Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO PAID FOR HER PAIN
Norah had never met Adrian Rossi.
At least, she didn't think she had.
But when Gabriel told her his younger brother's name, something flickered in her memory.
A black sedan outside her apartment.
A silver-haired man sitting in the back.
Raymond leaning through the window, laughing.
She'd seen that car three times in the past month.
“Norah.”
Gabriel's voice brought her back.
“Do you recognize Adrian?”
She shook her head.
“No, sir.”
“Have you seen someone meeting Raymond?”
She hesitated.
Then described the sedan.
Gabriel's expression darkened.
Adrian drove a black Mercedes.
His personal assistant had silver hair.
The pieces were beginning to connect.
But Gabriel didn't push her.
Instead, he escorted her to the waiting car.
At the hospital, an emergency physician examined Norah's wrist.
The swelling was severe.
Imaging confirmed a displaced fracture of the distal radius.
The tight athletic tape was removed under medical supervision, and her circulation was reassessed.
Norah stared at the X-ray.
The broken bone looked impossibly wrong.
The physician explained that she needed reduction, immobilization, pain management, and orthopedic follow-up.
She would not be able to perform heavy cleaning duties for some time.
Norah's stomach sank.
“How long before I can work?”
The doctor answered carefully.
“Your recovery will depend on healing and follow-up evaluation. For now, you need to protect the injured wrist.”
She looked toward Gabriel.
He understood immediately.
“You won't lose your position because you're injured.”
She stared.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Tears filled her eyes.
Nobody had ever made her a promise like that without asking for something in return.
After treatment, Gabriel arranged for her to stay in a private guest suite at the estate.
Norah hesitated.
“I shouldn't.”
“Why?”
“People will talk.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“People already talk.”
That almost made her smile.
Then he added, “You can choose another safe place if you'd prefer. My attorney can help you arrange it.”
She looked down.
“I don't have anywhere.”
The words were barely audible.
Gabriel nodded.
“Then the guest suite is available.”
By three in the morning, Norah was asleep beneath clean blankets.
For the first time in months, no footsteps sounded outside her bedroom door.
But downstairs, Gabriel sat across from Vincent.
A surveillance photograph lay between them.
Raymond Miller stood beside Adrian Rossi's assistant outside a gambling club.
Vincent placed another document on the desk.
“Adrian transferred forty thousand dollars to an account connected to Raymond.”
Gabriel stared.
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“That's what we're trying to establish.”
Then Vincent showed him another photograph.
Norah leaving a hospital.
Not tonight.
Six years earlier.
She was standing beside an elderly man in a wheelchair.
Gabriel leaned forward.
“Who is he?”
Vincent hesitated.
“Her father. Thomas Hayes.”
Gabriel recognized the face.
His breath stopped.
Thomas Hayes had once worked for the Rossi organization.
And six years earlier, he'd disappeared after refusing to testify against Gabriel's father.
Vincent lowered his voice.
“There's something else.”
Gabriel looked up.
“What?”
“Thomas Hayes didn't disappear.”
A cold silence filled the room.
May you like
Vincent continued.
“He's been kept inside a private medical facility paid for by Adrian Rossi.”
