ron,” he said, fury creeping into his voice. “You’re just going to leave him?”

“And what would you have me do?” I countered, stepping toward him.

“I don’t know—save him? Interrogate him? Ever heard of that?”

“Ron made his choice. He was ready. He… he wasn’t going to talk.” My voice dipped lower than I intended. “He was already sold. I did him a favor. What you call ‘interrogation’ would’ve been torture. For both of us.”

Alejandro’s jaw tightened. “You’re such a stuck-up asshat.”

He spun on his heel and stalked off into the trees.

No. He wasn’t leaving me like this. Not with adrenaline still flooding my veins. Not while I was still half-hard and half-irrational.

I pulled out my gun and fired twice into the air.

He stopped immediately.

“You couldn’t have left that damn gun back in the car?” he yelled, stomping his foot like a pissed-off cat.

“I could’ve left you,” I retorted. “But I didn’t. Move.”

He grimaced but obeyed, walking ahead while I stayed close behind. Too close to let him out of sight; not close enough for him to notice my… situation.

“How far are we from the house?” he asked.

“Keep walking.”

We trailed through dense woods, crossed a shallow creek, and eventually reached a narrow dirt road where, miraculously, an Uber driver was willing to pick us up—though he stared at us like we’d crawled out of a grave.

I told him to stop a few yards before the house. Once the car rolled to a halt, I stepped out and tossed a wad of cash through the window. He sped off without a word.

“Rude,” Alejandro muttered.

My brows furrowed. “What?”

“That was rude,” he repeated. “Seriously. You just threw money at him.”

“I didn’t see him complaining.”

“Of course not. Not with *that* face.”

I stiffened. My face? What about my face? Dirt? Blood? Sweat? Something more embarrassing?

I subtly searched for a reflective surface—even the car window, but it was long gone.

“What are you—”

“Brother!” Juan’s voice cut through the air. “You’re back. And you look like you walked through the ashes of hell.”

My hand instinctively went to the gun at my hip. I wasn’t ready for his face. Not yet. Not when every bone in me still vibrated with the urge to put a bullet through his skull.

Juan was smiling too widely. Too knowingly.

“He had to,” Alejandro said quickly. “My boss is clumsy as hell.”

Juan’s eyes sparkled with interest. “Is he now?”

Alejandro winked at me.

I blinked. I trusted him in that moment—God knows why.

“He called me after dropping me off at the office,” Alejandro added casually.

Office?

What office?

My heart dropped.

And just like that, I knew the real danger hadn’t started yet.