Nobody Told the New Nurse Which Patient to Avoid—So She Healed the Mafia Boss First
Chapter 8
Nora woke in darkness.
Her wrists were tied.
Her head hurt.
Across the room sat Victor.
Emma was gone.
Adrian was gone.
Nora struggled.
“Where are they?”
Victor smiled.
“Exactly where I want them.”
“You shot Adrian.”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“My brother.”
Nora stared.
“Daniel?”
Victor nodded.
“He always wanted the throne.”
“And you?”
“I wanted freedom.”
Nora looked at him.
“Then why take me?”
“Because Adrian doesn’t trust anyone.”
“You’ve known him for years.”
“Yes.”
“And still?”
Victor smiled.
“He trusted his nurse after three days.”
Nora felt anger.
“You don’t know him.”
Victor leaned closer.
“Neither do you.”
Before Nora could answer, the door opened.
Daniel entered.
He looked nervous.
“You promised she wouldn’t be hurt.”
Victor nodded.
“She isn’t.”
Daniel looked at Nora.
“I’m sorry.”
“You should be.”
He looked away.
“You don’t understand what Adrian became.”
“I understand enough.”
Daniel sat down.
“Our father destroyed everything.”
“Then why become like him?”
Daniel stared.
“I didn’t.”
“Kidnapping people is a strange way to prove that.”
He flinched.
Nora realized something.
Daniel wasn’t the mastermind.
He was afraid.
“Who is behind this?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Victor did.
“Someone Adrian forgot.”
Nora frowned.
“Who?”
The door opened again.
A man stepped inside.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Nora recognized him from photographs.
Marcus Cole.
Adrian’s father.
Dead.
She froze.
“That’s impossible.”
Marcus smiled.
“No.”
Nora stared.
“You’re supposed to be dead.”
“Adrian believed that.”
“How?”
“I staged it.”
He explained that years earlier, he had disappeared to avoid prosecution.
He had let Adrian believe he was dead.
Then quietly rebuilt his criminal network.
Adrian had inherited the organization without knowing his father was alive.
Marcus had manipulated everything.
The businesses.
The police.
Victor.
Victoria.
Daniel.
Even Adrian’s shooting.
Nora understood.
“You poisoned him.”
Marcus smiled.
“Slowly.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian became disobedient.”
“You’re trying to kill your own son.”
“He stopped being useful.”
Nora stared at him.
“You’re sick.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“You’re the first person who has spoken to me like that in years.”
“Maybe people should have.”
He laughed.
Then his expression hardened.
“You’re going to help me.”
“No.”
“You’re a nurse.”
“Yes.”
“You’ll treat him.”
“Absolutely not.”
Marcus smiled.
“You will.”
He opened a door.
Adrian was lying on a table.
Blood covered his side.
He was conscious.
Barely.
Nora rushed toward him.
“Where is the bullet?”
Adrian looked at her.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
She ignored him.
“Where?”
“Still inside.”
She examined the wound.
No exit.
His breathing was worsening.
Nora turned to Marcus.
“He needs a surgeon.”
“He has you.”
“I can’t perform surgery.”
“Then he dies.”
Nora looked at Adrian.
His eyes met hers.
A silent message.
Don’t save me.
She whispered:
“I’m saving you anyway.”
Marcus smiled.
“Good.”
Nora began working.
She had no proper operating room.
No sterile equipment.
No anesthesia.
Only the supplies inside an abandoned warehouse.
But she knew what to do.
Because she had spent years learning how to keep people alive when everything went wrong.
And Adrian would need every bit of her knowledge tonight.
