Page 93 of The Arrangement

“You haven’t opened up that pretty thing in days. Let me be the one to do it properly.”

That was sadly true. Despite how much she loved her Bentley, Viviana didn’t get to drive it as much as she wanted.

“No.”

Viviana unlocked the car just as Rocco came to sniff her leg. A sharp bark fell from his curled back muzzle, stopping her action up short.

Rory opened the door on his side, not even thinking about the warning the pup had just given off. Anton was out the front door shouting her name fearfully. Rocco bit down onto her wrist with damning force. Then, she heard the slight hiss before a tick … tick … tick echoed.

Viviana hit the ground, all breath gone at impact.

It was heat …

Screams …

Pain …

And then nothing.

Chapter Twenty

Anton stared with unseeing eyes at the emergency room lobby. All he could picture was Viviana, lying pale and slumped on the pavement. Dimly he registered that Ivan was talking to him, but Anton barely heard, unable to stop his mind from replaying the terrifying events, the horror and helplessness he’d felt when that car bomb exploded.

“Please open your eyes, Viviana … look at me.”

“Call the ambulance!”

The lowest, most achingly pain-filled whine from the pup curled around one of his arms was the hardest thing Anton ever had to hear, next to the total silence of the woman in his other. He’d take anything, even air, to pass her lips.

“… time relay, gave it a five-second lapse before the pipe blew. Someone screwed it up when they set up the wires because it shouldn’t have had a delay like that at all. The blast wasn’t as big, either.”

“Rory, you good? Rory!”

“Yeah, I’m good. Shit. Knocked the wind out of me for a minute. Cracked my head on the pavement.”

“The second floor and basement needs to be cleaned the fuck out. We’ve got three minutes at the most.”

“Did they clear out the safe house?”

“Just in time before the cops showed,” someone else piped in.

“Boss?”

“Call the goddamn—”

“I did … I did.”

“Rocco took most of the hit. She didn’t get a burn on her, thank God. They’re performing an emergency operation at the vet. Burned half of his side to nothing.”

“Get that vet on the phone for my dog!”

“Somebody get the vet on call for Rocco!”

“I’m sorry, Boss … I didn’t know.”

“Ambulance is here …”

“When was her car left unattended?”