No Nurse Lasted a Week with the Ruthless Mafia Boss — Until the Poor Nurse Broke the Rules
Chapter 4
On the sixth night, Mia found Adrian standing outside in the rain.
He was barefoot.
Again.
She stared through the glass doors.
“What are you doing?”
He didn’t answer.
Rain soaked his shirt.
Mia opened the door.
“You’re going to get sick.”
“I can’t sleep.”
“So you’re standing outside in a storm?”
“Yes.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Nothing makes sense tonight.”
Mia noticed the way he was looking at the garden.
Not the house.
Not the security guards.
The old oak tree at the far edge of the property.
“What happened there?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Mia stood beside him.
“Someone died?”
“My father.”
She looked at him.
“When?”
“Twenty-two years ago.”
“How?”
“Officially?”
“Yes.”
“Heart attack.”
“And unofficially?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“He was murdered.”
Mia said nothing.
Rain struck the stone terrace.
“Did you see it?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because I found him.”
Mia looked down.
Adrian continued.
“I was fourteen.”
She felt something tighten in her chest.
“I’ve spent half my life trying to find out who did it.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because the people who killed him were protected.”
“By whom?”
Adrian looked at the house.
“People with money.”
Mia understood.
“And now?”
“Now they are afraid.”
“Of you?”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“Of what I know.”
Mia studied his face.
For the first time, she understood that his ruthlessness wasn’t simply cruelty.
It was armor.
Thick.
Heavy.
And probably built long before she ever met him.
“You should go inside,” she said.
“You’re giving me orders?”
“Yes.”
He looked almost amused.
“You’re becoming very comfortable here.”
“I’m still planning to quit.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“Why?”
“Because I need to go back to the hospital.”
“You’re paid well here.”
“Money isn’t everything.”
“No.”
He looked toward the rain.
“But it is something.”
Mia went quiet.
He knew about her family.
Of course he did.
The next morning, she found an envelope on her kitchen table.
Inside was enough money to clear her mother’s rent.
Mia immediately returned it.
Adrian was waiting.
“I didn’t ask you to pay my bills.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because I can.”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“No?”
“You don’t get to buy my loyalty.”
“I wasn’t trying to.”
“Then what were you trying to do?”
Adrian looked at her for a long moment.
“Help.”
Mia softened slightly.
“Then help me by letting me earn my own money.”
He nodded.
“Fine.”
She turned.
“Mia.”
She looked back.
“You’re the first nurse who made it six days.”
“Congratulations to me.”
“Tomorrow makes seven.”
“I know.”
Adrian’s expression was unreadable.
“Most people don’t make it that far.”
Mia smiled.
“Maybe that’s because most people don’t tell you when you’re being an idiot.”
He laughed.
It was brief.
Almost unfamiliar.
But it was real.
Neither of them noticed the man standing in the hallway.
Listening.
