MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS to go grab my gun that was on the nightstand, but I knew I’d be too slow. Still, I was willing to try throwing myself behind the bed and reaching the nightstand, but before I could do that, I spotted a few drops of something on the floor right next to his foot. Theo stumbled forward and then went down. It took me a moment to realize what had just happened, and against my better judgment, instead of going for the gun, I ran toward him.

“Theo!” I crouched next to him as he rolled over onto his back. His shirt was soaked with blood, which was pooling on my floor. “Oh God. Theo!” Placing my hand on his cheek, I stared into his dark eyes. “What happened? What...?”

His brow was sweaty, his breathing labored. “I just... I wanted to see you... one last time.” A smile spread across his lips as his fingers brushed my cheek, and then his eyes rolled back into his head and his hand dropped to his side.

“Theo, hey, no! Theo!” The desperation in my voice wasn’t enough to wake him, and I grabbed the hem of his shirt, lifting it up. My fingers ended up coated in blood. Oh God. He’d been shot. Had it been the Cobras? But why weren’t they here already then? Shit.

I got to my feet, my mind in overdrive, my heart in my throat. I couldn’t just let him die in here. Yeah, his death would solve many of my problems and I might not even need protection anymore, or at least a little bit less of it, but I’d be damned if I didn’t try something to help him.

I rushed for my phone and quickly dialed the number of my friend Alice. She was a nurse and also ran a special secret clinic for gang members and all the people who couldn’t go to a hospital. I’d used Alice’s help more than once and I’d already asked for too many favors, but I didn’t have any other option. If I called anyone else, they’d tell me to let Theo die and I couldn’t allow that to happen.

“Alice!” I said as soon as she picked up. “I need your help. My friend’s been shot and he’s unconscious on the floor of my apartment. Please help me,” I choked out.

“Chiara?” Surprise was evident in Alice’s voice. “Are you...?”

“Please get here immediately and don’t tell the Cobras anything. I know I’ve gotten you involved in so many things and... But I just... I...” Tears filled my eyes.

“I’ll be right over. You said your friend was shot?”

“Yeah. I guess.” It was dark and I hadn’t been able to see too much.

“Keep pressure on the wound. I’ll bring Eric with me.”

“Okay. Thanks.” I lowered the phone and rushed back to Theo. After I grabbed a towel from my closet, I pressed it against his wound. “Hey, Theo, wake up. Please. Come on.” There was no response, and for a second, I was afraid that he was already gone. But as I pressed my fingers over his pulse, I could still feel it flutter. “Damn it, Theo, just open your eyes. Please.”

How the hell had he gotten in here? He must have used the fire escape stairway, but the Cobras were supposed to be guarding and watching it too, so what the hell had happened to them? If they were dead, then why hadn’t the others come to check on me? Surely, Theo wouldn’t have been able to take them all out without raising any alarms.

I had to assume the Cobras didn’t know he’d gotten in here. Maybe he’d found a way to distract them so he could sneak to the stairway, or he’d incapacitated one or two of them. There was no time for me to go check, and I definitely didn’t want the Cobras to get in here and kill Theo or prevent Alice from doing her job. She’d tell me if the Cobras were still out there once she got here.

For a moment, I considered the option that Theo wasn’t alone, but then his friends or people who worked for him would’ve been here looking for him. Besides, he’d always preferred to do everything on his own. And what he’d said... that he’d come here to see me... I didn’t dare to believe it, because that would mean he still cared about me.

“Theo, come on.” I patted his cheek gently, but his eyes didn’t open. What if Alice got here too late?

I had no idea how much time had passed when my phone rang. “Yeah?” I said after managing to press the answer button with my bloody finger.

“Alice and Eric are here.” I recognized the voice of one of my guards. “They say you invited them. Is that true?”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I forgot to tell you. Let them in.” So my guards were still out there and weren’t even aware of what was going on. Okay, that wasn’t too much of a surprise, considering how skillful Theo was at getting into places unseen. I placed the phone down on the floor and rushed to unlock the door, hoping Theo would be fine.

I was never more relieved to see Alice’s dark brown eyes as I opened the door and let her and Eric inside while I hid my bloody hands from view of the guards outside. When I closed the door, I turned toward Alice.

“Where’s your friend?” she asked, tying her dark brown hair in a bun, as Eric opened a duffel bag full of medical supplies.

“My room.”

“If I understood correctly, your friend can’t go to a hospital and your guards can’t know about him.” She gave me a quick look as we strode toward my room.

“Yeah, I... He’s kind of...” I didn’t know what to say.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain.” She was at Theo’s side in a second, and I had to step back so Eric could pass too.

“You should wait outside,” Eric said, his dark eyes trained on me. “We’ll take care of your friend.”

“But I can help you with...”

“We’ll call for you if we need anything.” He offered me a small smile and closed the door. Shit. I paced up and down the hallway, then glanced down at Theo’s blood on my fingers. This was so not happening. Except it was.

I hurried to the bathroom to wash my hands, and Eric came a few moments later, but instead of telling me anything, he only poured some water into a container he had with him. I supposed asking him if Theo was going to be fine would be a waste of his time because he would’ve told me something if there was any news, so I let him walk out of there. Theo was strong. He’d pull through. He had to.

***

I DIDN’T KNOW HOW LONG I’d been sitting in the living room and staring at the wall when Alice sat down on the sofa next to me. My eyes lifted to hers, and I was holding my breath for her next words.

“It wasn’t easy, and I don’t have all the equipment here, but, if there aren’t any complications, he should be fine.”

“Oh God. Thank you.” I wrapped my arms around her.

“He’s lucky nothing important was hit. The wound looked worse than it really was, and the bullet was laced with poison.”

“Poison?” I blinked at her.

“Yes. I’m not sure what it is.”

“But the antidote...” Was there some kind of a universal antidote that had worked?

“The antidote was actually in his pocket. Eric discovered it by accident. We didn’t have any other choice but to try it out, so we did, and it worked.”

“Oh. That’s weird.”

“It’s possible he got shot with his own gun.” Alice eyed me carefully. “What kind of trouble did you get yourself into now? Between you and Vix, I’m not sure who’s worse.”

“I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have called you if...”

She placed her hand over mine. “You know you can call me any time. I’m only concerned about you. Who’s the man whose life I just saved? Is your life at risk with him around?”

“I wasn’t the one who shot him, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“No, that’s not it. Do you want me to keep him sedated?”

I thought about it for a moment. If Theo woke up too soon, he’d try to leave, even if he wasn’t in a condition to take care of himself. Yeah, I was an idiot who was worried about the safety of the man who wanted to put a bullet in my head.

Theo had been under the influence of the poison when he’d gotten here, so it was possible it had all been a hallucination of some kind and he hadn’t truly wanted to see me. It was a little annoying that he knew exactly where I lived, but it wasn’t that hard to obtain that info. Still, I preferred to try to live like a regular person rather than hide in some safe house. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t seen hideouts breached before, and I really liked my apartment.

“Um, yeah,” I finally said. “I don’t know how he’ll react when he realizes where he is, and he could reopen the wound or something.”

“Alright. I definitely don’t want to have to patch him up again.” Her eyes focused on mine. “Are you sure you want him to stay here? We can arrange for him to be transferred somewhere else. I don’t know why you don’t want your guards to know about him, but if...”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Nothing will happen to me.”

She gave me a small smile, then got to her feet. “Won’t your guards be surprised that we stayed in here for so long?”

“No, I... I’ll text them or just go tell them we all got drunk and had a bad hangover or something.” I could handle the Cobras.

“Oh,” Alice said just as she was about to leave the room. “I forgot to tell you we moved him onto your bed.”

“That’s fine.” Theo in my bed. Oh God. Just what I needed.

“You were just a teen when you brought me your first boyfriend with a gunshot wound, but the advice I gave you then about surrounding yourself with people who are bad for you still counts. You didn’t forget it, did you?”

I shook my head. My first boyfriend happened to be a gang member too, although he’d been just entry-level and mostly a thief. After he’d gotten shot, I’d taken him to Alice, who I’d met when I’d ended up at a hospital after a night that included lots of drugs and alcohol. I’d broken up with him once he recovered and once I decided I had enough of hanging out with criminals and junkies.

Wait, had Alice just assumed Theo was my...? “Whoa, wait. He’s not... He’s totally not my boyfriend. I mean, he’s hot and all, but...”

Alice’s eyebrows shot up, a smile playing on her lips. “You should get some rest. Eric and I will go home in a few hours. I’ll leave some of the sedative in case you need it, and I’ll stop by to check up on him. You should call me immediately if his condition changes for the worse.”

“Can I go see him?” I hopped to my feet. Now that Alice had mentioned getting some rest, I realized I’d been awake the whole night and morning.

“Sure.”

I headed to my room and cracked the door open. Theo’s eyes were closed, his face peaceful, and I hesitated for a moment, but then I entered the room. My pink bed covers were pulled up to his chest, and his bare arms rested at his sides.

I stepped closer, reaching out toward his hand and brushing my fingers against his. The small contact sent a jolt of energy through my body. I was so, so glad that he was okay that I couldn’t even describe that feeling. As I took a closer look at his arms, I noticed a whole lot of pale thin scars. I traced my finger across a few of them, then snatched my hand back as if I’d been burned. Would he even want me to touch him like this? Or would he be repulsed? I took a step back and headed for the door.