I look at Josh who is lying on the bed in front of me. He is bleeding profusely. I move my chair closer to him and help him remove his shirt. He winces in pain as I touch his arm. He has been shot in the shoulder. I immediately take his shirt and press it on his wound not knowing how else to stop the bleeding.

I divert my gaze and find max looking at me intently.

"Max get me the first aid from the drawer," I command him. My voice comes out a bit harsher than I intended it to be. I don't know if I am angry or frustrated.

It was supposed to be a clandestine deal between us and the Russians. Then how the hell cops got hold of it. Who could have informed them about our negotiation? I know that we do have plenty of enemies. But they wouldn't dare to get on my way. They would surely think twice before messing with me. Whoever did this, I wouldn't let him go away easily with this. I would make them pay for my loss. This meeting was going to be the most profitable one in our business and they just ruined it. Now I have to reschedule it at some other place. but we have to stay put until the matter cools down.

"Here, take this." Max gives me the first aid box.

I take a piece of cotton from it, dab it with antiseptic, and start cleaning Josh's wound. He cries in pain as it makes contact with his flesh.

"Hey don't move, you'll hurt yourself more," I tell him moving the cotton now more carefully around his wound. Fuck! if he bleeds anymore he would surely die. I can't afford to lose josh. he is one of my trusted men and has been working with us for such a long time. I have to do something. it is my responsibility to make sure that nothing happens to anyone in my gang.

"What the fuck is taking Tony so long to get a fucking doctor here?" I roar at max losing my temper.

"Calm down Chris. I'm sure something would have caught up in between. he must be on his way by now." he tells me placing a hand on my shoulder.

I sigh and run my fingers through my hair in frustration. before I try to say something I hear footsteps approaching us outside. jumping on my feet, I run towards the door. I open the door and walk in their direction. to my surprise I find tony holding a girl. From her appearance, it seems like she is the doctor. She is wearing a white coat and stethoscope which is almost on the verge of falling from her neck. She looks at me as I come in her vision. I don't know why she looks at me like that. Is it with admiration or what? Of course, I know I am handsome but the way she is looking at me right now makes me feel something unusual inside me. But it just stays for a minute and then it turns out into disgust. She is beautiful, I look at her ocean blue eyes and cute little nose. I brush that thought off my mind. this isn't the time to admire her beauty. Josh is bleeding to death inside. I need to help him. His life is on the line and I have to save him.

"Get her in," I say turning around and going back to the room where Josh is resting.

Max is now sitting beside him on the chair where I was sitting earlier. He stands up as soon as he sees me. Tony and other men walk in behind me dragging up the girl. I signal tony to leave her. She stares at me blankly as tony let go of her hand.

"What the fuck are you waiting for? Start doing your job." I say angrily.

She looks at me in confusion as if she doesn't understand what I am talking about. What? Doesn't she know what a doctor does? After all, she is a fucking doctor? Is she trying to act dumb or she really is? I look back to tony and he turns his face away from me as if he is sorry for something. That is when the girl looks at Josh and screams.

"Oh my god! He is bleeding." she looks horrified saying that.

"That is so informative of you miss otherwise I thought he spilled out tomato ketchup over his chest." I spat sarcastically. She looks at me in astonishment.

"Chris she isn't a doctor." Tony interrupts in between.

"What?" I ask him in disbelief.

"Yes, I am not a doctor. I am a vet." The girl states.

Now I get why she was acting so strange in the first place. I look back at Tony with irritation.

"Do you get fucking paid to make a mistake as silly as bringing a vet instead of a doctor?"

Tony doesn't meet my gaze. This is fucking unbelievable. How could he do such a stupid thing?

"We weren't able to find any hospital or clinic working this late at night Chris. It was the only clinic that was up in the nearby range. And it didn't occur to us until we saw the clinic board. We thought that maybe she would be helpful." Tony says looking guilty.

"Chris, we need to do something. Josh lost his consciousness ."Max tells worriedly.

I turn around to look at the girl who is still staring at Josh lying on the bed.

"We need to get him to the hospital. otherwise, he would die." the girl says now looking straight at me with a concerned look on her face.

"No that's not possible. as it would have already occurred to you that we don't appear to be normal civilians. we can't risk taking him to the hospital." I tell her in a bored tone looking at josh. I turn around again to look at her "haven't you been taught to treat a bullet wound? I mean an animal been shot. like in poaching or something like that?" I ask her casually. I don't know she should be knowing right?

"No I am not a wildlife veterinarian, so I don't deal with such cases. I only treat domestic animals." she shoots an irritated glare while saying that. she walks past ignoring me and making her way to josh, her face softens as she looks at him, studying his injured area.

"I guess I can do something. I can't let him die in front of me." She looks at me for a moment and then turns away. " but I would need some necessary things required to remove the bullet."

I nod at her and order Max to get a pen and paper for her. Max hands her the paper on which she writes down the tools needed to carry out the surgery. I give that paper to tony and instruct him to get the things as soon as possible otherwise if anything happens to josh, he would have a place reserved for him right next to josh's grave.

Soon he gets back with everything in a bag and gives it to the girl. I look back to her and see that she appears different now. She is no longer scared or vulnerable. It seems like she has gotten into her professional mode, Carrying a confident and determined aura around her. I watch her in awe as she begins to do her job. I dismiss everyone else in the room so that she wouldn't find herself getting disturbed. I feel like I should leave her alone too but like a hypocrite, I decided to stay there as you know I am the boss, I can do whatever I want. Nobody can fucking ask me questions. But I make my way to the far end of the room so that I wouldn't be a bother to her. I watch her removing the bullet with a scalpel. She does everything with precision and perfection. I Stare at her as she finishes stitching the wound. At this very moment, she looks like an angel came on earth to save the lives of shitty people.

As I am lost staring at her, she meets my gaze wondering what the hell I am doing. Then she motions me to get there. I walk towards her.

"I have removed the bullet from his shoulder. But I am not sure if he'll make it." She looks sad saying that. "We have to wait until he gains his consciousness." She tells handing me the bag which now contains pieces of waste cotton covered with blood.

" Thank you," I say. I am a bit closer to her than I should actually be as I take the bag from her hand. I can smell her perfume. Fuck! How is it possible for someone to smell this good?

She hesitates, tugging a loose strand of hair behind her ear and takes a step back. She doesn't look at me. Is she scared or disgusted by me?

"Can I please go home now?" she asks in a small voice.

She looks so vulnerable. but when she again meets my gaze, I see that she isn't scared of me. she looks at me expectantly as if thinking that I am going to say yes to her. what makes her think that I will let her go. is it because she thinks that I am a good person? Doesn't she know that I am no better than the men who brought her here? I wouldn't treat her any better. then why do I see hope in her eyes? I want to be nice to her and let her go. I want to prove to her that her faith in me is real but I won't. It's not like I can't, it's more like I don't want to let her go. I don't know why but I want her to stay with me a little longer. I have never believed in love at first sight. Hell! I never believed in love at all. but there is something in her that makes me feel the need to keep her with me. she seems an angel to me. and at the same time, I am the ruthless Devil known by the world. her world is completely different from mine. she is innocent and I am cruel. she is kind-hearted and I am cold-hearted. she is a beautiful rose and I am worse than a thorn. I guess I want to ruin her innocence. I want to bring her to my world. this devil needs an angel and for me, she is the one. with that in my mind, I say to her the only thing that I want to.

"No, I won't let you."

Guys please forgive me if I make any mistakes.

Thank you for reading!

Janvi❤