Predator

56

Her pupils contracted sharply.

"Did you find it?" Liam's impatient voice came from behind.

"Yes, I found it."

The bullet looked like a 9.3mm, commonly used for hunting large game. Thick blood clung to the skin, difficult to remove without carefully cutting along the wound with scissors.

The kit only had alcohol, a needle and thread, a knife, and tweezers.

"There's a lighter in the nightstand. Sterilize the knife, cut the flesh a bit, and use the tweezers to pull it out... Can you sew clothes? Just sew it up."

She hesitated.

"What about anesthetic?"

Liam turned to look at her. "I've never seen such a thing."

But Amelia couldn't do it. Her hands holding the knife and tweezers trembled.

"Planning to get back at me, hmm?"

At his words, Amelia's hand holding the needle slipped again.

Suturing the wound was harder than fighting off hyenas. Liam endured the pain, sweat pouring down his body, while Amelia, paler than him, had blood all over her hands.

He wiped the blood from her hands, bit by bit.

"Can't wait three days?"

"Today, I took a bullet for you. You'll owe me."

Amelia's mind was in turmoil, fearing he would discover the paper hidden in her bra.

What future? How could there be a future between them?

The bullet was embedded less than two inches from Liam's heart. When Amelia sewed it up, it looked like a dark, crawling worm.

He removed his shirt, stood with his back to the mirror, and touched the new, ugly scar with some regret.

Only one.

What a shame.

...

For the next three days, Liam claimed he was sick. The story of him being accidentally shot by a night guard during some rough outdoor play with a woman quickly spread.

Mercenaries who feared him snickered behind his back, and the gossip reached S's ears—

"Interesting, getting so infatuated with a woman."

S said nothing, his blue eyes fixed on a window that remained curtained even during the day.

Is that really the case?