Chapter 6 - The Assassin, the Maid, and the Man Who Was Never Unconscious
The words came out through a painful cough.
Vincent stood despite the dizziness.
He stepped over the assassin and knelt beside her.
“Matteo.”
His voice was dry after days of silence.
“Get the trauma kit.”
“Mr. Costa, you shouldn’t be—”
“Get the goddamn kit.”
Authority returned to Vincent’s voice with full force.
Tessa wiped blood from her chin.
“Your fiancée…”
She winced.
The sarcasm remained alive despite everything.
“She has terrible security.”
Vincent reached toward her.
The same tattooed hands that had signed death orders brushed hair from her eyes with astonishing gentleness.
“I know.”
He looked at her.
“But I have you.”
Matteo treated Tessa with the same sterile precision he had used for decades on men shot in basements and alleys.
The dead assassin had already been moved into the bathroom, leaving a dark smear across the Persian rug.
Vincent ignored it.
His attention stayed on Tessa.
She sat on the edge of the bed he had occupied only minutes earlier.
Matteo cleaned her split lip.
She hissed through her teeth.
Her uniform had been loosened at the collar, revealing a large purple bruise spreading across her collarbone from the impact against the wall.
“Hold still,” Matteo murmured.
He palpated the area.
“The rib is not broken. Possibly cracked.”
He stepped back.
“You’re extremely lucky.”
“I threw a defibrillator at a man with a gun.”
Tessa stared straight ahead.
“Luck left the room when I came through the door.”
Vincent walked stiffly toward the bedside table.
Every joint protested.
He poured water into a glass and held it out.
Tessa looked at him.
No fear.
No awe.
Only exhaustion.
She accepted it.
Their fingers touched.
Hers were freezing.
“You were awake the entire time.”
“Yes.”
“When I washed your face?”
“Yes.”
“When I complained about your men destroying my brother’s bakery?”
“I heard everything.”
Tessa drank slowly.
Then handed the glass back.
“So the coma was a trap.”
A bitter smile appeared through the swelling at her mouth.
“Let me guess. You wanted to find out who would start carving up the turkey while you were helpless.”
“Something like that.”
Vincent pulled over the leather chair Camila had used while plotting against him.
He sat.
“I suspected a leak.”
“I needed to know how far it had spread.”
“And?”
Tessa breathed carefully because of her ribs.
“Did you find out?”
“Yes.”
Vincent looked at her properly.
Dark curls tangled around her face.
Sweat across her forehead.
Scraped knuckles.
Cheap uniform.
Nothing polished.
Nothing strategic.
Nothing false.
She was the first completely honest thing he had seen in years.
“Why did you do it?”
Tessa frowned.
“Do what?”
“You threw towels at a professional killer with a suppressed weapon.”
Vincent leaned forward.
“You could have run.”
“You should have.”
“You said yourself that you hated me.”
“You owed me nothing.”
Tessa looked down at her hands.
She picked at a loose thread in her trousers.
“I don’t know.”
For the first time, the hard cynical edge in her voice disappeared.
“I walked in and saw him pointing a gun at you.”
“You were helpless.”
“Just lying there in the dark.”
She swallowed.
“It didn’t matter who you were.”
Her eyes lifted.
“Nobody deserves to be murdered in their sleep.”
She shook her head.
“It wasn’t a decision, Mr. Costa. My brain stopped working and my hands started throwing things.”
Matteo taped her ribs securely.
Then packed his instruments.
“I gave her a mild sedative.”
He looked toward Vincent.
“She needs rest.”
“I also need to call the cleaners.”
“No cleaners.”
Matteo paused.
“Nobody enters this wing.”
Vincent’s gaze remained on Tessa.
“Lock the corridor.”
“Cut the security feeds.”
“As far as everyone outside this room knows, I remain unconscious and you are the only person treating me.”
Matteo nodded.
“Understood.”
“And her?”
Tessa looked sharply at Vincent.
“She stays.”
“I have kitchen duty at 6.”
The sedative had already begun making her words heavy.
“I also have a cat.”
“Your cat will be collected.”
Vincent spoke without hesitation.
“And you are relieved of kitchen duty.”
Tessa glared.
“Lorenzo and Camila will return tomorrow morning to sign my empire over to a rival family.”
Vincent’s voice hardened.
“The man bleeding in my bathroom was probably sent to guarantee I never woke before the documents were signed.”
He held her eyes.
“If you walk out of this room, you are a loose end.”
“They will kill you before you reach the front gate.”
The reality hit Tessa.
She leaned back against the pillows.
Her eyelids grew heavy.
“This is a nightmare.”
Her speech blurred.
“I only wanted overtime.”
The tension slowly left her body.
Within minutes, she was asleep.
Vincent remained beside the bed.
Blood and bleach still lingered in the room.
He reached toward her cautiously.
Placed his hand over hers.
Did not squeeze.
Simply let the warmth of his palm rest there.
“You’ll be safe.”
His voice was almost a whisper.
“I swear it.”
Morning arrived beneath a bruised gray sky.
The storm had passed.
Inside room 402, the trap was ready.
Vincent stood near the window fastening the cuffs of a dark tailored suit Matteo had secretly retrieved from his bedroom.
The weakness from 3 days of immobility remained in his muscles, but beneath it ran something colder.
Predatory energy.
He checked the magazine of his customized 1911 and slid the pistol into the shoulder holster beneath his jacket.
Behind him, Tessa stirred.
She had slept through the night.
Vincent had not.
He had remained in the leather chair watching the door.
Her eyes opened slowly.
“Don’t sit up too fast,” Vincent said.
His voice surprised even him with its gentleness.
Tessa squinted at him.
Dark suit.
Slicked-back hair.
Controlled danger.
Nothing about him resembled the helpless man she had bathed.
“You clean up well.”
Her voice remained rough.
“For a dead guy.”
A faint smile touched Vincent’s mouth.
“Thank you.”
“How are your ribs?”
“Like an armed mule kicked me.”
She pushed herself upright carefully.
The blood had been removed.
The medical equipment had been shifted aside.
“What time is it?”
“8:30.”
Vincent checked his watch.
“They should arrive soon.”
“Lorenzo likes to commit betrayal before breakfast.”
Tessa looked toward the door.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Stay exactly where you are.”
Vincent approached the bed.
He pulled the privacy curtain partway across the track.
“Stay quiet.”
“No matter what happens.”
Tessa swallowed.
“Are you going to kill them?”
Vincent paused.
The question deserved the truth.
“I am going to do what is necessary to protect what belongs to me.”
He looked directly at her.
“And right now, that includes you.”
Before she could respond, the security door at the end of the corridor buzzed.
Footsteps approached.
2 sets.
One heavy.
One sharp with expensive heels.
“I don’t understand why Matteo isn’t answering.”
Camila’s voice came through the door.
“If he pulled the plug without my approval, I’ll have him thrown into the river.”
“Keep your voice down,” Lorenzo muttered. “The guards are outside.”
“They work for us now.”
The brass handle turned.
Camila entered first.
Black mourning dress.
Lace veil.
A leather folio containing the transfer documents.
Lorenzo followed with one hand near the weapon beneath his jacket.
Both stopped.
The hospital bed was empty.
Vincent sat in the leather chair facing them.
3 seconds passed.
No one spoke.
Camila’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
The folder slipped from her fingers.
Lorenzo reacted first.
His hand moved toward his jacket.
Vincent did not blink.
“I wouldn’t do that, Lorenzo.”
His voice was quiet.
Lorenzo froze.
His fingers remained around the grip.
Then slowly withdrew empty.
He knew Vincent well enough to understand the calculation.
Drawing the weapon meant certain death.
Leaving it holstered left some tiny possibility of survival.
“Vincent…”
Camila’s voice barely functioned.
“You’re awake.”
“I never slept.”
Vincent remained seated.
“I heard everything.”
“The Romanos.”
“The docks.”
“The offshore accounts.”
He looked at her.
“You were remarkably generous with my property.”
Camila searched the room.
For Matteo.
An explanation.
An exit.
“Vincent, please. You don’t understand.”
Her voice shook.
“Lorenzo forced me. He said the Romanos would kill all of us if we didn’t negotiate.”
Lorenzo stared at her.
“You lying—”
Vincent raised 1 finger.
Silence.
“I am not interested in dissecting your betrayal.”
He stood slowly.
Then opened his jacket enough for them to see the holster.
“I’m interested only in the conclusion.”
He approached Lorenzo.
The underboss backed toward the oak door until his shoulders struck it.
Sweat moved down his face.
“The assassin you sent last night made a mess in my bathroom.”
Vincent stopped 2 ft away.
“He also laid hands on someone under my protection.”
Lorenzo shook his head violently.
“I didn’t send him.”
His voice cracked.
“I swear on my mother.”
“We were just going to wait for Matteo to…”
“To pull the plug.”
Vincent finished the sentence.
He studied Lorenzo.
Years of dealing with liars had sharpened his instincts.
The man was terrified.
But beneath the terror, Vincent saw something genuine.
Lorenzo had not sent the assassin.
Which meant someone else had.
The Romanos.
Camila had opened the door, and the rival family had already begun walking through it.
Vincent turned toward her.
“You sold me for a seat at a table you don’t understand.”
His voice remained low.
“You thought you could control the Romanos.”
“They sent a killer into my room to eliminate the last complication.”
“They planned to take the docks.”
“The accounts.”
“And afterward, they would kill you too.”
Camila broke.
She dropped to her knees.
Tears tore through the makeup.
“Vincent, forgive me.”
“I was stupid.”
“I was afraid.”
“I love you.”
Her voice became desperate.
“We were going to get married.”
Vincent looked down at the $2,000,000 diamond on her finger.
He felt nothing.
No heartbreak.
No grief.
Not even meaningful anger.
Only the recognition that the woman he had intended to marry was a parasite.
“Take off the ring.”
Camila struggled with it.
Pulled it free.
Held it toward him.
Vincent did not take it.
Instead, he looked beyond her.
Toward the privacy curtain.
Tessa’s silhouette remained motionless behind it.
A maid who had hated him had attacked an armed killer with towels and medical equipment.
Camila had worn a diamond worth millions and sold him before his body was cold.
Loyalty had nothing to do with jewelry.
It revealed itself in terror.
“Lorenzo.”
“Yes, boss.”
The man sounded close to collapse.
“You have 1 hour to empty your desk.”
“You leave the city.”
“You do not go home.”
“You do not pack.”
“You do not contact anyone.”
Vincent’s voice hardened.
“If you are still inside city limits at noon, I will break your legs and throw you into the harbor.”
Lorenzo released a sob of relief.
“Thank you.”
He tore open the door and disappeared down the corridor.
Hope appeared in Camila’s face.
Vincent looked down at her.
“You leave this estate with exactly what you brought when you arrived 3 years ago.”
Her face changed.
“The cars remain.”
“The jewelry remains.”
“The accounts remain.”
“You walk out the front gate.”
“Vincent…”
“If I ever see you again, I won’t be the man sitting in the chair.”
Camila stood.
She did not argue.
She ran.
The door slammed behind her.
Vincent remained alone in the center of the room.
He breathed slowly.
The betrayal had been cut out.
The organization still stood.
Then he walked to the privacy curtain and opened it.
Tessa sat with her knees pulled toward her chest, holding her taped ribs.
Her eyes were wide.
“You let them live.”
Vincent sat beside her.
The predator disappeared.
“I don’t need to kill them.”
His voice softened.
“Taking away their power is worse.”
May you like
He brushed a curl from her bruised cheek.
“And I didn’t want blood on your clean floors.”
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