SIX NURSES QUIT AFTER HIS GUNSHOT WOUND — I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO WALKED INTO THE MAFIA BOSS’S ROOM AND REFUSED TO LEAVE
PART 2: The Nurse Who Refused to Fear the Monster
The room became completely still.
Not quiet.
Still.
Like the entire mansion had stopped breathing to see what Dominic Rossi would do next.
Because everyone in this house knew one thing.
Nobody told Dominic Rossi no.
His reputation existed long before I walked through those doors.
People whispered his name in restaurants.
Businessmen lowered their voices when discussing him.
Police officers avoided saying too much.
Some called him a ruthless businessman.
Others called him something much darker.
A man who built an empire by making sure nobody ever crossed him twice.
And now I was standing beside his bed, refusing to leave.
A broke nurse with a dying car outside.
A woman who needed this job more than she needed common sense.
Dominic stared at me.
Slowly.
Carefully.
“You should be afraid.”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
I opened my medical bag.
“I am.”
That seemed to surprise him.
His eyebrow lifted.
“You are?”
“Yes.”
I removed my gloves.
“I’m afraid my landlord is going to lock me out if I don’t pay rent Monday.”
I looked directly at him.
“I’m afraid I won’t find another job after losing my position.”
I paused.
“But I’m not afraid of a man who is bleeding on expensive sheets because he refuses medical care.”
For a second, Dominic just stared.
Then something unexpected happened.
He laughed.
Not loudly.
Not happily.
A short, painful laugh that immediately turned into a grimace.
The movement pulled at his shoulder.
Blood soaked through the bandage again.
I stepped forward.
“There it is.”
His expression hardened.
“What?”
“The reason you keep getting worse.”
“I’m wounded.”
“No.”
I pointed at the soaked bandage.
“You’re angry.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
Nobody spoke to him like that.
I could tell.
“You’re treating every person who comes near you like they’re the enemy.”
His jaw tightened.
“Maybe they are.”
“Maybe.”
I reached for the medical supplies.
“But right now, your body doesn’t care who betrayed you. It only cares that the wound is infected.”
He looked away.
That tiny movement told me more than words.
Because people like Dominic Rossi didn’t look away when they were angry.
They looked away when something hit too close.
I carefully removed the old dressing.
The moment the fabric came away, I understood why six nurses had quit.
The injury was worse than the report said.
The bullet had torn through muscle.
The stitches were inflamed.
The infection was spreading.
But something else bothered me.
The wound had been cleaned poorly.
Not accidentally.
Poorly.
Almost like someone wanted it to get worse.
I frowned.
Dominic noticed.
“What?”
I didn’t answer immediately.
I examined the area again.
“What happened after you were treated?”
His eyes went cold.
“I told you not to ask questions.”
“And I told you I’m your nurse, not your employee.”
A dangerous silence followed.
Then he said:
“Someone tried to kill me.”
I looked up.
That was not the answer I expected.
“Recently?”
His expression changed.
“Everyone tries eventually.”
I ignored the comment.
“The infection didn’t come from the gunshot.”
His eyes focused on me.
“What did you say?”
“The original injury was handled correctly.”
I touched the edge of the bandage.
“But someone reopened the wound.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Dominic’s fingers tightened against the sheets.
“Think carefully.”
“I’m a nurse, Mr. Rossi.”
I met his eyes.
“I notice things.”
Five minutes later, Leo entered with fresh towels.
He stopped when he saw Dominic sitting up.
Then he looked at me.
Nobody had been able to get Dominic to cooperate in days.
But somehow, I had.
Leo looked almost suspicious.
“What happened?”
I didn’t answer.
Dominic did.
“She stays.”
Leo froze.
“Sir?”
“She stays.”
The words sounded like an order.
But something about his tone was different.
Not control.
Recognition.
Like he had discovered something unexpected.
That evening, I learned the truth about the Rossi estate.
Nobody lasted long here.
Not because the work was impossible.
Because Dominic made it impossible.
He pushed people away before they could disappoint him.
The staff avoided discussing his past.
But everyone knew pieces.
His parents died when he was young.
His closest friend betrayed him.
Someone inside his organization attempted to take everything he built.
And three months ago, he disappeared from public view after the shooting.
The world assumed Dominic Rossi was either dead or weakened.
Apparently, both assumptions were wrong.
Because the man in that bedroom was still dangerous.
Even injured.
Especially injured.
Around midnight, I checked his temperature.
Still high.
“You need antibiotics.”
“I hate hospitals.”
“I didn’t suggest a hospital.”
“I hate doctors.”
“I noticed.”
His mouth almost curved.
Almost.
“You always this difficult?”
I looked at him.
“You always this impossible?”
For the first time, I saw something behind the reputation.
Not a monster.
A tired man.
A very angry, very broken man.
“You remind me of someone.”
I stopped.
“Who?”
He looked toward the window.
“My mother.”
I didn’t expect that.
“She was the only person who talked to me like I was human.”
His voice became quieter.
“Everyone else either feared me or wanted something from me.”
I changed the IV line.
“Maybe that’s because you don’t let anyone see anything else.”
His eyes returned to mine.
“You think you know me?”
“No.”
I secured the line.
“I think you’re a man who has spent so long protecting himself that you forgot how to accept help.”
The room went silent.
Then his phone rang.
Dominic looked at the screen.
The change in his face was immediate.
The tired man disappeared.
The feared man returned.
He answered.
“Speak.”
A voice came through the phone.
I couldn’t hear everything.
Only fragments.
“…the nurse…”
“…she knows…”
“…you need to remove her…”
Dominic’s eyes slowly moved toward me.
My hands stopped.
Because whoever was on the other end wasn’t talking about Dominic.
They were talking about me.
Then Dominic said something that made my blood run cold.
“No.”
A pause.
His voice became dangerously calm.
“She stays.”
Another pause.
Then he added:
“And whoever touched my nurse…”
His expression turned colder than I had ever seen.
“…made the biggest mistake of their life.”
I stood there frozen.
Because at that moment, I realized something.
I had walked into the Rossi mansion thinking I was there to save a wounded man.
I was wrong.
I had just become the one thing standing between Dominic Rossi and the people trying to destroy him.
And they had already decided I needed to disappear.
TO BE CONTINUED
PART 3 TEASER: Nora discovers that the bullet that nearly killed Dominic was not meant for him alone. Hidden inside his medical records is a secret connected to her own past, and the reason someone wanted her inside the Rossi mansion may be far more dangerous than she ever imagined.
