Chapter 2 - Fifty Thousand Dollars Until Sunrise
The black sedan arrived at exactly ten.
Helena almost didn't get in.
Then she remembered Toby's latest medical estimate.
She opened the door.
Adrien Russo lived behind gates that looked capable of stopping a small army.
Only after arriving did Helena learn exactly who he was.
Head of the Russo crime family.
One of the most feared men in Chicago.
She walked into his bedroom wearing sweatpants and an oversized shirt.
Adrien sat in an armchair.
His white dress shirt was open enough to reveal Helena's fresh bandages—and the tattoos beneath them.
“You came.”
“You paid me before I agreed.”
“I was optimistic.”
“You were manipulative.”
“That too.”
Helena pointed at him.
“Rules.”
Adrien raised an eyebrow.
“You're giving me rules in my house?”
“Yes.”
He almost smiled.
“Go ahead.”
“No touching me without permission. No guns in the bed. Nobody follows me to the hospital. Nobody approaches Toby.”
Adrien's expression hardened.
“Your brother is untouchable.”
Helena studied him.
“And if I decide to leave?”
“You leave.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
She climbed onto the left side of the bed.
Adrien remained a full foot away.
The lights went out.
For an hour, nothing happened.
Then Adrien gasped.
His body jerked.
“No…”
Helena sat up.
“Adrien?”
“Papa—”
He was trapped inside a nightmare.
Helena forgot he was a mafia boss.
She became a nurse.
Her palm settled over his chest.
“Adrien. Listen to me.”
His eyes opened but saw something else.
“Breathe.”
She inhaled slowly.
“In. Two. Three.”
His breathing followed.
“Out. Two. Three.”
Again.
His hand found hers.
Within minutes, he was asleep.
Nine hours later, Helena woke alone.
Adrien stood in the doorway wearing a charcoal suit.
He looked different.
Rested.
Human.
“See you tonight, Helena.”
That became their life.
Days became weeks.
Weeks became months.
Sometimes Helena read medical journals while Adrien worked beside her.
Sometimes they talked.
“Why nursing?” he asked one night.
“My mother.”
“She was a nurse?”
“She died when Toby and I were teenagers. The nurses treated us like people instead of two terrified kids.”
Adrien closed his ledger.
“So you became one.”
“Yes.”
“And Toby?”
“He wants to study astronomy.”
Adrien looked toward the window.
“Stars?”
“He says they're proof that something can be far away and still matter.”
Adrien was quiet.
“What did your father want for you?” Helena asked.
His face changed.
“To survive him.”
That was the first time Helena understood.
Adrien had inherited power.
He had not inherited peace.
One snowy November night, Helena received a call from Toby's oncologist.
She answered with shaking hands.
Then she started crying.
Adrien immediately stood.
“What happened?”
Helena covered her mouth.
“Toby's in remission.”
Adrien froze.
She ran to him.
Her arms wrapped around his neck.
For one stunned second, he didn't move.
Then his arms closed around her.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You saved him.”
“No. The doctors did.”
“You paid for the treatment.”
“You earned every dollar.”
She pulled back.
They were too close.
Adrien touched her jaw.
“Helena.”
“What?”
“I don't think I can keep my end of our bargain much longer.”
Her breath caught.
“Which part?”
“The part where I pretend this is only about sleeping.”
Neither moved.
Then—
BOOM.
The windows exploded.
Adrien threw Helena to the floor and covered her.
Gunfire erupted downstairs.
Security alarms screamed.
“What is happening?”
Adrien reached beneath the nightstand and pulled out a handgun.
“They breached the perimeter.”
“How?”
His eyes turned cold.
“They couldn't.”
May you like
Another burst of gunfire echoed through the mansion.
“Unless someone inside let them in.”
