CHAPTER 3 — THE BULLET THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
CHAPTER 3 — THE BULLET THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
The impact sounded nothing like it did in movies.
There was no dramatic explosion.
Only a sickening, heavy thud.
Maxim Rosetti's body jerked violently as the bullet slammed into his left shoulder, spinning him sideways before he crashed into Adelaide.
The force knocked them both to the tile floor.
Bee couldn't hear.
The world dissolved into ringing.
Broken glass glittered around them like ice.
Someone was screaming.
It took several seconds to realize the scream was hers.
"MAXIM!"
The gunfire outside continued.
Three more shots.
A waiter from another restaurant ran past the front window.
Car alarms began wailing up and down the block.
One of Maxim's bodyguards rolled behind an overturned booth and returned fire through the shattered entrance.
The bald bodyguard barked into an earpiece.
"South side! Gray hoodie! Eastbound! Don't let him disappear!"
The shooter vanished into the rain.
A black SUV accelerated away.
Within seconds, it was gone.
Only silence remained.
Silence...
...and blood.
A frightening amount of blood.
Bee looked down.
Her hands were covered in it.
Maxim's blood.
"Oh God..."
Maxim pushed himself up with one arm.
His face had gone pale, but his voice remained steady.
"I'm fine."
"You've been shot!"
"I noticed."
His suit jacket was soaked crimson.
The bullet had entered high in his shoulder.
Blood poured through his fingers as he pressed against the wound.
Bee tore off her apron without thinking.
"What are you doing?" one bodyguard demanded.
"Trying to keep your boss alive!"
She folded the thick fabric and shoved it against the wound.
"Hold this!"
Maxim didn't move.
"I said hold it!"
For the first time since meeting him...
...he obeyed someone else's order.
Sirens echoed somewhere in the distance.
The customers stumbled outside.
Several recorded everything on their phones.
Bee ignored them.
She had only one thought.
Stop the bleeding.
Her father had volunteered with the fire department when she was little.
He had taught her basic first aid.
"Pressure," he'd always said.
"People panic. Don't panic. Pressure saves lives."
Bee pushed harder.
Maxim gritted his teeth.
"You have terrible bedside manners."
"You'll live."
"You sound disappointed."
"You got shot saving me."
"I made a tactical decision."
"No."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"You chose."
He didn't answer.
The bald bodyguard crouched beside them.
"We have to move."
"No," Bee snapped.
"He needs an ambulance."
"We don't use ambulances."
"You don't have a choice."
"We do."
Two more SUVs screeched to a stop outside.
Eight armed men flooded the diner.
Their movements were disciplined.
Military.
Efficient.
One knelt beside Maxim.
"Boss."
"I'm alive."
"We need to go."
Bee glared.
"He's losing blood."
"We have doctors."
"He needs a hospital."
Maxim finally spoke.
"No hospitals."
Bee stared at him.
"Are you insane?"
"Frequently."
"You could die."
"So could you."
That sentence hung in the air.
Bee frowned.
"What?"
He looked toward the ruined window.
"The shooter ignored six armed men."
His dark eyes settled on her.
"He came for you."
Bee laughed nervously.
"No."
Maxim didn't smile.
"I've buried enough people to recognize intent."
One bodyguard added quietly,
"The rifle never moved off her."
Bee's stomach twisted.
"But why?"
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
Police sirens grew louder.
The bodyguards became tense.
"We have sixty seconds."
Maxim slowly stood.
His legs nearly buckled.
Bee instinctively caught him.
He looked surprised.
"So..."
She adjusted his weight against her shoulder.
"...apparently you're heavier than you look."
"You just insulted an injured man."
"I'm multitasking."
Despite the pain...
Maxim laughed.
A genuine laugh.
Every bodyguard froze.
None of them had heard that sound in years.
Outside, flashing red and blue lights illuminated the rain.
Maxim looked at Bee.
"You have a decision."
"I already decided."
"No."
He shook his head.
"You haven't."
Police cars turned onto the street.
"If you stay..."
His voice was calm.
"...whoever wanted you dead now knows exactly where you work."
Bee looked toward Gina.
The older woman stood trembling in the doorway.
Then toward the apartment she rented.
Toward her mother's care facility.
Toward the life she had fought so hard to hold together.
It had all become a target.
Because of one sentence.
"I'll end you."
She whispered,
"My life is over."
Maxim answered softly.
"No."
May you like
He opened the SUV door.
"It just became expensive."
