The kiss that didnt happen
Chapter 18
The Kiss That Didn't Happen
The problem with Lorenzo Vitale was that he looked entirely too good beneath city lights.
Amara discovered this while standing beside him on the balcony.
Unfortunately.
The Chicago skyline stretched endlessly before them.
The gala continued somewhere behind them.
Music drifted through the open doors.
The night felt calm.
Peaceful.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
?
Because Lorenzo was looking at her.
Again.
?
The betrayal.
The staring betrayal.
Undefeated.
?
Amara sipped her champagne.
Professionally.
Maturely.
The way adults ignored attractive people.
?
Unfortunately...
Lorenzo Vitale existed.
?
Making that difficult.
?
A serious problem.
?
"You do that a lot."
?
Silence.
Immediate silence.
?
Lorenzo smiled.
?
Immediately.
?
The traitor.
The complete traitor.
?
"Do what?"
?
"Stare."
?
The mafia don considered the accusation.
Honestly.
?
Then:
?
"I like looking at you."
?
Silence.
Absolute silence.
?
The audacity.
The complete audacity.
?
Amara blinked.
Once.
Slowly.
?
Because apparently this man had never heard of subtlety.
?
Not once.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
"Most people keep thoughts like that to themselves."
?
Lorenzo leaned against the balcony railing.
Comfortable.
Relaxed.
Dangerous.
?
"Why?"
?
Silence.
?
Amara stared.
?
Then stared harder.
?
Because somehow...
She didn't actually have an answer.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
The realization annoyed her.
?
Immediately.
?
Lorenzo watched the internal battle happen in real time.
?
And smiled.
?
Again.
?
The worst kind of smile.
?
Victorious.
?
"You're doing it again."
?
"What?"
?
"Thinking."
?
Silence.
Immediate silence.
?
The accuracy.
The irritating accuracy.
Undefeated.
?
Amara looked toward the skyline.
Refusing to give him the satisfaction.
?
Mostly.
?
Maybe.
?
Not really.
?
The city sparkled below.
Thousands of lights.
Millions of people.
Entire lives unfolding beneath them.
?
For a while...
Neither spoke.
?
Just existed.
?
And somehow...
The silence felt easy.
?
The realization surprised her.
?
A little.
?
Maybe more than a little.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
Then Lorenzo ruined everything.
Naturally.
?
"What happened with him?"
?
Silence.
Immediate silence.
?
Amara frowned.
?
"Who?"
?
"Marcus."
?
The smile disappeared.
Instantly.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
Lorenzo immediately regretted asking.
?
Because the atmosphere shifted.
?
Not dramatically.
?
Just enough.
?
Enough to matter.
?
Amara stared at the city.
Quiet.
Thoughtful.
?
Then sighed.
?
Immediately.
?
The universal sound of someone revisiting bad memories.
?
"He was charming."
?
A pause.
?
"Funny."
?
Another.
?
"Ambitious."
?
Silence.
?
Lorenzo listened.
?
Actually listened.
?
The way he always did.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
Amara's expression hardened slightly.
?
"At first."
?
There it was.
?
The truth.
?
The important part.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
"He liked the idea of me."
?
A pause.
?
"The genius."
?
Another.
?
"The surgeon."
?
Another.
?
"The success."
?
Silence.
?
The city lights blurred softly beyond the balcony.
?
"But he didn't actually like me."
?
The words came quietly.
?
Softly.
?
Honestly.
?
Lorenzo felt something unpleasant settle in his chest.
?
Because he understood.
?
Immediately.
?
Too many people wanted pieces of Amara.
?
The surgeon.
The prodigy.
The businesswoman.
?
Very few seemed interested in the woman herself.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
"What about you?"
?
The question surprised her.
?
A little.
?
"What about me?"
?
Lorenzo held her gaze.
?
"What do you want?"
?
Silence.
Absolute silence.
?
Nobody asked her that.
?
Not investors.
Not colleagues.
Not reporters.
?
Nobody.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
Amara opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
?
Because somehow...
The answer felt important.
?
Dangerously important.
?
"I want..."
?
A pause.
?
Then another.
?
Then:
?
"Peace."
?
Silence.
?
Lorenzo stared.
?
Because of all the answers he'd expected...
That wasn't one of them.
?
Not remotely.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
The woman laughed softly.
?
Almost embarrassed.
?
The sound was rare.
?
Beautiful.
?
Dangerous.
?
"I know."
?
A pause.
?
"It sounds boring."
?
"No."
?
The answer came immediately.
?
Without hesitation.
?
Without calculation.
?
Just truth.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
Amara looked at him.
?
Really looked at him.
?
The city vanished.
?
The gala vanished.
?
Everything vanished.
?
For one brief moment...
There was only Lorenzo.
?
Only those dark eyes.
?
Only that expression.
?
Warm.
Open.
Honest.
?
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
?
The distance between them suddenly felt much smaller.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
Lorenzo noticed too.
?
Of course he did.
?
The air shifted.
?
Softly.
?
Slowly.
?
The kind of shift neither of them fully understood.
?
Amara's pulse sped up.
?
Immediately.
?
The betrayal.
The biological betrayal.
Undefeated.
?
Lorenzo took a step closer.
?
Not much.
?
Just enough.
?
The city lights reflected in her eyes.
?
Beautiful.
?
Dangerously beautiful.
?
And suddenly...
The balcony felt very small.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
His gaze dropped briefly.
?
To her lips.
?
Then back to her eyes.
?
Silence.
Absolute silence.
?
The moment stretched.
?
Longer.
?
Longer.
?
And longer.
?
Then—
?
"Boss!"
?
Silence.
Immediate silence.
?
The universe exploded.
?
The betrayal.
The interrupting-captain betrayal.
Undefeated forever.
?
A captain burst onto the balcony.
Breathing hard.
Looking panicked.
?
Then immediately froze.
?
Because apparently...
He possessed enough survival instincts to recognize he'd interrupted something.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
The poor man looked between them.
Then toward heaven.
Possibly asking God for help.
?
Reasonable.
Very reasonable.
?
Lorenzo slowly turned.
?
Dangerously.
?
The captain visibly reconsidered his entire existence.
?
Immediately.
?
"What."
?
The single word contained violence.
?
Potential violence.
?
Future violence.
?
Interesting.
Very interesting.
?
The captain swallowed.
Hard.
?
"We found Romano's shipment."
?
Silence.
?
Business returned.
?
Reality returned.
?
The moment shattered.
?
Gone.
?
Just like that.
?
Amara looked away first.
?
A tactical retreat.
Nothing more.
?
Absolutely nothing more.
?
Yet as they followed the captain back inside...
Neither could stop thinking about how close they'd just come to something neither of them was quite ready to name.
End Chapter 18