Page 89 of The Doctor

“She shot the man who killed Ronen and was coming after us.”

“You did what?” While my mother looked horrified, my father looked to be in shock.

And my brother?

My brother stared down at me with a glint in his eye and a smirk on his lips. “Good job, brat.”

“Who was the man?” Jet asked, not giving my father’s question a chance to be answered.

“I don’t know.” Nadia shook her head, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. “I don’t know who it was.”

“I’ve never seen him before,” I added before glancing up at Zee. “But…”

“What?”

I looked around the crowded waiting room. Peeked up at Zee again and bit my bottom lip. Then, in a low voice, I said, “I think it was one of Cosimo’s men. I think it was Cosimo.”

I should have known this revelation wasn’t going to go over well, and maybe I should have anticipated their reactions a little better. Maybe I should have found a quieter place to say what was on my mind. But this very thing had been on repeat in my head for so long, that all it took was Paulo’s last words to me to convince myself I wasn’t out of line.

If only they agreed with me.

Queenie, who had been sitting beside Lyndsey and Laney, jumped from her seat. But her response was covered by every other voice.

My father yelled, “That’s preposterous!”

My mother scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Even the blank stares of Jet and Stephano seemed louder than all the yelling and loud conversations that erupted the minute Cosimo’s name fell from my lips.

The loudest voice of all was also the quietest. Zee looked down at me with pure skepticism in his eyes as he loosened his grip on me and took a step back. “Clara, don’t lie.”

“I’m not lying! Look!” I scrambled to my chair, grabbing for the papers I’d shoved in my purse. My stolen gun tumbled to the floor, and the blood-coated chart fell open before the soaked papers ripped in two.

Queenie doubled over, crying out in pain, her hands on her lower belly, and Mateo rushed to her side. “Help!”

I didn’t get to explain, not with what came next.

The stress of her father being shot was just too much. Nurses rushed in before whisking Queenie away in a wheelchair to a room in the back. Other nurses shooed the crowd away, telling us all to vacate the premises so they could work in peace.

While Nadia, Carmen, and Lorenzo were allowed to stay, the rest of us were forced out. Forced to leave our vigil as the man we’d come to support fought for his life.

“Clara!” Zee came running up to me in the parking lot with Jet hot on his tail. He gripped my shoulders, giving me a little shake. “I need you to go with Santini and the girls. He’ll take you to Jet’s and keep you safe. I don’t want you going anywhere until we get this sorted out.”

“Zee, you have to believe me.” I gripped his arms, squeezing like it could make a difference. “Paulo—”

He shook his head. “I’m not talking about this, kid. Cosimo’s been at Paulo’s side since before Benito died. He’s not behind this.”

“But Zee—”

“Enough!” Zee reached into his pocket, pulling out the vial where he kept my emergency pills. “Take this. There’s only two left. Go with Santini and stay at Jet’s until I come pick you up.”

“Where are you going?” I called to his back.

“I’m going to work, kid. I’m going to take care of this for Paulo the way he took care of my father’s murderer.”

I watched the man I loved walk away again without a word, and pain unlike any other stabbed me in the heart.

He didn’t believe me.