The Story of Blood and Roses

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"You\'re staying at the mansion from now on." The warning was clear.

"I don\'t understand, Boss. It\'s just a bullet," I reasoned lamely. We had been going over this argument for the past hour and had yet to come to a conclusion.

"No, they know where you live and we are this close to getting our shipment back. I don\'t want my plans to go down the gutter because of your stubbornness." I rolled my eyes.

"I can take care of myself, Bo-"

"That is what I thought, as well, Mia." His eyes bore into mine as he spat at me. "How can I trust you to be prepared when we are out there on the field after what I saw today?" his voice grew louder. "You got hit by a bullet, Mia. I warned you, but you couldn\'t dodge it in time. You just stood there. It took you longer than it should process the situation and you got hit. My life is supposed to be in your hands, but you couldn\'t even protect yourself!"

"Why the fuck are you screaming at me, Anthony? I was there. I know what happened."

"I\'m screaming at you because you broke my faith in your capabilities today." Disappointment rushed through me.

"I wasn\'t prepared!" I screamed back.

"You should have been!" he went around his desk and was now looming over me with a dark expression on his face. He grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet. "Why did you not comprehend me?" I grit my teeth as I waited for him to finish his rant.

"I am not a machine, I am human. Don\'t treat me like shit because I didn\'t notice the sniper or duck in time. You reached before me and had time to recognize the problem. I just walked in and was bombarded by that order of yours." His eyes narrowed as his grip on my arm tightened.

"Always be prepared, or you\'re gonna get yourself killed, Mia." I nodded, realizing that his anger had dissipated. I had managed to get through to him, somehow. His eyes zoomed in on where he was gripping me and then he froze. Instantly, he let his arm drop and he stumbled a few steps back. "Fuck, I\'m so sorry." His eyes eyed my arm and then flickered to my face. I nodded faintly, relieved to have his hand off my arm. "Are you hurt?" he asked, unsure. I raised my brow at him. "Just answer me, dammit." I just shook my head. He let his breath in a gush and then went over to his chair and sat down. He scrubbed his face with his hands and then looked up at me with a pained look.

"I\'m sorry," he said again, surprising me.

"It\'s okay," I assured him softly. After that, we just sat there silently as we went over files that everyone had sent us to inform us of the progress that was being made in conjuring a team to raid Luke Darcy\'s storehouse at Syracuse.

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