2. His Offer

Roman Bianchi was a mafia boss whom very few would be daring enough – or suicidal enough – to mess with. He lived by a few rules, among which harming children was forbidden, because even his chaotic life could use some structure.  

And at the moment, Roman wasn’t pleased to be on bedrest to say the least. He needed to hunt the rat who dared to betray him. This betrayal made him lose money, but also facilitated an attempt on his life – and made him lose 3 of his men. 

Truth be told, he already had someone in mind, whom he had suspected of being a bit too well-off as of late… He just hadn’t had the time to investigate the man at leisure. 

Roman watched as the stubborn and fiery nurse attended to him. Truth be told, Rosalina was a beautiful name for a beautiful woman, and he was intrigued by her dedication to her work. It seemed like her desire to help him on the first day was genuine, since she didn’t know who he was then. She didn’t fear him then, and didn’t fear him now… And that could prove to be fatal if she were to tempt the devil within him. 

   

She was almost done with her work when he received a full background check on her, which was very short, as to be expected: Rosalina Marcels, 24 years old, full-time nurse. No siblings to speak of, estranged mother and deceased father. Financially struggling because of a debt her father left behind. Clean record.    

As he read the part about her financial struggles, Roman could only smirk ever so slightly. He would have to bet on this. This forced bedrest was not doing him any good, and he couldn’t wait to be home already. 

“Rose,” he drawled, to which her gaze shifted to him at once. Her deep chocolate brown eyes drew him in like no eyes ever did before, and it was almost unsettling. 

The naive woman shouldn’t be so attractive. 

“Yes, Mr Bianchi?” She responded after a beat. 

“I cannot afford to remain at the clinic,” he said, and she frowned ever so slightly. He explained after a beat, “Time is far too precious, you see.” 

“I understand,” she nodded at him, despite giving him the stink eye. It seemed like she didn’t like what she heard. “What do you have in mind?” 

How fascinating! She truly had guts. 

 “I will get discharged by tomorrow morning, and you’re going to attend to me at the villa,” he declared matter-of-factly. 

“I beg your pardon?” She all but choked on the words, her eyes bulging almost comically.  

“Leila is unable to attend to me,” he sighed dramatically, wishing she would give in without making too much of a fuss. 

“But surely that is no reason to uproot me from here, Mr Bianchi?” Rose objected in a dejected albeit firm tone of voice. 

“You’re not getting fired. You’ll just be granted 10 exceptional days off so you could take care of me,” he said matter-of-factly. 

“I’m going to need a moment to think about it,” she declared after a moment, and rose to her feet, marching out of his VIP room. 

** ** ** ** ** 

Rose needed some fresh air, and would have loved to go on a walk, but that was not exactly an option at the moment. She was still on shift and needed to remain inside the clinic.  

She decided to hit the cafetaria and have a juice, in the hopes that the sweetness would alleviate the bitterness she felt. 

Rose felt like she was subjected to Roman Bianchi’s whims, all because she had been stubborn when she first met him. And he was seemingly serious about his offer – about her attending to him for the next 10 days. 

The moment she reached the cafetaria, Zina was seemingly ready to head up. 

“How is it going?” Her friend asked with a small smile. 

“It could be better,” she shrugged, but then felt compelled to add, “it could be worse too. I am not complaining.” 

Zina’s smile broadened, and she soon told her in a hushed tone of voice, “I would have honestly been delighted to attend to Mr grumpy, if only he had been less opposed to having someone touch him.” 

Rose giggled at that, unable to help herself, even as she shook her head at Zina in disbelief. She could understand where this came from, for the man looked like a Greek god… but that was all there was to him – looks and danger.  

Zina then gave her a heartfelt thumbs up and said, “You got this, sister.” 

Rose nodded at her and let out a simple “Thank you.”

And with that, Zina left Rose to her tumultuous thoughts. Soon, with her juice in hand, she sat at a table, and began to scroll down her contact list. Before long, she was calling Elizabeth, the head nurse. 

“Hello Elizabeth,” she greeted her in a soft voice. “I am sorry to call you this late.” 

“Hello Rose,” the older woman greeted her back. “Don’t worry about it. What’s up? Is something wrong with Mr Bianchi?” 

Naturally, the head nurse’s first concern was the stubborn and insufferable patient. 

“He declared earlier that he’s getting discharged tomorrow, and that I am leaving with him,” Rose blurted out what worried her the most without so much as a preamble. 

The woman’s gasp was barely audible before she asked, “What were his exact words?”

“He said I wasn’t getting fired, but getting 10 exceptional days off to take care of him at the villa,” Rose let out in a somewhat angry tone of voice. 

Elizabeth let out a stunned “Oh” at that point. 

“Yeah, oh! Big oh!” Rose quipped, rolling her eyes seeing as she hated the woman’s indifferent reaction.   

“I don’t know a lot about the man, but I know he’s loaded,” Elizabeth tried to make her see the situation in a new light. 

“Elizabeth, be reasonable,” Rose bit out. “Tell me there’s some way out of this mess.” 

“He’s dangerously loaded – pun intended, woman,” she then told her in earnest. “You don’t want to cross him. Besides, the clinic is still up and running thanks to the money he offers each semester to keep it afloat. They will accept his deal, no doubt about that.” 

Rose sighed and face-palmed at the same time. 

“I know this isn’t ideal, Rose,” she went on. “But we cannot afford to upset him.” 

Indeed, it was obvious they couldn’t. Considering they had called her on her day off – right after a night shift – with no shame, and asked her to cover another night shift, all to take care of their precious mafia boss, it was obvious that they wouldn’t bat an eye at the deal he offered her. 

“Consider yourself lucky he told you in advance,” Elizabeth said in a soft voice. 

“Lucky, huh?” Rose echoed after her. “Please don’t make me laugh.” 

“How about you call me back when you’ve thought it through, and you’re no longer upset?” Elizabeth offered in a kind motherly tone of voice. 

“I will do that,” Rose sighed… and soon the line went dead. 

Rose drank her apple juice, but the sweetness did nothing to the tightness she felt in her chest.