Chapter 2 - What Was Outside the Window
I pulled the cord.
The blinds rose six inches before Liam shouted.
“Stop.”
It wasn't anger this time.
It was fear.
My hand froze.
For four days, I had watched this man endure wound cleaning without anesthesia, allow metal pins to be adjusted without flinching, and stare down armed men twice his size as though they were mildly inconvenient furniture.
But six inches of daylight had drained the color from his face.
I released the cord.
“Liam?”
His eyes weren't on me.
They were fixed on the window.
I followed his stare.
Beyond the glass was a broad lawn bordered by pines. Farther down the hill stood a frozen lake glittering beneath the February sun.
Nothing moved.
Then Liam whispered, “Close it.”
I lowered the blinds.
His breathing remained shallow.
I checked his pulse.
One hundred twenty-four.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“That was not nothing.”
“Drop it, Nora.”
It was the first time he'd used my name.
I sat beside the bed.
“You don't have to tell me.”
“Good.”
“But if something outside that window is triggering panic attacks, I need to know enough to keep you medically stable.”
His gaze hardened.
“You were hired to treat wounds.”
“And unfortunately, the brain is attached to the body.”
A tiny movement touched his mouth.
Almost a smile.
Almost.
Then footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Leo entered carrying a silver tray.
His gaze immediately went to the blinds.
Then to me.
“You touched them.”
“I raised them six inches.”
“I told you not to.”
“And nobody explained why.”
Leo set the tray down.
“You don't need an explanation.”
Liam spoke before I could.
“Leave us.”
Leo looked surprised.
“Boss—”
“Now.”
Leo left.
The door closed.
Liam stared at the ceiling.
“Three weeks ago, somebody shot me through that window.”
I stopped breathing for a second.
He continued.
“The bullet missed my heart. Then men came through the east entrance.”
I looked at his leg.
“The external fixator?”
“Car accident during the escape.”
“And your abdomen?”
“Knife.”
I understood.
The dark room wasn't preference.
It was armor.
“You think the shooter is still out there.”
“I know he is.”
“Then why stay in the same bedroom?”
“Because running tells people where you're afraid.”
“That might be the dumbest sentence I've heard all week.”
His eyes moved toward me.
“You don't know much about my world.”
“No. But I know trauma.”
Silence settled between us.
Then Liam asked, “Your brother.”
My head snapped up.
“What?”
“The hospital bracelet in your bag.”
I had forgotten Tommy's old admission bracelet was looped around the zipper.
“You read it?”
“I notice things.”
“Apparently not infections.”
Again, that almost-smile.
“What's wrong with him?”
I hesitated.
“Leukemia.”
Liam's expression changed.
“He's twenty-two.”
“How bad?”
“Bad.”
I hated how quickly my throat tightened.
“The standard treatments failed. Northwestern has access to an experimental trial, but insurance won't cover most of it.”
“And that's why you're here.”
“Ten thousand dollars a week changes things.”
“How much?”
“For the full treatment?”
“Yes.”
“About three hundred eighty thousand.”
Liam said nothing.
I hated the embarrassment that came next.
“You don't have to look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you're calculating how many weeks I'd have to survive you.”
That time he actually smiled.
It lasted less than a second.
“Thirty-eight.”
“See? You're calculating.”
A knock came.
Leo returned.
“Doctor's downstairs.”
“Send him up,” I said.
Leo didn't move.
“He's not here for Liam.”
Something about his voice made me stand.
“Then who?”
“You.”
My stomach tightened.
A gray-haired physician waited in the library downstairs.
Dr. Ellis introduced himself as the Mercer family's private physician.
Then he handed me an envelope.
Inside was ten thousand dollars.
My first week's pay.
“You're early,” I said.
“Mr. Mercer requested it.”
I looked toward the staircase.
“Why?”
Ellis hesitated.
“Take the money, Ms. Bennett.”
I did.
Tommy could stay enrolled another week.
That should have been all that mattered.
But as I returned upstairs, voices came from Liam's room.
Leo was inside.
“You need to tell her.”
“No.”
“She opened the blinds.”
“She doesn't know anything.”
“She will.”
I stopped outside the door.
Leo lowered his voice.
“Calder already knows she's here.”
My blood went cold.
Liam answered, “Then double security.”
“And when Calder discovers her brother?”
Silence.
I pushed the door open.
Both men turned.
“Who is Calder?”
Neither answered.
I looked at Liam.
“What does Tommy have to do with this?”
“Nora—”
“No. You don't get to drag my brother into whatever this is.”
Leo swore under his breath.
Liam looked at him.
“Get the car ready.”
“For what?”
“We're moving Tommy.”
I stared at him.
“You're doing absolutely nothing with my brother.”
Liam swung his legs toward the edge of the bed.
Pain ripped across his face.
I rushed forward instinctively.
“What are you doing?”
“Protecting the reason you're here.”
“You can't stand.”
“Watch me.”
He planted one foot on the floor.
His injured leg trembled violently.
Blood immediately spread beneath his abdominal dressing.
“Liam!”
He nearly collapsed.
I caught his shoulder.
For one strange second, the most feared man in the house was leaning against me simply because he couldn't remain upright alone.
Then Leo's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“When?”
He listened.
Then looked directly at me.
“What happened?” I demanded.
Leo slowly lowered the phone.
“Someone entered Tommy's hospital room ten minutes ago.”
My knees weakened.
“Who?”
“Security doesn't know.”
I reached for a phone that wasn't there.
Liam caught my arm.
“Leo.”
Leo handed me his cell.
I called the hospital.
No answer from Tommy.
Again.
Nothing.
My fingers started shaking.
Then Liam's hand covered mine.
“Nora.”
I looked at him.
His face was pale with pain, but his voice was steady.
“I swear to you, nobody touches your brother.”
“You don't know that.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Something cold entered his eyes.
“Because whoever went into that room just made himself my problem.”
Leo's phone rang again.
This time he put it on speaker.
A man's voice said only five words.
“Tell Mercer we found her.”
The call ended.
I stared at Liam.
“Found who?”
May you like
Liam's expression told me the answer before he spoke.
“You.”
