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Chapter 3

作者: candy
When Paolo, the bodyguard my mother had sent, arrived, I asked him to take me to the hospital first.

Anthony was still awake. His daughter handed me a manila envelope containing the maintenance department's copy of the order to resume work.

Beneath Sera's signature was Luca's handwritten approval.

I took a photo and sent it to my mother. She replied almost immediately. Rinaldi, the Moretti consigliere, was on his way. Anthony and his daughter would be moved somewhere Luca's men couldn't reach.

Only then did I go downstairs to have my hand treated.

The nurse removed the bandages, found that my palm was bleeding again, and called a doctor to tend to it.

Familiar footsteps sounded in the doorway.

Luca stood there with a scarf, his driver behind him.

“Didn't I tell you to go home?”

He came over, laid the scarf across the back of a chair, and held up a hand to the doctor.

“She doesn't handle pain well. Give us a moment.”

For eight years, whenever I needed medical treatment, Luca would sit on my left and tuck my face against his shoulder so I wouldn't have to watch.

Once, I'd clung to his sleeve and cried over a tooth extraction. He'd stayed at the clinic with me until dark, then teased me about it when we got home.

Now he pulled a chair into his usual place and took off his coat.

“Come here.”

I rested my hand beside the treatment tray again.

“You can start.”

The doctor looked at me for confirmation, then resumed cleaning the wound.

Luca's offered hand remained empty.

He left it beside my knee, palm up.

My shoulders flinched when the gauze touched the raw skin, but I didn't turn to him.

He leaned closer.

“You don't have to put on a brave face with me.”

I gripped the hem of my shirt and waited for the pain to pass.

When the dressing was done, the nurse handed me the care instructions. Luca reached for them out of habit. I took them first and put them in my bag.

He watched me zip it shut, then finally smiled.

“You were good today. Not a single tear.”

At the elevator, he answered a call. Sera's name lit up his screen.

“The file's in the study. Ask one of the staff to unlock it.”

I stopped by the elevator doors and waited.

He covered the phone's microphone and wrapped the scarf around my neck.

“Go ahead and get in the car. I'll be down when I'm finished.”

He tucked the frayed end inside my collar with the ease of long practice. I never got the knot right. I used to wait in the hall for him to do it before we went out.

The elevator doors opened.

“I'll have the scarf washed and send it back.”

Still listening to the call, he waved me on.

Downstairs, Paolo had pulled up outside the entrance.

I got into the back seat and gave him the hotel address.

Luca's message arrived as we drove away.

[My driver couldn't find you. Where did you go?]

I read my mother's message again: Your room is ready.

[I have somewhere to stay tonight.]

His reply came quickly.

[I'll pick you up tomorrow. Don't forget your medication.]

Through the car window, I watched the lights at the hospital entrance until they disappeared.
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