INICIAR SESIÓNDario’s POV"Papa, where did she say she's going?" Leti repeated.I didn't look up from my coffee. "I don't know."Leti stared at me, her exhaustion from the night shift momentarily forgotten. "Brandy wouldn't just pack up and leave without telling me. What did you do?""Nothing," I said, my voice flat. "She's a grown woman, Leti. She can come and go as she pleases."Leti let out a frustrated breath.” Well, you should have made her stay. Brandy is very sensitive. The confrontation at the hospital probably spooked. She probably had decided it best to leave in order not to bring problems to us.” She said pulling her phone from her pocket and dialed. I listened to the silence, then the automated voicemail greeting. She tried again. Voicemail."Her phone is off," Leti muttered. She looked up at me, her eyes wide. "What if something happened to her?"I took a sip of my coffee, forcing my expression to remain neutral. "She probably just went to a hotel to sleep.""No, Papa," Leti said, he
The silence in the hospital hallway was deafening.Leti stood in the center of the corridor, directly between the two factions of armed men. The warm, bubbly doctor I knew was gone. In her place was a woman of cold, absolute authority.Her eyes narrowed, glaring at Stefan, her gaze sharp and assessing. "So you're the Stefan Brandy's been talking about," she said, her voice dripping with disdain. "I should have known." She turned to Stefan's men."You are standing on common ground," Leti said, her voice deadly quiet. "St. Gennaro is a neutral zone. You know the rules, Stefan.. If you fire a weapon in this hospital, you will answer to the Council. And I will personally make sure your organizations burn for it."Stefan’s jaw tightened, but he didn't argue. He finally had enough sense to know he was in the wrong."Put the guns away," Leti repeated, her eyes flashing. "Now!"Dario looked at his daughter. There was no scolding in her eyes, only the cold, hard truth of the rules she was enf
The sterile hallway of St. Gennaro felt ten degrees colder when I stepped out of the surgical wing. My scrubs were still damp with sweat, my hair plastered to my forehead. The adrenaline had worn off, leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion that made my legs feel like lead. But I had a smile on my face. A real one. Matteo was alive. He was stable. I had pulled off a miracle. I pushed through the doors of the surgical waiting room, my eyes scanning the plastic chairs for Emily. She was sitting in the corner, her face pale, clutching a rosary in her hands. "Emily," I called softly, walking toward her. She looked up, her eyes wide and terrified. She braced herself for the worst. "He's stable," I said, a tired but genuine smile breaking through. "The surgery was a success. He's going to make it." Emily let out a sound that was half-sob, half-scream. She threw her arms around my neck, crying into my shoulder. "Thank you. Thank you. God, thank you." I hugged her back, rubbing her spine
"Time of death," someone whispered.The words hung in the sterile air of the OR, heavy and final. The continuous, high-pitched wail of the monitor drilled into my skull."No, No," I said, my voice sharp, cutting through the fog of despair. I didn't step back. I didn't drop my instruments. I stared at the tiny, still heart in the open cavity of Matteo’s chest."Dr. Fischer..." Romano started, his voice thick with grief. "He's gone.""He's not gone," I said, my eyes never leaving the boy. "His heart is in failure, but the tissue is still viable. Give me the internal paddles."The scrub nurse slapped the paddles into my palm. I pressed them directly against the small, lifeless muscle."Charge to thirty. Clear!"Matteo's body jerked slightly. The monitor remained flat."Charge to fifty. Clear!"Another jerk. Nothing."Brandy, stop," Romano pleaded. "You're going to destroy the conduction system. It's over.""It's not over until I say it is," I snapped. My mind was racing, running through
The drive to St. Gennaro was a blur of neon streetlights and the roar of the engine.Dario drove like a man possessed, weaving through the late-night traffic, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were bone-white. He didn't speak. He didn't try to offer empty words of comfort. He just drove, and for that, I was grateful. If he had tried to tell me it was going to be okay, I might have shattered into a million pieces right there in the passenger seat.I sat beside him, my fingers digging into the stack of medical files on my lap. My mind was racing a million miles an hour, running through every possible complication. The surgery was scheduled for tomorrow morning. He was supposed to be stable. What changed? Was it a clot? An infection? A structural failure I had missed on the scans?We screeched to a halt outside the emergency entrance, the tires skidding against the asphalt. I didn't wait for Dario to put the car in park. I threw the door open and ran, the auto
I stared at the plate of food in his hands. It smelled incredible, roasted lamb, fresh rosemary, and something rich and buttery. But it was the man holding it that made my mouth go completely dry. Dario stood in the doorway, one shoulder propped against the frame, his dark eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made my skin prickle. He looked like a predator who had decided to get comfortable before eating his prey. He didn't wait for me to answer. He invited himself in, his presence instantly shrinking the spacious guest room. "Leti, said I should bring you something to eat, else you might starve yourself," he said, his voice a low, rumbling baritone that seemed to vibrate right through my chest. He walked past me, the scent of cedarwood and dark spice washing over me, and set the plate down on the only clear corner of the desk. I gripped the edge of the door, my knuckles turning white. " Thanks but I'm not hungry." I lied. He knew I was lying but didn't say anything. His dark







