Chapter 9 - The Nurse He Couldn’t Send Away
Dominic’s lawyer had hired me.
His name was Samuel Pierce.
Sixty-one years old.
Harvard Law graduate.
Family attorney for nearly three decades.
The man responsible for arranging every private nurse after Dominic was shot.
Including the six before me.
The realization landed hard.
“Why would Pierce hire me if Vincent wanted Dominic dead?”
Anthony answered.
“Because Vincent needed someone believable.”
I frowned.
“Believable for what?”
“A witness.”
Dominic understood first.
“If I died.”
Anthony nodded.
“A nurse with no connection to the family could confirm the infection got worse despite treatment.”
My stomach turned.
“So I wasn't hired to save him.”
“No.”
“I was hired to watch him die.”
Silence.
Dominic’s face became dangerously calm.
“Pierce is at the mansion?”
Leo checked his phone.
“Yes.”
“Detain him.”
“I’ll call security.”
“Not security.”
Dominic looked at Daniel.
“Police.”
For once, my brother and Dominic agreed.
Pierce was arrested attempting to leave the estate with two briefcases.
Inside were financial records, passports and more than two hundred thousand dollars in cash.
Yet Pierce insisted he was innocent.
He claimed Vincent had threatened him.
Daniel believed part of the story.
Dominic believed none of it.
I didn't know what to believe.
By the time we returned to the mansion, Dominic’s bandage was soaked again.
“You need bed rest.”
“No.”
“Now.”
“We have Pierce downstairs.”
“And Detective Hayes is questioning him.”
“I need to be there.”
“You need stitches.”
His expression hardened.
“Nora.”
I pointed toward the bed.
“Sit.”
Leo quietly left the room.
Traitor.
Dominic stared at me for several seconds.
Then sat.
“Happy?”
“Deeply.”
I removed his dressing.
Two sutures had torn.
“You’re impossible.”
“You've mentioned that.”
“Repeatedly.”
“Yet you're still here.”
The words came out softer than either of us expected.
I looked up.
Dominic was watching me.
The tension that had existed since my first night there had changed.
It wasn't hostility anymore.
That was more dangerous.
I concentrated on the wound.
“This will hurt.”
“Do it.”
I cleaned the area.
His abdominal muscles tightened.
“You can admit pain exists.”
“I know it exists.”
“You act personally offended by it.”
“I don't enjoy losing control.”
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The real problem.”
He watched my face.
“You think you understand me?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I think I’m starting to.”
That unsettled him.
I could tell.
“Everyone around you is either afraid of you or wants something.”
“Usually both.”
“So when somebody tries to help without asking permission, you assume they're dangerous.”
“Sometimes they are.”
“And sometimes they're a nurse trying to keep you from ripping your stitches for the third time.”
He almost smiled.
I finished the dressing.
“Done.”
His hand caught mine before I stepped away.
Not roughly.
Just enough to stop me.
“Nora.”
My heart sped up.
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Two words.
Simple.
But from Dominic, they felt enormous.
I looked at his hand around mine.
He released it immediately.
A knock interrupted us.
Daniel entered.
He looked from Dominic to me.
Then narrowed his eyes.
I ignored him.
“What did Pierce say?”
Daniel closed the door.
“He admits helping Vincent move money.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“Murder?”
“No admission.”
“Medication?”
“He claims he knew nothing.”
“He chose the nurses.”
“Yes.”
“Why Nora?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Pierce says Vincent selected you personally.”
A chill moved through me.
“Because of my mother.”
“Probably.”
“He knew who I was before I entered the house.”
“Yes.”
Dominic stood.
I pressed a hand against his chest.
“Sit.”
Daniel stared at me.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Daniel.”
“I’m watching the most feared man in the city obey my little sister.”
Dominic looked offended.
“I am not obeying.”
“You sat.”
“I chose to sit.”
I nearly laughed.
Daniel shook his head.
Then became serious.
“Pierce gave us an address.”
“Vincent?” Dominic asked.
“A warehouse.”
“Where?”
“Industrial district.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“The same district where I was shot.”
Daniel nodded.
“We're obtaining a warrant.”
Dominic headed toward the closet.
“No.”
Both Daniel and I said it at once.
Dominic looked annoyed.
“You're not going,” I added.
“It’s my warehouse.”
“You're injured.”
“I'll survive.”
“You don’t know that.”
Daniel folded his arms.
“For once, I agree with her.”
Dominic glared at both of us.
“This alliance is irritating.”
“Get used to it,” Daniel said.
The police raid occurred at midnight.
Vincent wasn't there.
But what they found changed everything.
Files documenting twelve years of payments.
Photographs of Elena.
Rebecca.
Mercer.
Carlo.
Anthony.
And dozens of others.
On one wall hung a large map of the city.
Red marks identified warehouses, banks, homes and hospitals.
One address was circled three times.
My apartment.
Another was circled in black.
The Rossi mansion.
But the most disturbing discovery sat on a desk.
A printed photograph taken less than twenty-four hours earlier.
Dominic lying in bed.
Me standing beside him.
The photograph had been taken from inside his bedroom.
Daniel brought it to us in an evidence bag.
“This means somebody in this mansion is still working for Vincent.”
Dominic looked at Leo.
“Search everyone.”
“We already did.”
“Again.”
I studied the picture.
Something caught my eye.
A reflection.
In the mirror behind us.
A tiny black object attached beneath the chandelier.
“Camera,” I said.
Dominic stared.
Leo followed my gaze upward.
They found the hidden camera ten minutes later.
Wireless.
Recently installed.
It had been transmitting continuously.
Everything we said.
Everything we discovered.
Everything we planned.
Vincent had been listening.
Dominic’s face became pale.
“Then he knows about the flash drive.”
“And your mother's evidence,” I said.
“And Nora.”
His gaze snapped to me.
I knew what he was thinking before he spoke.
“No.”
“You're leaving.”
“No.”
“This isn't an argument anymore.”
“Then you're going to have to physically remove me.”
His jaw tightened.
“Don't tempt me.”
“Dominic.”
“He knows you're here because of your mother. He knows you won't stop. That makes you a target.”
“So are you.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
His answer came too quickly.
“Because I can lose me.”
Silence.
Dominic realized what he had said.
So did everyone else.
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
He looked away.
“Nothing.”
“It didn't sound like nothing.”
Daniel conveniently turned toward the window.
Leo became fascinated with his phone.
Dominic finally looked back at me.
His voice dropped.
“It means I can accept something happening to me.”
“And me?”
His eyes held mine.
“No.”
One word.
No hesitation.
No mask.
That was the moment I understood the truth.
The man who had ordered me out of his room on my first night no longer wanted me anywhere beyond his sight.
May you like
And the feeling growing between us had become one more weakness Vincent could use.
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