Bang!

A bullet whizzed by her and hit another man behind her, who had pulled out a gun. He hit the ground, lifeless, as blood oozed out of his chest.

"Geez." Grace jumped back and stepped on the foot of the man who grabbed her.

He yelped, but still tried to grab her again as the first one got to their feet.

"Unless you want to end up like your friend, you'll scurry away back to the hellhole you came from," Vincent said, a gun aimed at the first one.

"Tch..." They inched away and grabbed the other man before they both bolted.

"Ha..." Grace sighed and leant against the wall. She caught a glimpse of the dead man out of the corner of her eye and cringed as she looked away.

"Are you alright, cara mia?" Vincent asked, handing the gun back to Zain. He had taken it from him before he even had a chance to react when they were rushing over.

"I'll be fine; just a little... Ugh..." She tried to shake out her nerves and leaned over, her stomach feeling sick. Being attacked again, so close in time, it felt worse than when she was a cop. "Is this a daily occurrence for you two?"

"No," they both said in unison.

"It's obvious you're being targeted," Zain said. "This is why he wanted you to stay inside. He's going to kill me."

"That's only if we tell him," Grace said. If he knows, he'll be more likely to lock me up like a princess.

"I have to tell him."

"The only thing we have to worry about is the body." Grace pointed over at it, making sure not to look. She'd seen dead bodies before, and even had to shoot people, but that didn't mean she liked to deal with the aftermath.

"The body is easy enough to deal with." Vincent pulled out his phone to contact his cleaners.

"Grace, I can't keep this from the boss." Zain stood in front of her and dropped a hand on her shoulder. "You were almost taken, and we don't know what they would've had in store for you."

"In case you still haven't noticed, I do quite well with handling myself."

"And what about the guy with the gun? How would you have dealt with him?"

"It's hard to say how that would've gone, but you know I'm good at disarming, too."

"At that distance? You don't have your gun on you to use it."

"I know, but he would've been closer at some point."

"Face it; you're better off not being on your own right now."

Grace's expression dropped. "And whose fault is that?" She swatted his hand away as she pushed off the wall and headed back to their booth.

A couple of men in masks walked into the cafe and went straight to the back.

"That was fast." No wonder the cops have trouble with the mafia; they're more organized than we are, and they have better resources.

"Of course," Vincent said as he slid in beside her. "We're run quite well."

"You're also a good shot and didn't hesitate to kill..." Grace bit her lip.

"It was you or them, cara mia." Vincent brushed her hair bangs back over her ear, hoping she'd turn his way.

"Hate to break it to you, but she doesn't seem to like killing or maiming people, even if they're after her," Zain said, remembering the first incident.

"That's too bad; in our line of work, it's bound to happen. I can try my best to keep it from you, but as you've seen, it'll be hard to do."

"I bet it's hard for a sharpshooter like you. I know we weren't at a distance, but you couldn't have done more of a perfect shot." Zain tapped his chest over his heart. "Terrifyingly good."

"I've had my share of practice. From what I hear, you'd a good shot, too, cara mia." He tilted his head as he gazed at her.

"Best in the department, or at least I was..." Her shoulders slouched.

"You do love to be a cop, don't you?"

"Of course; I love helping people. I love making the city safer. I love giving people justice."

"All things you can still do in the mafia, with fewer rules to abide by."

"You mean by breaking the law I tried so hard to keep?" Grace's brows knitted together. "I still don't know what to do."

"At least it feels like you've come to terms with your situation," Zain said. "Once you were brought here into this world, there was no going back."

"Coming to terms with it doesn't help anything, though. I'm trapped here, and I'm going to be forced to marry someone so he can pass on his title to a Bertolottis."

"At least he's giving you a couple of options."

Grace rolled her eyes. "It's only been a few days, and I'm wondering if I'll go insane being kept inside, especially after today. You're set on telling him, but that only means he'll probably try to keep me inside more—"

"You've only been here a few days—"

"And I'm used to going out; I'm used to doing something every day. I'm used to having my freedom."

"You're a cop; how free can you be?"

"I don't have someone following me and keeping tabs on my every move."

"I beg to differ. He's kept an eye on you for so long. Besides, what about Roger? He follows you like he's your pet dog."

"Who's Roger?" Vincent asked, finally speaking up.

"Uh..."

"My partner," Grace answered automatically.

"Partner?"

"As in my cop partner."

"Oh, I see." Vincent's eyes narrowed. "And you two are still in contact?" His voice lowered.

A chill ran down her spine. "Sorta." Did I just put him in danger? "We don't really get to talk much."

Zain smirked at her as if to say 'told you'.

Don't be a pushover, Grace! "Is that a problem?" She turned to Vincent, and he already had his intense gaze fixed on her.

"It might be. Having another man so close to you, who knows you in ways I don't, could instill doubt. And I'm not the biggest on sharing." Vincent sighed. He didn't want to scare her away, but he knew he wouldn't do well with another man hanging around her too much. He took a deep breath and looked away. "I'm sorry about that. I hope I didn't scare you."

"Takes more than that to scare me." Can't say it wasn't a bit worrying, though.

"So it seems. Although, sometimes you look like a scared kitten, other times a ferocious tiger. Two sides of you, I suppose."

One of Vincent's cleaners approached him and whispered into his ear before scurrying off with the others, leaving the place spick and span.

"Hmph..."

"What is it? Assuming you care to share?" Zain asked.

"We know who's after the princess."

Zain sat straight up. The person they had caught and tortured turned out to be a hired hand and wasn't useful in finding out who was behind it. "Do tell."

"The Marini family."