Chapter 3

Only after Orlando finished accusing me did I realize that Cecilia had hurt herself to make her story believable and drive a wedge between us.

Her version was that I'd seen her bringing Orlando home, gotten jealous, and pushed her down the stairs.

"Nadia, you hurt Cecilia, then threw a fit and walked out on me? I really have spoiled you. You have one hour. Get to Cleveland Hospital and apologize to her!" Orlando's voice was hard.

He'd never used that tone with me before. He was beyond angry.

I let all my contempt show in my voice. "Orlando, if I wanted to punish someone, if I wanted to get even, I wouldn't stop at pushing her down a flight of stairs."

Orlando went quiet. I could only imagine how grim his expression must have been.

When he spoke again, his voice was even harder. "Nadia, I could never do anything to you. But don't forget: that old woman you took in is in this hospital too."

Every alarm in me went off.

The old woman he meant was Sonia Ward. She'd pulled me out of the water the night I was shot, back when I first left home.

She dragged me up the bank despite her bad leg. She wasn't well off herself, yet she sold the bracelet her own mother had left her to pay for my care.

Orlando hadn't found me yet. For an entire month, she was the only one by my bedside, and she never left.

Sonia had no children of her own. She took care of me like I was hers.

When I found out she was sick, I took her in and got her the treatment she needed. By then, she had been a mother to me for a long time.

Orlando knew exactly what she meant to me. That was why he was using an old woman's safety as leverage against me!

Anger flared inside me, and I clenched my fists.

Once I was back with my father and running the Marchetti business, I'd be able to get Sonia better care. But for now, she was still in Orlando's hands.

So I had to give in and keep him calm. I forced down everything I felt and made my voice flat. "Fine. I'll come."

When I got to the hospital, Orlando and Cecilia were already in Sonia's room.

The medication keeping her alive had been stopped, and her face had gone slightly purple. I moved toward her, but Orlando blocked my path.

He gripped my arm hard enough to hurt. "Apologize first."

I stared at him for a few seconds, then said it. "I'm sorry."

But Cecilia wasn't finished.

She turned to Orlando with a wounded expression. "Mr. Riccardi, this whole thing has hurt me so much. I'm afraid one apology isn't enough to make Ms. Marchetti understand what she did. She should kneel. If she apologized on her knees, it would feel more sincere, and she'd remember it."

When she saw him hesitate, her mouth turned down and her eyes filled with tears. "Never mind. I'm only a maid. How could I ask Ms. Marchetti to kneel? Before my father died, he told me that a servant's job is to be loyal and learn to endure..."

Something snapped in Orlando. "She's right. This was your fault, Nadia. Kneel."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"I don't mind being treated a little unfairly, Mr. Riccardi. Don't make this hard on Ms. Marchetti," Cecilia said, pretending to smooth things over. She stood, but her leg gave out, and she tipped to one side.

Her hand just happened to snag Sonia's oxygen line and pull it loose. She did it on purpose!

Sonia's chest heaved as she lay in bed. I panicked and struggled to break free. "Cecilia, let go of it!"

Orlando's grip only tightened. "Nadia. Kneel. I don't want to say it a third time."

That was when the heart monitor began shrieking. I watched the line go flat. I shoved Orlando off me in a frenzy and screamed, "Doctor! Somebody get a doctor!"

A team of hospital staff wheeled Sonia into the trauma room. My legs gave out, and I collapsed in the hospital corridor.

Orlando clearly hadn't expected this either, and it rattled him. He crouched down beside me and softened his voice. "Nadia, I didn't mean for this to happen. All I wanted was for you to apologize to Cecilia. She didn't do anything wrong."

I ignored them both and kept my eyes fixed on the trauma room door as tears streamed down my face. I was terrified of losing Sonia. Not long ago, she'd been talking about making me a steak. When my mother was alive, steak had been her specialty...

A long time later, the door opened. The doctor's expression told me everything before he even shook his head.