Chapter 2 - The Secret Hidden Beneath The Blood
The voice outside Dominic Rossi’s bedroom door came again.
“Dominic…”
I stood frozen beside the bed.
The room was dark except for the faint glow of lightning flashing through the curtains.
Dominic’s hand remained beneath the pillow.
Waiting.
Watching.
“Who is it?” I whispered.
He didn’t answer.
That scared me more than anything else.
Because a man like Dominic Rossi was not afraid of many things.
But whoever stood outside that door had changed his entire expression.
The cold confidence disappeared.
Something darker replaced it.
Recognition.
“Stay behind me,” he said quietly.
I almost laughed.
He was the one lying on the bed bleeding.
He was the one who could barely move without pain.
And somehow he was still trying to protect me.
“I’m the nurse,” I whispered. “You’re the patient.”
His eyes moved toward me.
For a second, I saw something almost human in them.
Then it vanished.
“Clara.”
It was the first time he said my name.
And hearing it from him felt strange.
“Get behind me.”
Before I could argue, the door handle stopped moving.
Silence.
The kind of silence that made every breath feel too loud.
Then footsteps moved away.
Slow.
Careful.
Whoever had been outside was gone.
But Dominic didn’t relax.
Not even slightly.
“Was that normal?” I asked.
“No.”
“What was it?”
He looked toward the door.
“A warning.”
I frowned.
“A warning from who?”
He ignored the question.
That irritated me.
“You hired me to keep you alive,” I said. “That means I need information.”
“You need less information.”
“That’s not how this works.”
A small, humorless smile crossed his face.
“You really don’t know when to be afraid.”
“I know exactly when to be afraid.”
I picked up my medical supplies.
“I was afraid when I saw your security team watching me like I was walking into a prison.”
I changed the bloody dressing on his shoulder.
“I was afraid when I learned six nurses quit before me.”
I checked his pulse.
“And I was very afraid when I realized someone might come into this room while I was treating you.”
I looked directly at him.
“But being afraid doesn’t mean I stop doing my job.”
For a moment, Dominic said nothing.
Then he looked away.
“Someone betrayed me.”
The words were quiet.
But they carried weight.
I stopped.
“What?”
“The attack.”
His jaw tightened.
“It wasn’t random.”
I waited.
He continued.
“The person who shot me knew my schedule. They knew my security patterns. They knew exactly where I would be.”
“And you think someone inside your organization did it?”
“I don’t think.”
His eyes turned cold.
“I know.”
The rain outside became louder.
I finished wrapping his wound.
“Then why are you still here?”
His eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“If you know someone close to you tried to kill you, why stay in this house?”
For the first time, Dominic looked tired.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
“Because the person who betrayed me is still looking for something.”
“What?”
He looked at me.
“A reason to finish the job.”
I didn’t answer.
There was something about the way he said it.
Like he wasn’t afraid of dying.
He was afraid of what would happen before he did.
The next morning, I woke up in the guest room.
I didn’t remember falling asleep.
Apparently exhaustion had finally won.
For a moment, I forgot where I was.
Then I saw the expensive furniture.
The security cameras.
The unfamiliar room.
And I remembered.
The Rossi estate.
The wounded mafia boss.
The person who came to his door in the middle of the night.
I quickly got dressed and returned upstairs.
Two guards immediately watched me.
Neither spoke.
I ignored them.
When I entered Dominic’s room, I expected him to be asleep.
He wasn’t.
He was sitting against the headboard.
A doctor would have told him not to move.
Dominic Rossi clearly didn’t listen to doctors.
“You’re awake,” I said.
“You’re surprised?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because stubborn people usually take longer to realize they’re injured.”
A faint smirk appeared.
“You insult all your patients?”
“Only the ones who make my job harder.”
Something strange happened.
He smiled.
Not the dangerous smile people probably feared.
A real one.
It lasted only a second.
Then it disappeared.
I checked his wounds.
The bleeding had slowed.
The fever was lower.
“You’re improving.”
“I told you.”
“You told me nothing.”
“I told you I wouldn’t die.”
I looked at him.
“That’s not the same thing as getting better.”
He studied me.
“You always talk this much?”
“Only when someone refuses to cooperate.”
Before he could answer, the bedroom door opened.
A tall man entered.
Late 50s.
Gray hair.
Black suit.
The kind of person who looked calm because he had spent his entire life around danger.
“Boss.”
Dominic’s expression changed instantly.
The warmth disappeared.
“Marco.”
The man glanced at me.
His eyes narrowed.
“This is the nurse?”
“Yes.”
“She’s still here?”
I didn’t like the way he said it.
Like he expected me to fail.
“Yes,” Dominic answered.
Marco looked surprised.
“She lasted longer than the others.”
I turned toward him.
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
He ignored me.
“Dominic, we need to talk privately.”
“No.”
Marco looked at him.
“Boss.”
“She stays.”
The room became quiet.
Even Marco looked surprised.
I noticed it.
Everyone listened to Dominic.
But more importantly…
Everyone noticed when Dominic defended me.
Marco stepped closer.
“The situation changed.”
“How?”
“We found something.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“What?”
Marco looked at me.
Then back at him.
“Something from the night of the attack.”
My stomach tightened.
“What kind of something?”
Neither man answered.
That told me enough.
Whatever it was…
It was bad.
Dominic reached out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
Marco hesitated.
Then he placed a small plastic evidence bag on the table.
Inside was a torn piece of fabric.
And a broken necklace.
Dominic stared at it.
The color drained from his face.
I had never seen him react like that.
Not when he was bleeding.
Not when someone threatened him.
Not when he thought someone was outside his door.
“What is it?” I asked.
Dominic didn’t respond.
His fingers slowly tightened around the edge of the bed.
“Where did you find this?”
Marco looked uncomfortable.
“In the car.”
Dominic’s voice became colder.
“Whose car?”
A long pause.
Then Marco answered.
“Yours.”
The room went completely silent.
Dominic picked up the evidence bag.
His eyes stayed fixed on the necklace.
Like he had just seen a ghost.
“Impossible.”
I looked between them.
“Who did it belong to?”
Dominic didn’t answer.
But something in his face told me the truth was painful.
Someone important.
Someone he thought was gone.
Marco lowered his voice.
“There’s more.”
Dominic looked up.
“What?”
Marco reached into his coat.
He pulled out a small envelope.
Old.
Damaged.
Stained with blood.
“I found this hidden under the driver’s seat.”
Dominic stared at it.
“Open it.”
Marco didn’t move.
“Boss…”
“Open it.”
Slowly, Marco opened the envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
He handed it to Dominic.
The second Dominic saw it, his entire body froze.
I watched his fingers tremble.
Only slightly.
But enough.
A man like Dominic Rossi did not shake.
Not ever.
“What is that?” I whispered.
Dominic looked at the photograph.
Then at me.
And for the first time since I met him…
I saw fear.
Real fear.
“Clara…”
His voice was barely audible.
“This is why you were brought here.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
He turned the photograph around.
And I saw the person in it.
I knew that face.
Because I had seen it before.
On the hospital records.
On the emergency contact form.
My own handwriting.
My own signature.
The photograph was of me.
Taken years ago.
Before I ever met Dominic Rossi.
May you like
And written across the back were three words:
“KEEP HER ALIVE.”
