Chapter 2 - THE DOCTOR WHO REFUSED TO LIE
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Dr. Matteo Ferraro didn't answer immediately.
That was the first thing Lucy noticed.
The second was that he moved between Dominic and the bedroom doors, positioning himself so that nobody outside could see the glass in his hand.
“Everyone out,” Matteo ordered.
Dominic stared at him.
“You work for me.”
“I work to keep you alive.”
“Then explain why you're giving orders in my bedroom.”
“Because whatever you swallowed could be dangerous, and I'm not going to waste time arguing with you.”
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Dominic reached for his phone.
“Raphael, lock down the house. Nobody leaves until we know who prepared this water.”
Raphael's amusement had vanished completely.
He touched the earpiece beneath his collar and issued three clipped instructions. The bodyguards disappeared into the corridor.
Lucy remained beside the bed.
Dominic looked at her.
“You too.”
She folded her arms.
“I'm sorry. Did you just try to dismiss the person who noticed you were being poisoned?”
“Lucy.”
“Dominic.”
Matteo closed his eyes briefly.
“I'm beginning to understand why your blood pressure is so high.”
“I'm beginning to understand why you still have a medical license,” Dominic replied. “Apparently, you're comfortable practicing medicine in a circus.”
Despite everything, Lucy nearly laughed.
Then she looked at the glass again.
The residue had gathered into a thin, pearly film along the bottom.
“Could it be from the medicine?” she asked.
Matteo shook his head. “Possibly a reaction, but I won't assume that. I'll send the water for analysis. Dominic needs monitoring, and I want a full blood panel immediately.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“You think someone deliberately put something in it.”
“I think someone placed an unknown substance in a glass of water belonging to a man who was shot four days ago.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It's the only honest one I have.”
A muscle jumped in Dominic's jaw.
Lucy recognized that expression now. It meant he was frightened and furious that anyone might notice.
She sat on the edge of the mattress.
“Then we start with who brought the water.”
Dominic looked at her as if she'd suggested interrogating the curtains.
“The staff roster is already being checked.”
“By people who are probably too scared of you to admit they made a mistake.”
Raphael returned from the doorway.
“She's not wrong.”
Dominic gave him a murderous look.
“Would you like to join her in the hallway?”
“No. I like the mattress here.”
Lucy smiled, but her attention remained on the glass.
“Who prepared it?”
“Bianca oversees the bedroom service,” Raphael said. “But several staff members handle trays.”
“Then we need the complete chain of custody,” Matteo replied. “Who filled the glass, who carried the tray, who entered the room, and when.”
Dominic reached for the water glass again.
Lucy caught his wrist.
“No.”
His gaze dropped to her fingers.
“Let go.”
“Promise not to drink anything else until the doctor clears it.”
“I'm not a child.”
“Then making promises should be easy.”
For a long second, he stared at her.
Then, astonishingly, he nodded.
Matteo collected the glass in a sealed container and left with Raphael to organize the investigation.
Lucy expected Dominic to order her out.
Instead, he watched the closed door.
“You shouldn't have touched the glass.”
“I used two fingers.”
“You don't know what was in it.”
“Neither do you.”
“Someone might have been targeting me.”
Lucy felt the humor drain from her face.
“And if they were?”
“Then they'll discover they made a serious mistake.”
“That sounds impressive, but it doesn't make you invincible.”
His eyes shifted toward her.
Something in his expression changed.
“Why do you care?”
The question was quiet enough to hurt.
Lucy looked down at her hands.
“Because you hired me to do a job, and part of that job is making sure you don't die of stubbornness before lunch.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
She had no clever answer for him.
Before she could find one, a knock sounded at the door.
Bianca entered carrying a small notebook. Her normally immaculate gray hair had loosened around her temples.
“Mr. Moretti, I need to speak with you.”
Dominic straightened.
“What is it?”
Bianca looked at Lucy, then at the empty bedside table.
“I'm afraid there's a problem with the morning service.”
“What problem?”
Bianca swallowed.
“The woman who prepared your water has disappeared.”
Dominic's face became completely still.
“What is her name?”
“Clara Bellini. She started three weeks ago.”
Lucy frowned.
Three weeks.
She had started seventeen days ago.
Clara had started almost exactly when she had.
Bianca opened her notebook with trembling fingers.
“There's something else. Before she disappeared, she asked me whether you still kept the old silver key in your father's study.”
Dominic's eyes sharpened.
“What key?”
Bianca looked as though she wished she'd never spoken.
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“The key to the room your father ordered sealed before he died.”
Then she added, in a voice barely above a whisper, “And Mr. Moretti, Clara wasn't the person who brought your water upstairs this morning.”
