The men scattered, tripping over themselves to run.The stairwell was packed with onlookers. Luca turned to Sofia.“Are you hurt?”Sofia threw herself into his arms. “My ankle. It hurts so bad, Luca.”Without a word, he lifted her into his arms, and pushed through the crowd toward the exit.To keep Sofia shielded, he threw his elbow out, and it slammed hard into my chest. I lost my balance, and tumbled backward down the marble stairs.My forehead cracked against the edge of a step. White-hot pain exploded through my skull, and warm blood poured down my face, blurring my vision.The crowd gasped. Someone yelled for a doctor.I lay there, cold sweat breaking out across my skin, my fingers brushing the blood on my forehead. I looked up.All I saw was Luca’s back, carrying Sofia away, without a single glance back. He vanished around the corner, and the bitter taste in my mouth was worse than the pain in my head.Once, when I’d taken a bullet for him, a graze along my arm, he’d panick
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