Chapter 10 - The Doctor Who Delivered Her
Dr. Ward had delivered Nora.
He had protected Caroline.
He had guarded secrets for decades.
And he had built Meridian with Salvatore.
His confession came without pride.
Meridian had originally been created to hide money during political unrest overseas.
Then Salvatore transformed it into something monstrous.
Ward claimed he had tried to dismantle it from within.
Daniel discovered the truth.
Ward gave him evidence.
Isabella ordered Daniel killed.
“So you were helping my father?” Nora asked.
“At first.”
“What changed?”
“Fear.”
Ward had spent thirty years covering his tracks.
Marco discovered them.
Then blackmailed him.
Nora looked at Marco.
“So this is still you.”
Marco smiled.
“It was always me.”
He demanded Nora sign over her inherited shares.
She refused.
He pointed the gun at Vittorio.
Nora signed.
Marco relaxed.
That was his mistake.
The papers were meaningless.
Nora’s attorney had frozen every transfer the moment Daniel was kidnapped.
Viviana laughed when Marco learned.
“You kidnapped the wrong pregnant waitress.”
Marco turned toward her.
Nico moved.
The fight lasted seconds.
Agents stormed the cellar.
Marco fired once.
The bullet struck a wine rack.
Nico slammed him against the floor.
This time Marco left in federal custody surrounded by six armed agents.
Ward surrendered.
Vittorio survived.
Viviana survived.
The evidence survived.
Weeks passed.
Daniel grew stronger.
Nora brought him home.
Not Nico’s penthouse.
Her apartment.
Nico didn't argue.
Instead he installed a better lock after asking permission.
That mattered.
He visited every day.
Changed diapers badly.
Learned bottles.
Walked Daniel at three in the morning.
Never once asked Nora to take him back.
One evening she found him asleep on her sofa with Daniel on his chest.
Her anger had not vanished.
But love hadn't either.
That was the inconvenient part.
Nico woke.
“You're staring.”
“I'm deciding whether to charge rent.”
He smiled.
“Fair.”
She sat beside him.
“Why haven't you asked?”
“Asked what?”
“For another chance.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Because you spent months having choices taken from you.”
Then he looked at her.
“I won't take another one.”
Nora felt tears burn.
She hated pregnancy hormones.
Then remembered she wasn't pregnant anymore.
Damn.
Those were simply feelings.
She kissed him.
Briefly.
Nico froze.
“Don't make a big deal out of it.”
“I wouldn't dare.”
She kissed him again.
Longer.
For the first time, the future did not seem impossible.
Then Nico’s phone rang.
Vittorio.
Nico answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
Nora’s stomach dropped.
He ended the call.
“Marco never reached federal detention.”
“What do you mean?”
“The convoy was attacked.”
Nora stared at him.
“Where is he?”
“No one knows.”
Her phone buzzed.
A photograph appeared.
Her apartment building.
Taken seconds earlier.
Then another message.
LOOK OUTSIDE.
Nora approached the window.
Across the street stood a black car.
The rear door slowly opened.
Someone stepped onto the sidewalk.
May you like
Nora recognized the face.
And the person walking toward her building was supposed to have been dead for thirty-two years.
