Mine
Chapter 10
Mine
Amara Queen hit the concrete support column hard.
Pain shot through her shoulder.
Not enough to matter.
Not enough to distract her.
Because a bullet had just missed her head.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The realization settled into place with surprising calm.
Most people would panic.
Most people would scream.
Most people would freeze.
Amara was already calculating angles.
Trajectories.
Positions.
Distances.
The shooter's likely location.
The advantages of cover.
The disadvantages of exposed glass.
The usual.
Lorenzo crouched beside her.
One arm braced against the column.
The other reaching inside his suit jacket.
A gun appeared.
Naturally.
The man was a mafia don.
Finding a gun on him ranked somewhere between discovering water was wet and realizing fire was hot.
Another shot rang out.
Glass exploded behind them.
The clinic lobby shattered.
Pieces rained across the marble floor.
Silence.
Immediate silence.
The calm before violence.
The dangerous kind.
Lorenzo's eyes scanned the street.
Calculating.
Hunting.
Predatory.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Then he looked at her.
Actually looked at her.
"Are you hurt?"
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Amara blinked.
Once.
Slowly.
Because they were actively being shot at.
And this idiot was asking about her.
The audacity.
The complete audacity.
"I'm fine."
Relief flashed across his face.
Immediate.
Visible.
Real.
Then it vanished.
Buried beneath cold fury.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Another black SUV screeched around the corner.
The vehicle barely stopped before armed men poured out.
Vitale soldiers.
Professional.
Efficient.
Armed to the teeth.
The street transformed into a battlefield.
Within seconds.
One of Lorenzo's captains sprinted toward them.
"Boss!"
Lorenzo never looked away from the rooftops.
"Report."
"Two shooters."
A pause.
"Maybe three."
Another.
"They're retreating."
Silence.
The captain sounded confused.
Reasonably confused.
Most assassins didn't retreat this quickly.
Most assassins finished the job.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Lorenzo understood immediately.
Of course he did.
"They weren't trying to kill me."
Silence.
Immediate silence.
The realization landed.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
The captain froze.
Then slowly looked toward Amara.
The same conclusion forming.
The same terrifying conclusion.
Someone had aimed at her.
Not Lorenzo.
Her.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Amara stood.
Immediately.
The men surrounding her looked horrified.
Reasonably horrified.
Apparently standing during a shooting violated some unwritten rule.
A rule she didn't care about.
The clinic entrance looked like a disaster zone.
Broken glass.
Bullet impacts.
Destroyed doors.
Thousands of dollars in damage.
The betrayal.
The property damage betrayal.
Undefeated.
Amara sighed.
Immediately.
Lorenzo stared.
Then stared harder.
Because somehow...
Someway...
She looked annoyed.
Not scared.
Not shaken.
Annoyed.
"Someone shot my doors."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The captain blinked.
Once.
Slowly.
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
Immediately.
Because of course that was her concern.
Of course it was.
The woman was unbelievable.
Truly unbelievable.
Then something occurred to her.
A dangerous thought.
A very dangerous thought.
Amara looked toward Lorenzo.
"You have enemies."
The mafia don looked unimpressed.
"Yes."
"You have a lot of enemies."
"Yes."
"One of them just shot my building."
Silence.
The city itself seemed to pause.
Because everyone recognized the mistake.
The terrible.
Terrible mistake.
Lorenzo almost smiled.
Almost.
A very bad sign.
A very dangerous sign.
"They did."
Amara adjusted her glasses.
The movement was small.
Precise.
Controlled.
The way she did before surgery.
The way she did before making important decisions.
The way she did before something unfortunate happened to somebody.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
One of the captains noticed.
Immediately.
The poor man visibly took a step backward.
Smart.
Very smart.
Because he'd suddenly realized something.
The doctor wasn't angry because someone tried to kill her.
The doctor was angry because someone damaged her clinic.
An entirely different problem.
Lorenzo saw it too.
Of course he did.
The realization made him laugh.
Softly.
Dangerously.
The sound surprised everyone.
Including Amara.
"What?"
Lorenzo shook his head.
Still amused.
Still entirely too amused.
Then he said the worst possible thing.
The thing that should never be said to a woman like Dr. Amara Queen.
The thing guaranteed to cause problems.
Serious problems.
Dangerous problems.
"You're insane."
Silence.
Immediate silence.
Amara stared.
Then smiled.
Slowly.
Beautifully.
Terrifyingly.
The kind of smile that belonged on warning labels.
"That's rich coming from you."
The captain looked between them.
Then toward the heavens.
Possibly praying.
Reasonably praying.
Because somehow...
Someway...
The two most dangerous people he'd ever met were flirting at a crime scene.
The betrayal.
The emotional instability betrayal.
Undefeated.
A phone suddenly rang.
One of Lorenzo's men answered.
His expression darkened immediately.
Then darker.
Then somehow darker than that.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The man approached.
Carefully.
Like someone approaching a tiger.
Or a landmine.
Or both.
"Boss."
Silence.
"We identified the shooter."
The atmosphere changed instantly.
The humor vanished.
The warmth vanished.
Everything vanished.
Predator.
King.
Mafia don.
Lorenzo Vitale returned.
"Who?"
The answer came quietly.
Almost too quietly.
"Romano."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Even Amara recognized the name.
Viktor Romano.
The biggest rival family in the state.
Dangerous.
Old money.
Old power.
Old enemies.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Lorenzo's expression became unreadable.
Which somehow made him scarier.
Then he looked toward Amara.
Dark eyes.
Dangerous eyes.
Protective eyes.
The realization startled her.
Just a little.
The man reached down.
Picked up a shattered piece of glass.
Examined it.
Then let it fall.
The tiny shard hit the pavement with a soft click.
The sound echoed.
For some reason.
Maybe because everyone knew what came next.
Lorenzo spoke quietly.
Calmly.
Dangerously.
"Nobody touches what's mine."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The words hung in the air.
Heavy.
Possessive.
Terrifying.
The entire street froze.
Including Amara.
Because for the first time since meeting Lorenzo Vitale...
She wasn't entirely sure whether that statement should concern her.
Or make her smile.
End Chapter 10