Chapter 20

POV: Karol

Someone in the hallway was pushing the door open. They were very strong.

Ciro moved fast. The deep, burning heat in his eyes turned cold. He dropped my hand, grabbed my waist, and pulled me hard behind his back.

"Stay behind me," he ordered. His voice was firm.

The heart monitor on his chest beeped fast and loud. But Ciro did not look scared. He looked ready to kill. He sat up, ignoring his bad knee. He grabbed a heavy metal tray filled with massage oils and tools.

The space in the doorway grew wider. A black leather glove pushed the heavy desk away like it was nothing.

Then, a man stepped into the room.

He wore a dark, wet raincoat and a black mask. Rainwater dripped onto the clean floor. He held a black gun with a long silencer in his right hand.

I stopped breathing.

The man pointed the gun straight at Ciro’s chest.

Before the killer could shoot, Ciro yelled and threw the metal tray with all his might. It hit the man right in the face. Glass bottles broke. Warm oil splashed everywhere.

The gun fired with a quiet spit sound. The bullet missed Ciro by inches and hit the wall.

Before the killer could aim again, a dark shadow ran in from the hallway. It was Mateo.

Mateo had blood on his face. He looked furious. He grabbed the killer from behind and put him in a tight chokehold. The killer kicked and tried to aim the gun at Mateo.

"Drop it!" Mateo yelled.

He twisted the man’s arm hard. A loud snap filled the room. The killer groaned and dropped the gun. Mateo did not stop. He slammed the man’s head against the door. The killer passed out and fell to the floor.

The room went completely quiet. I only heard the heavy rain and the fast beeps of Ciro's heart monitor.

Mateo leaned against the wall, breathing hard. He wiped the blood off his face. "I am sorry, boss. He sneaked in while I checked the cameras."

"Tie his hands and feet," Ciro said calmly. "Put him in the basement cell. I want to know who sent him when he wakes up."

Ciro turned to look at me. His chest was moving fast. He pulled the heart monitor off his skin.

"Karol," he said softly. He reached out to me. "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head, but my whole body was shaking. I stepped out from behind him. "I'm fine. What about you? Your knee..."

"Forget my knee," he said. He grabbed my waist and pulled me close to the table. His warm hands pressed my back. He pulled me into a hug. "You are shaking."

"Someone just tried to shoot you," I whispered. I put my hands flat on his chest. His heartbeat was just as fast as mine.

Mateo knelt on the floor to tie up the killer. He rolled the man over, and something fell out of his pocket. It hit the floor.

It was a large plastic needle. It was filled with a strange, milky liquid.

Mateo picked it up and held it to the light. He looked at Ciro. "He didn't come to shoot you, boss. He brought the gun just in case. He came to put this in your arm while you slept."

I stared at the white liquid. My doctor's instincts kicked in. I pushed my fear away.

"Don't touch the needle, Mateo," I warned. I stepped away from Ciro to look closer. "If that goes into his blood, it will look like a sudden heart attack. That is a killer's tool."

Mateo nodded. His jaw was tight. He wrapped the needle in a towel. "I will handle this trash. Lock the door behind me. Do not open it for anyone."

Mateo dragged the man out of the room. I ran to the door. I pushed the heavy steel desk back to block it and locked the door.

When I turned back, Ciro was watching me. The dark, hot look from our massage was still in his eyes. But now, he also looked fiercely protective.

"Come here," he said quietly.

I walked back to him. He gently held my hand and rubbed my skin.

"I won't let them touch you," I promise. He looked deep into my eyes. "Do you hear me, Karol? You are safe with me."

"I know," I whispered. And God help me, I believed him. My enemy. My rival. The man I was supposed to hate was the only one keeping me alive.

"You need to rest," I told him, trying to sound like a doctor again. "Your knee will hurt soon. Let me get you a pain pill from my bag."

He nodded slowly and let go of my hand.

I walked to the corner where my medical bag sat. My hands still shook a little as I dug past the bandages.

Suddenly, my fingers touched something hard in a side pocket. It was the cheap, secret phone I had sneaked inside.

I stopped. The screen was glowing. It was buzzing quietly against the bag.

I looked back at Ciro. His head rested back. His eyes were closed in pain and exhaustion.

I turned my back to hide the bag from him. I pulled the secret phone out and looked at the blue screen. I had one new text message from a number I didn't know.

I opened it.

“They missed tonight. But they are still coming. The truth is hiding in plain sight. Check his blood test from the night he got hurt. Hurry.”

I froze.

Who was sending this? Who knew I was here? Who knew what just happened?

I put the phone in my pocket and grabbed a pain pill. I gave it to Ciro with some water. "I need to chart your numbers in the computer," I lied. "Just close your eyes for a minute."

"Don't go far," he said quietly, swallowing the pill.

"I am right here."

I walked over to the computer on the desk. My hands moved fast on the keys. I logged into the private medical files using my secret password from the Kensington clinic.

I pulled up Ciro’s file. I found the hospital lab tests from the exact night his knee broke on the field. I scrolled past his blood and oxygen numbers. I was looking for the poison report.

There it was.

Buried at the very bottom, ignored by the hospital doctors, was a tiny spike in a special chemical. I stared at the name on the screen.

I could not breathe. The room started to spin.

It wasn't a normal drug. It was a man-made poison. It eats away at human muscles and bones, making them snap easily.

Someone didn't just cut his knee brace. They poisoned his blood days before the game. They wanted him gone.

But that was not what scared me the most.

What scared me was that this exact poison was impossible to buy on the streets. It was a top-secret test drug.

And it was only made and locked away safely in the dark basement at my family's own clinic. The exact clinic my mother and sister controlled.

Could it be that someone outside the Kensington family is also working to kill Ciro?