Chapter 2 - The Mafia Boss Took the Nurse to a Mansion She Never Asked to See
Adrian Mercer did not take Claire to a penthouse.
He took her to a mansion overlooking the Hudson.
The gates opened before the SUV even stopped.
Security cameras followed them.
Armed guards stood beneath black umbrellas.
Claire stared.
“This is insane.”
Adrian looked at her.
“This is temporary.”
“How temporary?”
“Until I know who wants you.”
“I have a job.”
“You're taking leave.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“I need the money.”
“I'll pay you.”
Claire turned toward him sharply.
“Don't.”
His expression changed.
“I wasn't trying to insult you.”
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“I don't want your money.”
“You need it.”
“Yes.”
“That is exactly why I'm offering it.”
Claire shook her head.
“I won't become another person you own.”
Something dangerous flashed across his face.
“You never belonged to me.”
“Tell that to everyone at the auction.”
Silence.
Adrian looked away.
The mansion was beautiful.
Too beautiful.
Polished marble.
Floor-to-ceiling windows.
Paintings that probably cost more than Claire's entire neighborhood.
And yet the house felt strangely empty.
A woman named Sofia greeted them.
She was Adrian's housekeeper.
Her expression softened when she saw Claire.
“Your room is ready.”
“My room?”
Adrian answered.
“Second floor.”
Claire stared at him.
“You've already prepared one?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“While you were working.”
“That's creepy.”
“I've heard worse.”
She almost smiled.
Almost.
That night Claire couldn't sleep.
At 2:17 a.m., she heard shouting downstairs.
She slipped into the hallway.
Adrian stood in the study.
His back was to her.
A man on speakerphone was saying, “The offer has doubled.”
Adrian's voice was ice.
“Who?”
“Unknown.”
“And the target?”
“Claire Bennett.”
Claire stopped breathing.
Adrian turned.
Their eyes met through the open doorway.
He ended the call.
She walked inside.
“So it's really two hundred thousand.”
“More now.”
“How much?”
“Half a million.”
Her stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“That is what I intend to find out.”
Claire stared at him.
“Why me?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
He looked surprised.
“Why would I lie?”
“Because you're a man who keeps secrets.”
He said nothing.
She stepped closer.
“Did you know my father?”
Adrian's expression changed.
“What makes you ask that?”
“He owes money.”
“How much?”
“Almost twenty thousand.”
“You should have told me.”
“Why?”
“Because the people who hired you at the auction were connected to the same organization collecting his debt.”
Claire's face went pale.
“Raymond Cole.”
Adrian nodded.
“He wasn't hiring you to serve champagne.”
“What was I doing?”
“Standing near me.”
She blinked.
“He used you as a distraction.”
“And the kiss?”
“Was mine.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked toward the fireplace.
“Because someone was about to kill me.”
Claire's anger softened slightly.
“Who?”
“Victor Kane.”
The name seemed to darken the room.
Adrian continued.
“Victor has been trying to take control of my organization for two years.”
Claire whispered, “And now he wants me because?”
“Because he thinks you're important.”
“But I'm not.”
Adrian looked directly at her.
“You may be.”
She hated that sentence.
The next morning, Claire received a phone call from Harborview.
Danny Morales's mother had filed a complaint.
Apparently someone had asked hospital staff about Claire's schedule.
She sat down.
Adrian watched her from across the room.
“I should go back.”
“No.”
“People need me.”
“So do I.”
She looked at him.
“You barely know me.”
“I know enough.”
“No, you don't.”
He stood.
“Then tell me.”
Claire folded her hands.
She told him about her mother.
Her death.
Her father's gambling.
Nursing school.
The apartment she had lost.
Every humiliation she had hidden because she was tired of being treated like a victim.
Adrian listened.
He did not interrupt.
When she finished, he said quietly:
“You're the first person in years to tell me the truth without wanting something.”
Claire stared.
“You're the first person in years who makes me want to tell the truth back.”
Neither spoke.
Then the mansion alarm screamed.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Adrian moved instantly.
He grabbed Claire and pulled her behind the stone wall.
Guards rushed through the hall.
A bullet shattered the window.
Claire flinched.
Adrian shielded her with his body.
“Stay down.”
“I'm a nurse, not a decorative pillow.”
He almost smiled.
Even in danger.
Especially in danger.
The attack lasted less than two minutes.
When it ended, one guard was injured.
Claire immediately ran toward him.
Adrian watched her kneel beside the wounded man.
She stopped his bleeding.
Directed his breathing.
Kept him conscious.
When she looked up, blood streaked her hands.
Adrian stared at her.
“You weren't afraid.”
“I was terrified.”
“But you helped him.”
“That's my job.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at her as if seeing her differently.
“That is who you are.”
And something inside Claire shifted.
May you like
The frightening part wasn't that Adrian Mercer was becoming more human in her eyes.
The frightening part was that she was starting to become human in his.
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