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"Wars usually end," I replied, the tension in my voice clear.
"This one won't," Zane sighed. "You don't know what they'll do to us if you kill him. To Justice. To Sebastian."
He was right. "Fair enough," I said. "Fuck this guy, though."
I shot a warning glance at Coco before holstering my weapon.
"You're lucky I don't kill you right now," I said. "Thank the doctor here."
"You really played this wrong, Skylar," Coco said. "Vito won't be pleased."
"Well, I'm pleased," I said. "And you can go fuck yourself. Now go away before I change my mind."
Coco sneered at me, the blood from his wound dripping onto the pavement. "You can't stop what's coming," he said. "Vito will find you. And when he does, you'll wish you'd never crossed him."
"I honestly don't care," I replied, my voice hard. "You've shown me that you can't be trusted. I will do whatever it takes to protect Sebastian and Justice, even if it means going to war with you."
Zane stepped in front of me, a protective look on his face. "You heard the man," he said to Coco. "Get lost."
Coco glared at us for a moment before finally turning and walking away, limping slightly from my gunshot wound.
"You okay?" Zane asked me, concern etched on his face.
"I'll live," I replied, trying to brush off the pain. "He's not worth worrying about."
Zane nodded. "Maybe not him, but his boss will be an issue," he said, grabbing me. "Come on. You can lean on me."
"What about Lee and Darius?"
"They probably already went back," he said. "They know to scamper as soon as they hear a gunshot. We’ll have them come back for the rest of the shipment. You need to recover."
I nodded, sighing deeply as I did. As we walked back to the car, my thoughts were consumed by the threat that Vito posed. I kept glancing over my shoulder, half-expecting him to appear and finish what Coco had started. But Zane was right - we couldn't let fear dictate our actions. We needed to be prepared for anything, to defend ourselves and those we cared about.
But fuck, I had really wanted to kill Coco.
"Where's Bash?" I asked.
"Different car," Zane said. "He already left with Hassan."
"Justice?" I asked.
"She's home," Zane said. "I'm not going to be able to talk you into going to the hospital, am I?"
I leaned against the headrest of the passenger seat. "You can try," I said. “But why would I do that when we could play doctor at home?”
He sighed. "Okay, I'll look you over," Zane said, his hand on my shoulder as he pressed a button to start the car. "But don't scare me like that again."
"Doc," I replied, savoring the air conditioning as it hit my skin. "This time, it wasn't really my fault."
Zane gave me a half-smile, his eyes still filled with concern. "True, but that doesn't mean it won't happen again. And this was a warning shot–next time, it won't be by your choice. You need to be prepared."
"I know," I said, trying to sound convincing. "I just really wanted to kill that guy. I was going to leave him alone, but then he was on top of you, and he was hurting you..."
"I can take care of myself."
"I know, doc, but you don't have to," I replied, leaning my head against his shoulder. "I'm right here."
He leaned his head down to kiss the top of my head. "I know, babe," he replied. "I know."