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Again, Thomas kept mum. But Sonny was that sadistic. He could have had the outcome planned all along, regardless of what Lorena fed to him about the organization. Thomas had heard through the grapevine of similar attacks the mobster’s gang had committed on other Leone pride members. His late mother knew too. But nobody could ever get proof that could cage him for life.
The pride leader did his best to assuage her guilt. “Lorena, please don’t blame yourself for this. Sonny is despicable. He never plays by any of the pride’s rules. His only civility is creating anarchy. No matter what you did or didn’t do, Sonny would act like this. The only way to stop this monster is to stop him for good.”
Thomas stood beside Lorena and put an arm around her shoulders. He feared comforting her wouldn’t be enough. Lorena’s resolve to stick with him and the pride could be weakening in her desperation to make all this go away.
Thomas knew Lorena’s world revolved around Alfredo. To her, this battle had nothing to do with power or prestige, or even pride preservation. Why should it when this wasn’t her pride? To Lorena, a non-shifter caught between two shifters, it had to do with her father’s life. Plain and simple. Nothing more. Nothing less.
It was up to him to put an end to Sonny’s diabolical reign over the realm. He had spread his terror far and wide and for too many years. Alfredo’s attack wasn’t Sonny’s first. But if the gods were on Thomas’s side, it would be that man’s last.
Lorena wasn’t reacting to his touch as she had done before. Her shoulders and back stayed stiff and erect. And she didn’t offer him her warm smile. Thomas realized she was beyond upset, but there was something else going on in her mind. A change. A change of heart. With him?
I’m overthinking this. The poor woman has been through hell. Maybe she needs time alone with her father. I’ll head out and coordinate the security. At least I can do that much.
“Lorena, I’m going to go get us coffees. I’m sure it’ll be a long day. I’ll be right back.”
Lorena took her hand and pushed his arm off her shoulders. She looked up at him, but this time not with an ounce of warmth. Her expression was frozen, bordering on indifference. The coldest kind.
“No, Thomas. I don’t need a drink or a hug. I need my father. Please, just go away. Return to the office. Go home. Go anywhere but here. I have no time to think about anything or anyone but my dad. No time for games or subterfuge. No time for Sonny. No time for you.”
Thomas took a step back and stared at Lorena. He had never seen her act so cold toward him. She was lumping him in with the likes of Sonny. It wasn’t fair. She wasn’t being logical.
Thomas blinked. He swallowed. Hard. He stood there, speechless.
Silence. Deafening, screaming, raging silence.
Save for the ticking over of the IV machine, the softbeep, beepof the old man’s heart monitor, and the disembodied intercom voice sounding code words from far away.
Cold, hard, lonely, oh, so lonely silence.
Chapter15
Lorena
Lorena had no emotion left to give right now. Thomas had left. Good. She felt numb and empty.
Her father lay in the bed, and it wasn’t hard to see he was close to death. Tubes and wires punctured his body …again.The wave of guilt washed over her, threatening to drown her. She knew what she’d done was wrong. Putting her own happiness before duty. What a fool to think Sonny wouldn’t retaliate. It was her poor papa who had suffered.
Hadn’t he been through enough? Hadn’t she come to that realization yet?
To see him back on the life support machines made her sick to her stomach. She wanted to cry. To rail against the injustice of it all. But what was the point? At the end of the day, she was responsible for her father’s situation right now. Sonny was not someone to be trifled with.
What had she been thinking anyway? She had letlusttake control of her actions. Allowed herdesiresto rule her head. She knew the world didn’t work that way. The world was not a kind or forgiving place. And Sonny definitely didn’t work that way.
A treacherous little voice in the back of her mind spoke up.Yes, but is it simply lust? Or is it something much deeper?She didn’t want to admit it to herself right now, but she was falling inlove.Thomas meant more to her with every passing breath.
She hadn’t known Thomas well when she took on this assignment. He was just some guy who didn’t really mean that much to her. A pawn in her game. But now, all the stakes had changed. Thomas was starting to meaneverythingto her. He had moved from pawn to king in her heart.
Just then, the door opened, and the doctor walked in. “Is he going to make it?” she wanted to know immediately.
The doctor’s face was grim. “We really don’t know,” he said. “If he makes it through the next 24 hours, then he stands a chance.”
“A chance?” she questioned. “And that’s after an entire day?”
“He’s been through a lot,” the doctor replied. “This last shock happened when his system was already extremely over-taxed. We will do everything we can, but we can give no guarantees. This battle is his to fight.”
Lorena couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Even with the funds that Thomas had made available, it was still touch and go.
If he died, she would never forgive herself.
