BOUND BY BLOOD AND SECRETS / Chapter 5 / 20

Chapter 5 - The TransferTen days after entering St. Catherine's, Clara was cleared for private transport.

She was still weak, her breath catching whenever she turned her torso too quickly, but she was able to stand with the aid of a cane. They dressed her in a oversized cashmere sweater and soft black trousers provided by Isabella.

Two black armored SUVs sat idling in the private basement garage of the hospital.

Dominic walked beside her, his hand resting lightly on the small of her back—not forcing her, but anchoring her against her shaky balance. Four security guards walked ahead of them, their hands resting inside their jackets.

"Where are you taking me?" Clara asked, her voice steady despite her racing pulse.

"To my home in Long Island," Dominic said as Enzo opened the rear door of the lead SUV. "It's fortified. You'll have your own wing, a private physical therapist, and total protection."

"I want to go back to my apartment in Queens," Clara said, stopping beside the open car door. She turned to face him, her dark red hair catching the dim garage lighting. "I want my life back, Dominic."

Dominic looked down at her, his severe face completely unreadable.

"Your apartment in Queens was firebombed two nights ago, Clara," he said calmly. "Everything inside it was destroyed."

Clara felt the ground tilt beneath her feet. "What...?"

"Victor Costa left a message on your front door," Dominic continued, taking her arm gently to steady her. "If you had been sleeping in that bed, you would be ash right now. The life you had in Queens is gone. Accept it."

Tears sprang to Clara’s eyes—tears of rage, grief, and complete helplessness. Everything she had worked for, every humble memory of her quiet life, had been wiped out by men she didn't know for reasons she couldn't understand.

"Why me?" she sobbed, her voice breaking. "Why did you drag me into this?!"