Chapter 1 - The Defiance
Dominic Rossi glared at me from the dark pillows,
his chest heaving with every ragged breath.
The scent of iron and copper filled the suffocating air,
thick enough to taste on the back of my tongue.
His dark eyes burned with lethal fury,
daring me to take another step closer to the bed.
I didn't flinch,
keeping my grip tight on my canvas duffel bag as the rain lashed violently against the reinforced windows outside.
"You heard me,
nurse,
" he rasped,
his voice cutting through the humid silence like a shattered blade.
"Get out of my sight before I make sure you never walk out of this house.
"
I dropped my duffel onto the Persian rug with a dull thud.
"I don't take orders from dying men,
Mr.
Rossi,
" I replied evenly,
my voice trembling only on the inside.
"If I walk out those doors,
my landlord locks me out by Monday morning and I have zero dollars to my name.
"
"So you can either let me clean that shoulder infection,
or you can bleed to death right here while I watch.
"
His jaw tightened so hard I could see the muscles flex beneath his bruised skin.
For a second,
I thought he was going to lunge at me despite his wound.
Instead,
a strange,
grim twitch touched the corner of his cracked lips.
"You've got a terrifying amount of nerve for someone built like a sparrow,
" he muttered,
sinking back into the pillows.
"Do what you want,
but if you hurt me,
I'll break your fingers.
"
"Fair enough,
" I said,
unzipping my bag and pulling out sterile gauze,
antiseptic,
and surgical instruments.
That was how I won round one against the most feared man in the underworld.
The bandage was glued to his torn flesh with dried blood,
requiring careful patience and steady hands.
Every time I touched his skin,
his body tensed like a coiled spring ready to snap.
I worked in absolute silence,
ignoring the sweat dripping down my own temples.
When I finally poured antiseptic over the jagged wound,
Dominic hissed through his teeth,
gripping the bedsheets until his knuckles turned pure white.
"Breathe,
Mr.
Rossi,
" I instructed gently,
pressing cotton against the torn tissue.
"Breathe through it,
or you'll pass out and I'll have to explain to Leo why his boss fainted like a schoolboy.
"
He shot me a murderous glare that could have melted steel.
Yet,
he forced his lungs to expand and release,
slowing his racing heartbeat.
By the time I finished wrapping the fresh white bandages around his broad shoulders,
midnight had already passed.
Dominic had closed his eyes,
his breathing finally falling into a deep,
exhausted rhythm.
I stood up,
May you like
stretching my aching back,
realizing this was only the very beginning of a nightmare.
