Heartless People

TWENTY-SEVEN

LAUREN.

Its not hers. Its not hers! My brain screamed, forcing me to move again to see past the blood. Blinking for what felt like forever, Monte and Fedel both shielded Camila as she sat up on her knees, blood soaking her dress and her hands. The bullet had missed her.

She had stumbled because of the weight of Antonios body as it came down. Fedel yelled, glancing back as the sirens descended upon us.

"The police are on the way, Ma'am. We need to go."

"We aren't leaving him on the fucking street!" Camz hissed, staring into the hole that was now between Antonios eyes.

"Camila, its not—"

"I said NO! And that was a motherfucking order," she snapped. "We aren't running, we aren't leaving him, and we are going to make that bitch pay!"

I kneeled beside her, not caring that the rapidly cooling wetness underneath me was blood. It seemed to be flowing out of him like a never-ending river. Neither of us spoke. I was grateful it wasnt her.

When I watched her fall, when I thought she'd been hit, it was the worst moment in my sorry excuse of a life.

"Are you okay?" I whispered, and she glared at me as if I had asked her the dumbest question ever to leave a mans lips. I looked at her stomach. Her stomach spattered with stains of blood. It wasn't hers, but she had still fallen.

"He's fine. Monte caught me before I went down," was all she said before she tore her gaze from mine and back to the man I barely knew but owed everything to.

"The cops are here," Monte said, holstering his weapon and finally facing us. In his eyes a storm was brewing harsher than anything even Mother Nature could produce.

"What do you want us to do?" he asked, finally looking at me.

I glanced over my shoulder as four cars with stunning red and blue lights pulled up. The occupants didn't even wait for their vehicles to come to a complete halt before jumping out. I knew these
were just the tip of the iceberg, the first of many public servants who I could only imagine were chomping at the bit to get some sort of recognition or in with the Jauregui's. Whether to try to use it for
personal gain or thinking this would be their shot at law enforcement glory, only God knew.

"Give the police a statement," I said. "Then go drink on my dime. We grieve for our loss, and then we find this bitch and burn her alive." It was all I said before the yelling began as they came to save us.

"Ma'am, Mrs. Jauregui, come with us! We're clearing the area! Are you hurt? Do you need medical attention?"

All I wanted was a date, not the fucking flood gates of hell to open.

CAMILA

"Mrs. Jauregui, are you sure you don't need a doctor?" Scooter, the know-it-all cop, asked me as I rested against our Range Rover.

The whole opera house had been cleared just a few moments ago, but none of the guests had left. The only thing more tragic than an opera was our real lives. With dogs, the pigs were there with their
flashing lights, silver badges and yellow tape; all of them taking pictures of Antonios body as he lay there, cold and lifeless. He wasn't supposed to die. My men died when I fucking said they died at least if the world worked as it should.

"Mrs. Jauregui?"

"We're fine, officer," Lauren said. "I think its time I took my wife home." She came to stand beside me.

"Mrs. Jauregui, if you have anything to add to this investigation —"

"Like I said before, we were leaving the opera when our bodyguard was shot," Lauren hissed, opening the car door for me.