Chapter 3 - The Sanctuary of the Lion's DenThe massive enforcer named Max didn't use violence; he simply reached out with a hand the size of a dinner plate, gently grabbed Josie by the back of her coat, and effortlessly lifted her aside as if she weighed nothing at all.
"Hey! Let go of me!" Josie kicked and thrashed, but it was useless.
She watched in horror as Vance knelt down beside the bleeding dog. She expected the animal to snap, to tear into the crime lord's throat. Instead, the giant Cane Corso let out a soft, pathetic whimper, pressing his massive head weakly against Vance’s knee.
Vance’s cold, impenetrable expression cracked for a single fraction of a second. A flash of raw, unfiltered agony passed through his ice-blue eyes. He gently stroked the dog’s broad, blood-matted head.
"Good boy, Nero," Vance murmured, his voice softening into something almost tender before hardening back into steel as he looked up at his men. "Get him into the back of the van. Now. Dr. Hayes better be waiting at the estate, or heads will roll."
As the enforcers lifted the heavy animal onto a stretcher, Vance stood up and turned his attention back to Josie, who was still glaring daggers at him, rubbing her bruised arm.
"You," Vance said, walking slowly toward her.
"What? Are you going to shoot me too for seeing you?" Josie spat back, refusing to cower.
"If I wanted you dead, you wouldn't have had time to finish your sentence," Vance replied bluntly. He reached into his coat, pulled out a gold-embossed business card, and held it out. Josie didn't take it, so he slipped it neatly into the pocket of her jacket instead. "You saved Nero’s life. Or at least, you kept him alive long enough for us to salvage him. I don't like owing debts, Miss... Brennan."
"How do you know my name?" Josie gasped.
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"I know everything that happens in this city," Vance said flatly, turning back toward his vehicle. "Nero only trusts pack. For reasons I cannot fathom, he allowed you to touch him, shield him, and bleed on him without ripping your throat out. That makes you valuable. Pack comes home."
Before Josie could process his words, Vance climbed into the Mercedes, and the convoy roared out of the alley, leaving Josie standing alone in the freezing wind with a gold card burning a hole in her pocket.
