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