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hot of air out of my nose like a raging bull. “We don’t talk about afterwards until we’re finished,” I scold him.
“Come on! You know you want it,” Finn whines.
God, sometimes I can’t stand him. If only older, grizzled cops were as easy to bribe as young, rash ones, then I would have gotten myself a quiet, grumpy old general to do my bidding.
“Stop it,” I growl, turning the corner at the end of Baker street. Finn’s patrol car rolls past me, going in the opposite direction. He has his window down and his jester green eyes are trained in my direction. A mop of dark black hair waves in the wind as he puckers his lips. “Hey, muscleman, you looking for a good time?” he teases, in a high-pitch falsetto, as he slowly drives by.
I just flip him the bird.
“You just need to get laid, man. Trust me. I already know where I’m going to take you after all of this is over with. They’ve got the best girls...”
I seriously consider hanging up on him. If getting Santino wasn’t so important, I already might have, but when I see orange light shining through a diner’s storefront up ahead, I know I’m going to have to rely on Finn’s eyes for just a little bit longer.
“Stay alert,” I command into my earpiece. “I’m going to check out the diner.”
I break into a jog, hardly considering Finn’s playful banter. My silence on the matter doesn’t stop him, though.
“When’s the last time you even got laid, man? I can’t remember ever seeing you with a woman—” That does it. I hang up on him. He can set his siren off if he needs me. My frozen heart aches just a little bit as I forcefully wrestle back certain dead memories that only ever squirm alive at the mention of romance. There’s no room in my life for any kinds of non-business relationships anymore, if there ever really was. I tried to be normal once before, and it didn’t work out. Guys like me don’t get happy endings, so why drag anyone else into it? This is a dark world I inhabit, and company only makes it darker...
I shake my head and take in a sharp breath of the cold air. It’s all I can do to remind myself that I’m alone for a good reason—because I deserve to be. The cozy glow of the corner diner bathes me in the promise of warmth as I walk up to its dusty storefront; I almost don’t want to go inside, lest I get too comfortable. I cross my fingers and try for the door.
A wave of relief washes over my frozen shores when I find that it’s locked. The flexi-glass window shakes and rattles against my effort, but the door doesn’t otherwise budge. I quickly scan the shabby joint and spot two empty plates on the diner counter—but there’s nothing else to suggest inhabitation. I decide that the place is closed and empty. Someone obviously just forgot to turn the lights off. I turn back towards Baker street and watch as Finn makes a U-turn to come meet me. My phone starts buzzing in my pocket. I reach for it, but before I can make another move, I see something move out of the corner of my eye.
I let my phone go and whip around, just in time to catch the dark gaze of a waitress poking her head out of the diner’s kitchen door.
I freeze.
It’s no use. She sees me. Her big brown eyes are trained on me like a bloodhound. Something stirs in my chest. My natural reaction is to sneer—but the woman doesn’t look away. In fact, she sneers back.
Slowly, I reach for the Glock tucked away behind my back. That stirring in my chest only gets angrier as I feel the cold steel against my fingers. I don’t want to hurt this woman, but I’m going to have to make sure she knows to keep her mouth shut. If I’m right, and Santino’s coming this way, she’s about to hear a firefight, and the last thing I need is for her to call 911.
I keep my eyes fixed on the waitress. Her big brown eyes glimmer in the orange glow of the diner lights. My phone buzzes in my pocket. I need to look away, but I just can’t. There’s something in her eyes that’s got me hooked—like she’s thrown an invisible harpoon into my chest. I grind my teeth, frustrated by my uncontrolled hesitation. I feel stuck... but why?
... Is it because she’s gorgeous?
My gaze wanders over her dark caramel skin, which glistens almost as brightly as her deep brown eyes do. A cute Nubian nose scrunches over big, full lips. Her stare fills me with a painful warmth. I finally recognize the stirring in my chest—it’s my heart, it’s starting to thaw.
Suddenly, the blaring sound of Finn’s siren cuts through the night. The woman jumps in surprise, looking away for just long enough to break me from her spell.
I forcefully shake my head and quickly turn towards the action—not quickly enough, though.
A sharp pain explodes against my shoulder. I’m pushed backwards. I recognize the sound of a bullet ricocheting off the cement behind me. Another one whizzes past my ear. I try to reach for my gun with my left arm, but it’s gone numb. Gunshots reign down like thunder over the street. I use my right hand to grab my Glock. In the light of Finn’s siren, I can see two silhouettes. One is familiar: Finn is down on one knee, firing at another less familiar shape. I don’t need to recognize the outline to know who it is. Santino Costa is here. I start shooting. The diner window behind me shatters. The girl...
It takes all of my strength just to pull myself up so that I can fall in through the newly open window pane behind me. I hit the cold tiles inside with a huff and my gun falls from my hand. I try to get up, but my whole body feels like it’s being crushed under a thousand leagues of water. I struggle, but it’s no use. All I can do is listen as the sound of gunshots fade and my world goes black.
4
Nia
The bloody stranger awakes in a huff.
He wasn’t out for long, maybe 30 seconds, but the way he jumps up onto his feet after his eyes open makes it look like he just woke up from one long, scary-ass nightmare.
I let my hand fall from his hefty, chiseled arm and take a step back of my own. He looks like a steaming giant as he tugs at the fallen arm of his black leather jacket and coldly scans the shards of glass that litter the diner floor, until he spots what I was too cowardly to touch: his gun. He bends down and picks it up with a low, guttural grunt. Dark blood drips from the steel weapon.
I’m terrified, but also strangely concerned. There was something in the way he looked at me just before the shooting started that made me unable to look away. Then, when he dropped in through the shattered window, I instinctually went to him. Call it my nurses’ intuition... or don’t—maybe if I had actually finished my training, I’d have known to go grab the first-aid kit first.
I don’t have time to kick myself for the mistake. Before I can ask the stranger if he’s alright, he’s already stumbling out of the shattered storefront window and disappearing down the street.
