Chapter 3 - The Man Behind the Locked Door
Elena’s phone rang at 8:17 a.m.
Bellhaven Children’s Hospital.
She answered immediately.
“This is Elena.”
“Ms. Hart, this is security.”
Her blood went cold.
“What happened?”
“A man came asking for Noah.”
The coffee cup slipped from Elena’s fingers and shattered.
Nico looked up.
“Who?”
“We don’t know. He claimed to be family.”
“I’m his only legal guardian.”
“We know. That’s why the staff refused access.”
Elena grabbed her coat.
“I’m coming.”
Nico spoke.
“Gabriel.”
“No.”
Elena turned.
“I’m going alone.”
“That isn’t happening.”
“My brother is not becoming part of whatever this is.”
“He already is.”
The words hit hard.
Nico regretted them immediately.
Elena’s face changed.
“If anything happens to him—”
“Nothing will.”
“You cannot promise that.”
“No.”
Nico reached for his phone.
“But I can make it considerably harder.”
Within ten minutes, Elena was in an armored SUV with Gabriel and two security officers.
She hated every second.
At the hospital, she ran.
Noah was awake.
Thin.
Pale.
Smiling anyway.
“You look terrible,” he said.
Elena almost cried.
“You’re one to talk.”
She hugged him carefully.
Noah noticed Gabriel outside.
“Who’s Batman?”
“Security.”
“For you?”
“For someone I’m working for.”
Noah grinned weakly.
“Rich?”
“Annoyingly.”
“Handsome?”
Elena stared.
“You’re thirteen.”
“That wasn’t an answer.”
Despite herself, she laughed.
Then Noah’s smile faded.
“El?”
“Yeah?”
“Am I dying?”
The question broke something inside her.
She sat beside him.
“No.”
“You hesitated.”
“I’m scared.”
“So am I.”
Elena took his hand.
“But scared doesn’t mean finished.”
Outside, Gabriel turned away to give them privacy.
His phone buzzed.
A photograph arrived.
Elena entering the hospital.
Taken less than one minute earlier.
Below it were six words.
TELL VALENTI THE NURSE IS NEXT.
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
He immediately called Nico.
Back at the mansion, Nico listened without interruption.
Then he asked one question.
“Where is Elena?”
“With Noah.”
“Does she know?”
“No.”
“Don’t tell her yet.”
“Nico—”
“Gabriel.”
Silence.
“Put four men on the floor. Two downstairs. Nobody approaches that boy without Elena’s authorization.”
“And Elena?”
Nico stared through the rain-darkened window.
“Bring her home.”
Gabriel hesitated.
“You called it home.”
Nico’s eyes shifted.
“No, I didn’t.”
“You did.”
The line went dead.
That evening Elena returned furious.
“You knew.”
Nico looked up.
“Knew what?”
She threw Gabriel’s phone onto his bed.
The threatening message filled the screen.
“You knew somebody threatened me.”
Nico looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel shrugged.
“She stole my phone.”
“I borrowed it.”
“You threatened to break my finger.”
“You wouldn’t unlock it.”
Nico almost smiled.
Elena pointed at him.
“This is not funny.”
His expression became serious.
“No.”
“My brother is thirteen.”
“I know.”
“You promised—”
“I promised nothing would happen to him.”
“You cannot control everything.”
“No.”
Nico swung his legs toward the floor.
Elena immediately moved forward.
“Don’t.”
He ignored her.
Slowly, painfully, Nico stood.
For once there was no intimidation in his face.
Only certainty.
“I cannot control everything, Elena.”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“But whoever threatened your brother made one mistake.”
“What?”
“They told me.”
A chill moved through her.
Nico continued.
“They wanted fear.”
His voice dropped.
“They’re going to get my attention instead.”
That night, for the first time, Elena understood why grown men feared Nico Valenti.
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And for the first time, Nico understood something even more dangerous:
The idea of Elena Hart being hurt frightened him more than dying himself.
