Obsessed
Chapter 15
Obsessed
Lorenzo Vitale had survived assassination attempts.
Gang wars.
Federal investigations.
Boardroom betrayals.
And the occasional family dinner.
Which honestly ranked surprisingly high on the danger scale.
Yet somehow...
Three words from Amara Queen had caused more damage than any of them.
You're smarter too.
The compliment replayed in his head for three straight days.
Three.
Entire.
Days.
The realization was embarrassing.
Deeply embarrassing.
Unfortunately, he couldn't seem to stop.
?
His captains noticed.
Naturally.
Because betrayal was apparently a core job requirement.
?
Lorenzo sat at the head of a conference table reviewing territory reports.
At least...
He was supposed to be reviewing territory reports.
Instead he was staring at the same page.
Again.
?
"Boss."
?
Silence.
?
"Boss."
?
Silence.
?
"LORENZO."
?
The mafia don looked up.
Immediately.
?
His captains stared.
?
The betrayal.
The observant-captain betrayal.
Undefeated.
?
"What."
?
One of them pointed toward the report.
?
"You've been reading the same paragraph for ten minutes."
?
Silence.
Immediate silence.
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Lorenzo looked down.
?
The report confirmed the accusation.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
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Another captain sighed.
Immediately.
?
"Just ask her out."
?
Silence.
Absolute silence.
?
The room froze.
?
Because apparently everyone had chosen death today.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
Lorenzo slowly looked up.
?
Dangerously.
?
The captain immediately regretted existing.
?
Reasonable.
Very reasonable.
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"What."
?
The captain swallowed.
Hard.
?
"Nothing."
?
"Good."
?
Silence.
?
Then:
?
"You were smiling."
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The betrayal.
The evidence-based betrayal.
Undefeated.
?
Lorenzo considered murder.
Briefly.
Professionally.
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Then his phone rang.
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Amara.
?
Silence.
Immediate silence.
?
Every captain noticed.
?
Every single one.
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The vultures.
Absolute vultures.
?
Lorenzo answered immediately.
A mistake.
A terrible mistake.
?
"Hello."
?
Across the room, multiple men smirked.
?
The traitors.
The complete traitors.
?
Amara's voice filled the line.
?
"I need a favor."
?
Silence.
?
Lorenzo sat straighter.
Immediately.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
"What kind of favor?"
?
A pause.
?
Then:
?
"The city inspector is an idiot."
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Silence.
Absolute silence.
?
Lorenzo smiled.
Immediately.
?
Because somehow...
That sentence sounded exactly like her.
?
"What happened?"
?
"The underground construction."
?
A pause.
?
"He's delaying permits."
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Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
Lorenzo leaned back.
?
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
?
"Do you want him persuaded?"
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Silence.
?
Amara sighed.
Immediately.
?
The universal sound of disappointment.
?
"Legally persuaded."
?
The room exploded.
?
Not literally.
?
But every captain started laughing.
?
Immediately.
?
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
?
Because apparently the entire organization was listening now.
Wonderful.
Perfect.
?
Amara heard it.
Of course she did.
?
"What was that?"
?
Silence.
?
Lorenzo looked around the room.
?
At the idiots.
The complete idiots.
?
Then:
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"Nothing."
?
The lie convinced nobody.
?
Especially not Amara.
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Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
An hour later Lorenzo walked into Queen Medical Center.
Again.
?
At this point security waved him through automatically.
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A concerning development.
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The receptionist looked up.
Then sighed.
?
Immediately.
?
"You know where she is."
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Silence.
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Lorenzo blinked.
?
"What?"
?
The receptionist pointed toward the elevators.
?
"Third floor."
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A pause.
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"Surgery ended twenty minutes ago."
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Another.
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"She skipped lunch."
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Silence.
Absolute silence.
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Lorenzo stared.
?
Then nodded.
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Like this information was completely normal.
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It wasn't.
?
Not remotely.
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Interesting.
Very interesting.
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He found Amara exactly where expected.
?
Her office.
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Paperwork.
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Coffee.
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More paperwork.
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The usual.
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The surgeon looked up.
?
Then immediately frowned.
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"What are you doing here?"
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Lorenzo placed a paper bag on her desk.
?
Food.
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Silence.
Immediate silence.
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Amara stared.
?
Then at him.
?
Then at the food.
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Then back at him.
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The cycle repeated.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
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"You brought lunch."
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"You skipped lunch."
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"I was busy."
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"You always say that."
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Silence.
?
The realization annoyed her.
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Because he was right.
Again.
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A growing problem.
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A serious problem.
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Amara opened the bag.
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Her favorite sandwich.
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From her favorite place.
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The realization hit immediately.
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Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
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"You know my order."
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Lorenzo froze.
Immediately.
?
The smallest freeze imaginable.
?
But enough.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
Amara slowly lowered the sandwich.
?
Then smiled.
?
The wrong smile.
?
The terrifying smile.
?
The smile that made residents question their career choices.
?
"You investigated my lunch habits."
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Silence.
Absolute silence.
?
Lorenzo looked away.
Immediately.
?
The betrayal.
The caught-red-handed betrayal.
Undefeated.
?
For the first time since meeting him...
Amara laughed so hard she had to take off her glasses.
?
The sound filled the office.
Warm.
Beautiful.
Unrestrained.
?
And Lorenzo realized something horrifying.
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Absolutely horrifying.
?
He would probably burn down half of Chicago to hear that laugh again.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
And extremely, extremely dangerous.
End Chapter 15