te'
er. We're al
eryone in the car hears t
y, posture relaxed . The windows are blacked out, bulletproof. I
s unacc
concrete and glass. We're moving fast. Too f
very vehicle. Radios murmur constantly, low and clipped, co
buzzes i
no: Five m
eLuca:
hief: Perim
, blood , if things go wrong. I've spent weeks tightening this situation
heel and presses harder on the acceler
oo
o calculation. Faces, voices of Godfathers. Who will lie, Who
shakes
ng moves in t
rricade but a human . My driver is defini
" someon
ens all
e gravity is pulling them down faster than they can walk. The drive
es s
raint before snapping me back. Metal slams into metal as the lead vehicl
oy skids
os. Doors fly open. Guns are
ts ignite i
feels
The kind of chaos peop
" I snap, already unbuc
ls like burnt rubber and hot metal. Men fan out in practiced format
pale, shaken. "Boss... I swear, s
his line
body on t
ll.
a few feet away, twisted at an unnatural angle. Traffic has frozen in e
ains, replaced by
isn't
is a p
rt tow
of my men war
I cut in. My voice leaves
at the growing crowd. Someone is already filming. I see the phone he
beside t
is uneven, like her body is struggling to remember how to do it. He
railing into her hair. Her skin is pale ben
't understand yet,
her puls
ation. A half-
my head
gers pressing to her neck. "It's
oo
me today, my meet
've been trained to assess threats and casualties. My focus narrows to her breath
I se
half-hidden by blood an
. Pal
eath s
N
mmon. Everyone carries something like that, s
I lean
o precise. A narrow curve that dips sli
ing, hard enough that
es into me wi
go, sunlight filte
r, her hair longer then,
he only showed w
hat got her into tro
who va
buried with
ed myself to be
s begin
lear the street," I order, my voice sharper now, edged wit
n't ask
ance," I add. "Now. N
already on
ck down at
liarity. The curve of her cheek. The shape of her mouth. Subtl
er this time, ignorin
is imp
harden around that truth until it became part
, barely a whisper ,
s impos
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