No one could withstand the wounded Dominik Rossi, but when he heard my refusal, his face suddenly turned pale

At the moment when I entered Dominik Rossi’s bedroom, blood was dripping from the sheet onto the floor, while the man lying in the bed calmly waited for me to die of fear.

The rain struck the roof as if the whole mountain were angrily knocking on the door. My rusty car stopped at the gate, the engine coughed once and fell silent. As if it, too, no longer had the strength to defend itself in front of this mansion.

A man dressed in a black suit approached me by the window.

“Nora Hayes?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Leo. I run this house.”

He looked at the car, then at my wet sneakers.

“Leave it here. They will move it elsewhere soon.”

“What if they don’t move it?”

“Then it will no longer be your problem.”

The handle of the canvas bag cut into my shoulder. Inside were only two uniforms, a charger, a stethoscope, and my father’s small copper badge. I had had it since childhood. One letter was engraved on it—D. My father, Daniel, had disappeared twelve years ago, but my mother still said to this day that he had simply left home.

I had never believed her.

Leo stopped me under the portico.

“You need to know the rules. You will not ask how Mr. Rossi was wounded. You will speak to him only when he speaks to you himself. You will do what he tells you.”

“I was told he has a bullet in his right shoulder and has developed an infection.”

“You were told correctly.”

“Why did six nurses leave their jobs in five days?”

Leo’s jaw tightened.

“One changed the bandage while he was sleeping. He woke up and threw a lamp at her. Another broke her wrist. The rest left the house in tears.”

“And you are still looking for a new nurse?”

“We need someone who will not be able to run away.”

His words lodged in my heart, but I had to pay the rent on Monday. I had twenty-eight lari left in my bank account. Fear had a price, and I no longer had the means to pay it.

Upstairs, in the corridor, the sharp smell of lemon cleaning liquid was mixed with a metallic smell. Blood.

Leo stopped at the double door.

“Unless something is truly urgent, you will not ring the bell.”

“What if Mr. Rossi throws a lamp at me again?”

“A bad temper is not an emergency.”

I opened the door.

The room was almost dark. A single strip of gray light fell onto the floor between the heavy curtains. I felt the heat immediately. The windows were locked, and the heater was turned all the way up.

“Get out,” a hoarse voice came from the bed.

Dominik Rossi was leaning against the pillows. His bare shoulder was wrapped in a blood-soaked bandage. His face was pale, but his eyes were dark and alert.

I put the bag on the floor.

“No.”

Such silence fell over the room that it seemed even the rain had stopped existing.

His gaze slowly passed over me.

“Perhaps you didn’t understand.”

“I understood very well.”

“Everyone who entered here turned back after these words.”

“I’m not everyone.”

Something resembling a smile appeared at his lips, but pain erased it immediately. Blood spread once more beneath the bandage.

I went to the bed and took his pulse.

“Take your hand off me.”

“If I don’t examine you now, you may lose consciousness.”

“Not may—I want to.”

His wrist was cold, and his pulse was irregular. Such a fever seemed too high for an infection. The wet area beneath the bandage was quickly growing.

“How many hours has it been since you took an antibiotic?”

“I don’t know.”

“Who gives you injections?”

For the first time, something appeared in his eyes that was not anger.

Cautious fear.

“Get out of here, Nora.”

I took scissors out of the bag.

“No, not until I change this bandage.”

A floorboard creaked outside the door. Someone was listening. Dominik shifted his gaze toward the door, then said to me very quietly:

“If you really seek my death, touch the folder lying under the bed first…”

His hand slowly moved toward the floor, where the edge of a leather folder was visible…

His fingers touched the folder, but at that very moment the door handle went down.

Dominik pulled his hand back.

“Change the bandage,” he told me loudly. “And ask nothing.”

Leo entered with a silver tray. On it were a glass of water, bottles of medicine, and a small glass ampoule.

“Is everything all right?”

“No,” I said. “His fever is very high.”

“The doctor knows.”

“The doctor is not here.”

Leo looked at Dominik. For one moment, a silent conversation took place between them, one I wanted to understand but could not.

“Take the medicine,” Leo said.

Dominik looked at the glass.

“Leave the room.”

“Sir?”

“Both of you heard me.”

Leo left, but did not close the door completely. I opened the bandage. The skin around the wound was red, but the bullet wound looked as if it had not been treated, but deliberately irritated.

“Who is doing this to you?” I whispered.

“Do you still want to work here?”

“Now I need an answer.”

I slid my hand under the bed and took out the folder. Inside lay my job application, and beside it was an old photograph of my father.

Dominik was visible in the photograph.

“Where did you find this?”

He closed his eyes.

“Your father did not run away, Nora.”

My blood froze.

Then a small voice recorder fell out of the folder. Its red light had begun blinking.

I turned it on.

A man’s voice sounded.

“If Dominik survives, we will get rid of the girl too.”

The recording stopped at exactly that place.

Heavy footsteps approached the door. Dominik took my hand and looked at me for the first time not as a nurse, but as the only person he still trusted.

“Now you must understand whose house you entered…”

The door opened and Leo entered, but this time he was not alone. Behind him stood a tall, gray-haired man. When Dominik saw him, his face changed the way a wounded animal changes its gaze when it notices the hunter.

“Uncle Vito,” he said.

The man looked around the room.

“You are still alive. What a pity.”

I was still holding the recording. My fingers were trembling so much that I could not turn the device off.

Vito looked toward me.

“Who are you?”

“His nurse.”

“Not anymore.”

Dominik tried to get up from the bed. Pain tightened his shoulders, but he still raised himself.

“Take one more step and I’ll call the police,” I said.

Vito chuckled.

“The police enter this house only when I let them.”

Dominik said quietly:

“Nora, give me the recorder.”

“Why?”

“Because now it is time for you to know everything.”

He looked at Leo. Leo’s face turned pale.

“My father didn’t run away twelve years ago, did he?” I asked.

Dominik lowered his eyes.

“Daniel Hayes was my accountant. He discovered that Vito was buying people with our money, changing shipments, and arranging murders in my name. When he decided to tell the truth, Vito killed him.”

“You knew?”

“I knew he had disappeared. I could not prove who had done it. So for years I showed Vito that I was on his side.”

Vito struck the table with his fist. The glass fell over and shattered on the floor.

“All of this is his lie.”

“Then why is his voice on the recording?” I asked, raising the recorder.

Leo suddenly lowered his eyes.

Dominik smiled bitterly.

“Leo made this recording. My six nurses left because he wanted all of them to remain here. Vito frightened them. And I deliberately forced everyone to run away until I found the real evidence.”

“You were allowing yourself to die.”

“If Vito became convinced that I was weak, he would make a mistake.”

“And my poisoning?”

Leo’s lips moved.

“There was a slow-acting substance in the medicines, not an antibiotic,” Dominik said. “That is why Leo brought the glass. He was forced to do it, but from this moment he has no choice anymore.”

Leo looked toward me.

“Your father’s file is protected in the city archive. I have already sent a copy to the investigator.”

Vito turned pale.

At that very moment, the sound of cars came from below. Then there was a heavy blow against the iron gate.

“The police?” I asked.

Dominik shook his head.

“No. They cannot know yet that Leo sent the files.”

Leo’s phone rang. He looked at the screen and stepped back.

“Who is it?” I asked.

Leo could not answer me.

Dominik snatched the phone from his hand. Only one word was visible on the call: “Home.”

He answered.

A child’s crying sounded from the other side.

“Dominik,” a woman’s voice whispered, “they know where your son is…”

And at that moment we all understood that, for Vito, death that night was no longer the plan of only one person…