Chapter 1 - THE BRUISES HE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO SEE
“Come out, Norah.”
Gabriel Rossi's voice carried through the dark pantry.
Norah Hayes pressed the melting ice pack harder against her swollen wrist. Her fingers had begun to tingle, and a terrible numbness was spreading toward her knuckles.
She had been hiding for three hours.
Not from Gabriel.
From the thought of going home.
“I'm sorry, Mr. Rossi,” she whispered, stepping into the kitchen. “I wasn't stealing anything.”
Gabriel turned.
His eyes dropped immediately to her arm.
Then to the purple fingertips protruding beneath the athletic tape.
Something changed in his expression.
“Sit down.”
“Sir, my shift ended. I was just—”
“Norah.”
She stopped.
It was the first time she'd heard him say her name correctly.
“Sit.”
She obeyed.
Gabriel pulled out the chair opposite her and lowered himself into it.
“Who did that to you?”
Norah's heart hammered.
“Nobody.”
He studied her face.
“Did you fall?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Outside my apartment.”
Gabriel leaned back.
“Then why is there a bruise shaped like someone's fingers above your wrist?”
She looked down.
Her sleeve had slipped.
Five dark marks curved around her forearm.
The shape of a hand.
She tugged the fabric down.
“Please don't fire me.”
Gabriel's expression hardened.
“Is that what you're worried about?”
“I need this job.”
“You need a hospital.”
“I can't afford one.”
He glanced toward the ice pack.
“Your fingers are changing color.”
Norah swallowed.
“It's just swollen.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“I'm calling a doctor.”
Panic rushed through her.
“No!”
He stopped.
She covered her mouth.
Then whispered, “Please. If you call someone, they'll ask questions.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Who are you protecting?”
She said nothing.
Gabriel stood, retrieved his phone, and called Vincent, his chief of security.
“Have the car brought around. We need an emergency department.”
Norah shook her head.
“I can't pay—”
“I'll arrange the transportation,” Gabriel interrupted. “We'll deal with the bill later.”
He looked toward her wrist.
“And don't try to remove that tape yourself. It's too tight. A clinician needs to assess your circulation.”
For the first time in hours, Norah let herself cry.
Not loudly.
Just a few frightened tears.
Gabriel quietly placed a clean towel beside her.
Then his phone vibrated.
Vincent.
“Boss, I found the man who hurt her.”
Gabriel looked toward Norah.
She went perfectly still.
“How?”
“Security footage from the apartment building.”
A pause.
“His name is Raymond Miller.”
Norah's face drained of color.
Gabriel noticed.
“Do you know him?”
Her lips trembled.
“My ex-boyfriend.”
Vincent continued speaking.
Gabriel listened.
Then his expression changed completely.
“What did you say?”
“Raymond isn't working alone,” Vincent answered.
Gabriel slowly turned toward Norah.
“And the person paying him to follow her?”
Vincent hesitated.
“Someone inside your own family.”
Norah stopped breathing.
May you like
Then Vincent said the name.
“Your younger brother, Adrian Rossi.”
