Page 42 of Mine To Possess

Amelia speaks up before he can though. “I’m sitting right here Viktor. You can ask me, you know,” she smiles.

“So, you can pretend you’re ok no matter what’s been said,” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, exactly,” she smiles.

“She has inhaled a little bit of smoke, but there shouldn’t be any permanent damage. Are you able to stay with her tonight? If she has someone with her, we can let her go home, but otherwise, we’ll admit her. Just as a precaution.”

“I’ll stay with her,” I say quickly.

He grabs a leaflet and hands it to me. “This is what you need to look out for. Heavy coughing, any blood in her phlegm, dizziness or nausea. If she presents with any of these symptoms in the next four to six hours, you need to take her to the emergency room. If she presents with any symptoms in the next forty-eight hours after that, then a trip to her primary physician will be sufficient and they will advise on whether she needs to be taken to the hospital. Any other questions?”

I shake my head and the paramedic nods to me. I thank him for his help and turn to Amelia.

“Let’s get you home.”

23

VIKTOR

“Is everything ok?” Amelia asks.

I nod and lean in close to her, dropping my voice to a whisper. “Everything’s fine. I just had a word with one of my men and told him to find the fucker that did this.” I half expect her to pull away from me and demand I tell the police everything, but it’s not my style, and if this thing with Amelia is going to work, she needs to know who she’s dealing with. “He’s going to pay for what he did.”

Amelia surprises me when she pulls back from me slightly. Her face is set as she nods her head. “Good. People died in there tonight, and jail sometimes just isn’t enough, is it? You take a life you should pay with yours,” she says in a cold voice.

“Exactly,” I say.

She smiles at me.

“You expected me to be horrified, didn’t you?”

“Kind of,” I admit with a shrug.

“Look, I don’t agree with people going around kneecapping guys for a couple of dollars, but this is bigger than that, and our justice system isn’t even close to doling out real justice. This guy murdered innocent people.”

I realize the valet took my car keys. “I’ll have to call my driver. Are you able to wait for about ten minutes.”

“That’s okay. I need to give your manager his jacket back too,” Amelia says.

I call for my driver while Amelia scans the crowd. She spots Marty and heads off in his direction. I don’t want to let her go, but I don’t want her to think I’m too overprotective. She’s only a couple of yards away from me, and the whole area is still crawling with police officers. Nothing is going to happen to her.

I can feel the old worries crowding back into my mind as I end the call with my driver and put my cell phone away. It’s only the second time Amelia has been out with me, and she almost died. I’m dangerous to be around. I remind myself that this wasn’t a personal attack on my life.

Igor or whoever he paid to do this didn’t know I’d be in there tonight. Igor is targeting my businesses, not my life. I kind of hope that changes soon. At least then he’ll have to get up close and personal with me and I’ll be able to end this fucking thing once and for all.

Amelia comes back to me, looking a little chilly now that she’s given Marty his jacket back. I open my arms and she steps into them, pressing herself against me. I wrap my arms around her tightly, trying to keep her warm. We don’t have too long to wait before my driver shows up.

“Home,” I say as we get in.

Amelia rests her head on my shoulder and by the time we arrive at my place, she’s almost asleep. She groans when she has to get out of the car.

“Come on, sleepyhead,” I tease.

She makes a face at me, and we walk up to my house. I open the door and Amelia steps inside. She’s been here plenty of times as part of her job and she knows her way around. She heads for the stairs.

“I have to take a shower. The smell of the smoke clinging to me is turning my stomach,” she says.

“Go ahead.’ I start to follow her up the stairs. “I know what you mean about the smell. I’ll grab you a robe.”

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