Chapter 2 - THE BOY WITH THE BLACK CROSS
When I woke again, the room was quiet.
Too quiet.
Grace was gone.
Vanessa was sitting beside my bed.
She smiled when my eyes opened.
“You scared everyone.”
I stared at her.
“How long?”
“Almost two days.”
My throat burned.
“Where's the boy?”
Her smile vanished.
“What boy?”
I stared at her.
“The child.”
“Dominic, you've been unconscious. You were hallucinating.”
“No.”
“You suffered severe trauma.”
“The boy.”
Vanessa sighed.
“There was no boy.”
I felt something cold move through me.
“Where is Grace?”
Her expression tightened.
“The nurse?”
“Yes.”
“She was fired.”
“Why?”
“She violated hospital protocol.”
“Who fired her?”
“The administration.”
I looked at her.
“Who ordered it?”
Silence.
Then the door opened.
My security chief, Marco Russo, entered.
He stopped when he saw me awake.
“Boss.”
“Close the door.”
He did.
“Tell me everything.”
Marco hesitated.
“Everything.”
He glanced at Vanessa.
She stood.
“I'll give you privacy.”
“No.”
She froze.
“You stay.”
Her smile became thin.
I looked at Marco.
“The explosion.”
“Someone planted an explosive beneath the SUV.”
“Who?”
“We don't know yet.”
“The driver?”
“Dead.”
“My men?”
“Two injured.”
“The child?”
Marco looked confused.
“What child?”
“The boy brought in with me.”
He glanced at Vanessa.
“There was no child in the official ambulance report.”
My heart stopped.
“Find Grace.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Dominic, you need rest.”
I ignored her.
“Find Grace.”
Marco nodded.
“And Marco?”
“Yes?”
“Find out why the hospital erased a pediatric trauma admission.”
His expression changed.
“Yes, Boss.”
After he left, Vanessa closed the door.
“You're making a mistake.”
I looked at her.
“Which part?”
“Trusting a nurse.”
“You're afraid of her.”
“No.”
“You are.”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“I am trying to protect you.”
“From Grace?”
“From whoever is using her.”
I stared at her.
“Who is using her?”
“I don't know.”
“Then stop talking.”
Her eyes flashed.
“You've changed.”
“I nearly died.”
“That isn't what I mean.”
I leaned back.
“Then explain.”
“You used to trust me.”
“I still might.”
“But?”
“But you're making it difficult.”
She went pale.
For three years, Vanessa had been the perfect woman beside me.
Elegant.
Loyal.
Connected.
Her father controlled half the shipping unions on the Eastern Seaboard.
Our marriage would have united two powerful families.
But something had always bothered me.
Vanessa loved my position.
She loved my name.
She loved the protection that came with being Dominic Moretti.
I had never been certain she loved me.
Then I remembered Grace's face.
She had looked at me as though I were simply another wounded man.
No fear.
No calculation.
No desire for power.
Just concern.
That difference stayed with me.
Three hours later, Marco returned.
He placed a folder on my bed.
“Grace Bennett disappeared.”
I opened it.
“Disappeared?”
“She left the hospital before dawn.”
“Where?”
“We're trying to locate her.”
“Why?”
Marco hesitated.
“Because someone followed her.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
“We have footage.”
He opened a tablet.
Security footage showed Grace leaving through the employee entrance.
A black sedan waited across the street.
Grace stopped.
She looked toward it.
Then she ran.
The sedan followed.
My blood went cold.
“Who was driving?”
“We don't know.”
“Zoom in.”
Marco enlarged the image.
The driver's face remained hidden.
But the passenger window rolled down.
A hand appeared.
Holding a black cross.
The same cross the boy had been carrying.
I stared at the screen.
“Find her.”
“We will.”
“No.”
I pulled myself upright.
“I'm going.”
“Boss, you can't walk.”
“Then bring a wheelchair.”
Marco stared at me.
“Where?”
I pointed at the screen.
“Wherever Grace went.”
Then my phone rang.
An unknown number.
I answered.
A child's voice whispered:
“Mr. Moretti?”
My blood froze.
“Who is this?”
The boy breathed into the phone.
“They're coming for Grace.”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
Then:
May you like
“Under the church.”
The line went dead.
