Chapter 4 - The Confession in the DarkThe next morning, the atmosphere in the mansion was suffocating. The realization that someone inside the inner circle wanted Liam dead hung in the air like smoke. While Liam slept off the exhaustion of his nocturnal excursion, I cleaned his room with meticulous care, keeping my ears peeled for any sound from the hallway.
When Liam finally opened his eyes around noon, the fierce, guarded wall he usually put up was gone. He looked tired—older than his thirty-four years, worn down by betrayal and pain.
“Why didn’t you run?” he asked suddenly, breaking the quiet afternoon hum of the room.
I paused, a damp cloth in my hand, standing beside the bed where a beam of golden sunlight warmed the sheets. “What are you talking about?”
“Last night. You heard Marcus. You know half my men are waiting for me to take a turn for the worse so they can carve up my empire. Any normal person would have packed that cheap duffel bag and demanded Leo drive them back to the city.”
I set the tray down and pulled up my chair, looking straight into his icy blue eyes.
“My brother, Tommy, is fifteen years old,” I said quietly, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. “He loves baseball, draws terrible cartoons in the margins of his notebooks, and right now, he can't even sit up without crying because his white blood cell count is zero. The doctors gave up. But there’s a clinic in Zurich running an experimental cellular trial. It costs two hundred and fifty thousand dollars upfront.”
Liam listened without interrupting, his gaze fixed on my face.
“I worked three jobs,” I continued, my voice tightening. “I sold my car. I borrowed from everyone who would pick up my calls. And I was still eighty thousand dollars short with three days before they take him off the registry. Then your anonymous caller offered me ten grand a week, cash, no questions asked.”
I gave a bitter little laugh, looking down at my scarred hands. “Do you really think a few armed thugs and a grumpy mob boss with a broken leg are going to scare me away from saving my brother? You’re just another obstacle I have to manage before Friday.”
Silence stretched between us, thick and heavy. For a long moment, Liam didn't say anything. The tough, untouchable crime lord melted away, leaving only a man who understood the brutal cost of loyalty and survival.
“Marcus isn't the only one,” Liam said softly, his voice gravelly. “The federal indictment drops next week. Someone inside leaked our financial ledgers to the feds. That’s why I’m here, hidden out in the woods with shattered limbs—because I was ambushed by people I trusted.”
“Why didn't you go to a hospital?”
“Because the corrupt cops would have finished the job before I hit the emergency room doors,” he replied bitterly. “Here, at least I had Leo. Or I thought I did.”
“Leo stood up to Marcus,” I pointed out. “He said he’d put a bullet in him.”
“Leo is loyal to the code,” Liam murmured, closing his eyes. “Not necessarily to me.”
“Well,” I said, standing up and smoothing my scrubs. “Code or no code, your infection is clearing up, your pins are holding, and if we stick to the schedule, you’ll be upright by Friday. And I’ll have my cash.”
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Liam opened one eye, a faint smirk playing on his lips. “You really only care about the money, huh, nurse?”
“Every single cent,” I replied, walking toward the door. But as I reached for the handle, I looked back at him, the sunlight catching the gold flecks in his hair. “Though I admit... watching you throw a tantrum over a reading lamp was mildly entertaining.”
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