Chapter 2 - The Scar That Should Have Stayed Buried
Brielle stared at the message on her phone.
For several seconds, she forgot where she was.
Forgot the mansion.
Forgot the injured man sitting in front of her.
Forgot the guards watching every movement.
Because there was only one thing in her mind.
The name.
The one person she thought she would never hear from again.
The message remained on the screen.
"Brielle... you finally found him."
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
Agostino noticed immediately.
He noticed everything.
Years of surviving enemies had taught him that the smallest changes often revealed the biggest secrets.
A person looking away.
A hand shaking.
A breath held too long.
And right now, Brielle Edwards was no longer acting like a nurse.
She was acting like someone who had just seen a ghost.
"Who sent that?"
His voice was quiet.
But the entire room felt colder.
Brielle slowly placed the phone face down on the table.
"Nobody."
Agostino's eyes narrowed.
"Nobody doesn't send messages."
She ignored him and returned to the blood pressure cuff.
"Your blood pressure."
He did not move.
"Brielle."
It was the first time he had said her name.
Not Nurse.
Not Ms. Edwards.
Her name.
She looked at him.
"You know something about me."
The statement was not a question.
Brielle remained silent.
Darwin stood near the door, watching carefully.
He had seen Agostino interrogate people before.
He knew the difference between anger and curiosity.
This was curiosity.
And that was dangerous.
Because anger was predictable.
Curiosity was not.
"I asked you a question."
Brielle looked down at his injured arm.
"I am here to treat your injuries."
Agostino stared at her.
"That wasn't my question."
"And it wasn't a medical question."
A long silence followed.
The nurses standing in the corner exchanged nervous looks.
Nobody interrupted.
Nobody dared.
Agostino Costello was not a man people refused.
But Brielle kept doing exactly that.
She wrapped the cuff around his arm.
"Relax."
His eyebrow lifted.
"Relax?"
"Yes."
"You just lied to me."
"No."
She checked the monitor.
"I avoided answering."
A small pause.
"There's a difference."
For the first time in years, Agostino did not know what to say.
Not because he lacked words.
Because nobody had ever spoken to him like that.
Brielle recorded his reading.
"Your blood pressure is high."
"Interesting."
"What?"
"You are more worried about my blood pressure than the fact that I know you are hiding something."
She removed the cuff.
"I am worried about both."
Agostino studied her face.
"You are not afraid of me."
"No."
"Why?"
Brielle looked at him.
Because she wanted to say the truth.
Because she remembered another night.
Another man.
Another promise.
Because the scar beneath his bandage was impossible.
But she could not say any of that.
Not yet.
"Because fear doesn't help patients recover."
Agostino leaned back.
"That's not the real reason."
Brielle packed away her equipment.
"Maybe."
The answer surprised him.
Most people denied everything.
She admitted uncertainty.
Another strange thing about her.
"You know what happens to people who lie to me?"
Brielle looked at him.
"Yes."
"And?"
"And they usually become more honest after."
Darwin lowered his eyes.
He was trying not to react.
But Brielle noticed.
"You think that's funny?"
Darwin immediately straightened.
"No."
"Good."
She turned back to Agostino.
"Now take your antibiotics."
Agostino looked at the medication.
"No."
Brielle stopped.
"No?"
"I don't take anything I don't approve."
"You have a doctor."
"I fired him."
"Of course you did."
His eyes sharpened.
"What does that mean?"
"It means you have a habit of removing people who tell you things you don't want to hear."
The room became silent.
Because she was right.
And everyone knew it.
Agostino looked away for a moment.
Nobody had ever said that out loud.
Not even his closest people.
Brielle placed the medication beside him.
"You can hate me."
She stepped back.
"You can insult me."
She picked up her clipboard.
"But you will take this because your liver has already been through enough."
Agostino looked at her.
"You always talk this much?"
"Only when people refuse to listen."
A faint expression crossed his face.
Not anger.
Something close to amusement.
Then it disappeared.
"Leave."
Darwin looked surprised.
Brielle picked up her bag.
"Gladly."
She walked toward the door.
But before she reached it, Agostino spoke.
"Why did you react to my scar?"
Her hand stopped.
The question hung between them.
Brielle slowly turned around.
"I didn't."
"You did."
"No."
"I saw your face."
She said nothing.
Agostino continued.
"People usually react when they see my injuries."
His voice lowered.
"But you reacted when you saw something underneath."
Brielle held his gaze.
For a moment, she considered telling him.
Then she remembered the message.
You finally found him.
Found him.
Not met him.
Found him.
That word mattered.
"I don't know what you think you saw."
Agostino's eyes hardened.
"But I know you recognized something."
Brielle opened the door.
"Get some rest, Mr. Costello."
Then she walked out.
The hallway felt colder than before.
Brielle moved quickly toward the guest room Darwin had assigned her.
The moment the door closed behind her, she pulled out her phone.
The message was still there.
She stared at the number.
No contact name.
No profile picture.
Nothing.
Just a number that should not exist.
Her hands shook slightly.
Twelve years.
Twelve years since she had last seen that number.
Twelve years since someone told her:
"Forget what happened that night."
She sat on the edge of the bed.
Her memories returned.
A hospital hallway.
A man bleeding.
A promise.
And a scar.
The same scar she had just seen on Agostino Costello.
"No..."
She whispered.
It couldn't be.
It made no sense.
Agostino Costello was a mafia boss.
The most feared man in the city.
The man people whispered about.
The man connected to violence and power.
He could not be the same person.
But her eyes had seen the scar.
And her memory had not failed her.
Her phone vibrated again.
Another message.
This time, only four words.
"Ask him about Elias."
Brielle froze.
Elias.
That name had disappeared from her life twelve years ago.
She stood immediately.
Her heart started racing.
Someone knew.
Someone knew everything.
Before she could respond, another notification appeared.
A photo.
Her fingers hovered over the screen.
Then she opened it.
The image showed a younger Agostino.
Much younger.
Standing outside a hospital.
But he was not alone.
Beside him was a woman.
A woman Brielle knew.
A woman who should never have been connected to him.
Her breathing stopped.
Because behind them, partially hidden in the background, was a child.
A little girl.
Wearing the same necklace Brielle had worn when she was twelve years old.
The phone slipped slightly in her hand.
A sound came from the hallway.
A knock.
Three slow knocks.
Brielle looked toward the door.
Nobody knew she had received the message.
Nobody knew what she had discovered.
The handle moved.
Once.
May you like
Twice.
Then the door began to open...
