My first thought was Rosa.
The facts soon confirmed my suspicion.
Hunter recognized the driver responsible for the crash-it was Cesare, Rosa’s head bodyguard. Rosa herself sat in the passenger seat, coldly raising a gun and firing at me.
“Protect Bianca!” Hunter shouted.
“Secure GC109!” I ordered calmly, pulling out my handgun. Lowering the car window, I quickly aimed and fired a shot behind us.
Bang!
Rosa retaliated with equal speed.
Bang! Bang!
The barrage of gunfire forced me to duck, taking cover in my seat. The tense battlefield made me frown.
“Something’s not right,” I muttered. The impenetrable darkness behind us served as perfect cover for the enemy, making it difficult to determine their numbers.
“At least three vehicles are in pursuit,” Hunter predicted grimly. “We need reinforcements.”
Luciano’s influence in Mexico wasn’t as deep as Davis’s. Mexico City, Caesar’s stronghold, offered us little in the way of allies.
No.
There was still someone I could count on.
“Call Grace. She hasn’t left Port E3 yet.”
Hunter nodded, and I grabbed my phone, scrolling through my contacts until I found her number.
Just as I pressed the call button, another violent collision slammed into us from behind.
The driver hit the brakes in time-
The screeching sound tore through the air, the tires gripping the road desperately as sparks flew near the verge of losing control.
The inertia flung me forward, my upper body jerking violently against the seatbelt, which dug into my chest painfully. My phone slipped from my grasp, flying to the floor near the passenger seat.
“Hey, Bianca. Miss me already?” Grace’s teasing tone came clearly through the speaker.
I glanced at the rearview mirror. Our pursuers, in a black van, rammed into Luciano’s car again, their front bumper jolting as they aimed directly for us.
Bang!
Bang!
The deafening sound of crashing metal and shattering glass filled the air as bullets tore through the windows. Grace must have realized something was wrong on my end.
“Bianca, are you okay?” she asked, her tone sharp with concern.
Dammit!
The repeated collisions left me momentarily dizzy. I cursed under my breath, narrowly dodging another round of gunfire under the cover of my bodyguards.
“Head toward the city!” I directed Grace, providing her with my current location.
No further explanation was needed-Grace instantly understood how to coordinate with me.
“Bianca!” Rosa’s triumphant voice suddenly boomed through a loudspeaker. “My dear sister, you’re surrounded!”
Rosa’s confidence was palpable. She seemed certain of her victory.
“Hand over GC109, and I’ll grant you a swift death,” she declared coldly.
I narrowed my eyes, an ominous feeling creeping into my chest.
So Rosa’s target wasn’t me-it was GC109.
But GC109 was a secret collaboration between Antonio and Grace. How had Rosa found out? She had even concealed her movements and set up an ambush in Mexico ahead of my arrival.
As much as I didn’t want to believe it, I had to face the painful conclusion-Luciano had a mole working for Rosa.
This mole knew about the GC109 operation. Someone in Antonio’s inner circle, someone he trusted deeply, had betrayed him.
Who was the traitor by Antonio’s side?
“Do you consider this a victory, Rosa?” I sneered. “You despicable traitor. You’ve abandoned Rico and your brothers.”
Something in Rosa’s expression twisted, perhaps at the mention of her father and brothers, who had been killed by Antonio. Her face contorted with rage.
“I’ll kill you,” she snarled. “I’ll gouge out your eyes, sever your limbs, and leave your remains at Antonio’s feet!”
In the distance, the roaring engine of a Range Rover broke through the chaos. Grace, leading her team, was finally arriving on the battlefield.
“You’re out of time, Rosa,” I said.
Grace held a natural advantage in Mexico. Even Rosa, with her mysterious armed forces, had to tread carefully in the face of Grace’s firepower.
“Dammit!” I heard Rosa curse viciously. Her venomous gaze darted past me, landing on the briefcase containing GC109 in Hunter’s hands.
Rosa wasn’t ready to give up on securing GC109, but Grace’s intervention disrupted her plans.
Forced to preserve her strength, Rosa had no choice but to order her troops to retreat quickly.
But we all knew this was only temporary. Rosa wouldn’t let go of an opportunity to strike at Antonio so easily.
GC109 had to leave Mexico as soon as possible and return to Luciano’s control.
“Bianca!” Grace’s car skidded to a stop in front of me. “You’re bleeding!”
“It’s just a minor issue,” I said, pressing a hand over the wound on my abdomen. The repeated impacts had reopened the injury, and warm blood seeped through my fingers.
Hunter immediately called for a doctor. As the blood-soaked bandage was cut away, the torn wound was revealed-raw and mangled.
“Dear God!” Grace grabbed my uninjured hand tightly, her voice trembling with urgency. “You need to go to a hospital. Now!”
“What time is it?” I asked, glancing out the window.
Unnoticed by me, the pitch-black night had begun to fade. A faint white light seeped through the darkness, like a curtain being torn open.
“It’s 5:23 a. m.,” Grace said.
“Dawn’s breaking,” I murmured. “I have a race today.”
Grace’s frustration erupted. “A goddamn motorcycle race?!”
“Grace!” I interrupted her, suppressing the searing pain in my abdomen. “I only have four hours to rest before the race begins.”
Seething, Grace paced in circles, watching the doctor stitch up my wound.
“The wound needs fresh sutures,” the doctor announced briskly, pulling out a series of tools and anesthetics from their kit.
The anesthetic coursed through my veins, numbing the pain quickly. I kept my head down, watching coldly as the doctor worked deftly to close the gash.
“You’re unbelievable, Bianca,” Grace muttered. “This is your body, not a slab of frozen meat.”
“The anesthetic works well,” I replied indifferently, barely feeling anything anymore.
“It’ll wear off soon enough,” Grace countered. “And the race will be long and grueling.” She tried to persuade me to withdraw but to no avail.
“I can use painkillers. They’re allowed under the rules,” I said.
Furious, Grace spun on her heel and stormed back to her car.
“Rosa’s provocation won’t go unanswered,” she growled. “I’ll kill her myself!”
I didn’t respond. “Record a video for me. Back it up,” I said instead.
“Fine, you stubborn idiot!” Grace snapped, climbing into her car. “You better win, or I’ll mock you for an entire year.”
“You won’t get the chance,” I replied.
Grace left her bodyguards behind as temporary reinforcements. I accepted them without protest, motioning for her to leave.
“Hunter,” I ordered, turning to him, “take GC109 and leave the country immediately.”