I glanced toward the arched entrance as Dr. Lipschitz approached us. “How is she?” Next to me, Julian was on tenterhooks despite the mask of calm he was trying to hold onto. Once more, I was envious of his relationship with Gianna.
“She’s stable but it’s too soon to tell. Bullet hit her right below the shoulder. Although it missed her major arteries, she lost a lot of blood. I am baffled though.” I frowned and he added. “I’ve been a doctor for a long time, and I’ve treated plenty of gunshots.” He looked at Julian. “That’s an agency bullet. I’ve seen those markings before. You sure it was a sniper?” Julian nodded and the doctor shook his head slowly, his expression confused. “Either that sniper is a rookie, or it was an intentional misfire. Very few people survive sniper shots. They’re trained killers. Mrs. Salvatore either got lucky or...” he trailed off and I shared a look with Julian.
“I’ll look into it.” Julian seemed to breathe a little easier.
Dr. Lipschitz nodded. “I wouldn’t move her for now and no undue stress. I’ve given Rosana the necessary instructions, but I am on call twenty-four seven if you need me, Mr. Salvatore.”
I walked him out and, on my return, Julian was standing at the window. “Was that bullet meant for Gianna, Julian?” I didn’t keep the irritation out of my voice.
He turned to look at me. “I’m not sure, sir.”
“This Zayne. What do you know about him?”
I didn’t like the look he gave me, and I probably wouldn’t like what he was about to tell me. “The little my contacts provided says he was Special Forces. Belonged to a rogue agency called the TRA, completed more classified missions than anyone in his unit.” Julian cupped his neck and rolled it from side to side, his tired gaze on me. “Now he works for himself after he was betrayed by his own government. His shoot first and ask questions later style, earned him a reputation with both the government and crime lords. He’s a loner, a friend to no one, but values the relationships he has with his team that is until he met Gianna. He fell in love and married her then Cassius spirited her away without a trace. Only because Zayne didn’t know who she really was. Gianna’s mother made sure of that.”
I balled my fist. Someone else loving Gianna that intensely didn’t sit well with me. “How do we find him?”
“That’s the thing, sir. He hides in plain sight, found when he wants to be. No one sees him coming. No one questions his takedowns, and no one knows he works both sides of the law. Everything he does is so precise that no one can point a finger at him. He’s the leave no traces kind of guy.”
I cocked a brow. “Yet he has one weakness?”
Julian nodded. “Gianna. What do you think?”
“Either someone betrayed him and that shot was meant for him. Or, someone used him to get to Gianna.”
“There’s one other possibility,” Julian said. “Someone wanted them both gone. Someone with connections to use an agency sniper.”
“Use your contacts to find him, Julian. Unless he knows Gianna is dead, he won’t leave her alone and I fucking want him gone.” The fact that he was still out there left me frustrated and knowing Gianna let him back into her life after taking over my world, even more so. Everything I’d worked to put together would crumble around us. Julian moved to walk away. I stopped him. “Julian.”
“Sir?”
“Does Gianna love him?” The drop of his gaze was an immediate giveaway. “The truth, Julian.”
“Yes. She’s different around him. He brings out the innocent child she always wanted to be, and I might be wrong, but I think...” he trailed off, his eyes on my face. He could read my annoyed expression. Why the fuck could I not control my emotions for this fucking woman. I was usually a blank slate to everyone. Why the fuck did she have this effect on me? “He makes her feel safe.”
I stiffened. “And I don’t,” the words were soft, more for my ears than his. Of course, he would. Slipping my hands into my pants pockets, I turned away to look out the window. I remembered her words at the dinner table after she’d bandaged my hands and cut my steak. She’d tried normal would me and I’d been nothing but a bastard to her. Even if I forced him to stay away from her, would I ever be able to take his place in her heart? Would I be able to give her the simple life she wanted?
“It’s not about her mother anymore, is it, sir?” I looked over my shoulder. “You’re in love with her.”
I glanced back out the window. “No.” The word was easy to utter, the thrum in my heart a lot harder to block out. The thought of losing her churned my stomach.
“Lying to me or yourself, sir?” Julian scoffed. His bold move surprising.
“I stayed away from her,” I said without turning around. “Hoping it would settle my heart. Make me forget her. Instead, each day became agony wondering what she felt after killing me. Was there even a smidgen of feeling for me? Then I’d remembered what I’d done to her and I realized, no one can love a monster like me.”
“Is that why you gave her the combination to that room?”
Frowning, I turned to look at him. “She told you about the room and what’s inside?” I would’ve thought she’d keep it to herself.
He nodded. “Said, she regretted not getting a chance to ask you why. Wondered if there would’ve ever been something between you two if the circumstances had been different.”
Something exploded inside me, and the reaction startled me. Was there hope? I’d walked a thin rope with her, one that she didn’t hesitate to shoot me. How could I hope for more?
“Maybe now she’d get the chance, sir.”
I didn’t respond because I had no idea what her reaction would be to see me alive.
