Chapter 3 - THE HEALER’S DEBT
The medical wing of the Croft estate was more advanced than the city’s public hospital,
a clean,
white sanctuary hidden within the dark stone walls.
Sadie lay on a bed,
watching as a nurse moved with silent efficiency,
checking the monitors and adjusting the IV in her arm.
Across the room,
behind a glass partition,
Titus was in a large,
padded enclosure,
oxygen flowing into his muzzle.
Julian was there,
standing by the glass,
his hand resting on the surface as he watched the mastiff breathe.
He had taken off his jacket,
his white shirt rolled up at the sleeves,
revealing the tattoos that mapped out his history.
He looked less like a mafia boss and more like a man who was desperately trying to hold onto the only thing he had left.
The nurse finished her work and left the room,
closing the door with a soft click.
Julian didn't turn around,
but Sadie knew he was aware she was awake.
“The vet says he’ll make it,”
Julian said,
his voice reflecting off the glass.
“He was dehydrated,
exhausted,
and his heart was starting to fail.”
“But you got him to us just in time.”
Sadie felt a surge of relief,
the weight on her chest finally lifting.
“I’m glad,”
she whispered.
Julian turned then,
walking toward her bed,
his shadow lengthening across the floor.
He looked at her with an intensity that made her want to look away,
but she forced herself to meet his gaze.
“Why were you working at The Harrington,
Sadie?”
he asked,
calling her by her name for the first time.
“A girl with your education shouldn't be busing tables for people like Celeste.”
Sadie froze,
the IV needle feeling cold in her vein.
She had been so careful to hide her past,
to bury the records of her life before Harrow Falls.
“I needed the money,”
she said,
the lie tasting like ash.
Julian sat on the edge of the bed,
the movement making the mattress tilt.
“I know who you are,”
he said quietly,
“I know about the clinic in the city.”
“I know about the people who came looking for you.”
Sadie’s heart hammered against her ribs,
the fear returning with a vengeance.
She had moved here to escape the debt her father had left behind,
the men who saw her as a bargaining chip.
“Are you going to give me to them?”
she asked,
her voice trembling.
Julian reached out,
his fingers brushing the hair away from her forehead,
the touch surprisingly warm.
“I don't give away what belongs to me,”
he said,
the possessiveness in his tone a chilling promise.
“And from the moment you carried my dog into that room,”
“you became mine to protect.”
Outside,
the wind howled against the stone walls,
a storm brewing over the valley.
But inside the medical wing,
Sadie felt a strange,
dangerous sense of safety.
May you like
She was in the lion’s den,
but the lion was watching the door.
