Mara woke with a headache so violent she nearly vomited.

Concrete floor.

Cold air.

Hands tied in front of her.

She opened her eyes.

An abandoned warehouse stretched around her.

Broken windows.

Rusting steel beams.

The distant sound of traffic.

Chicago.

Probably.

"You bite hard."

Mara turned.

Gabriel Moretti sat in a wooden chair ten feet away.

He looked exactly like his photograph.

Silver hair.

Expensive coat.

Warm grandfatherly face.

Except the smile was gone.

Mara pushed herself upright.

"You threatened Ethan."

Gabriel sighed.

"Straight to business."

"You went into his hospital."

"No."

Mara stopped.

"I had people for that."

"You drugged Vincent."

"Again, people."

"Coward."

Gabriel smiled.

"Vincent likes you."

Mara said nothing.

"More than I expected."

"You're making a mistake."

"Am I?"

"He'll come."

"That's the point."

Her stomach tightened.

Gabriel stood.

"For months, we prepared for every possibility."

He walked slowly around her.

"Except you."

"I'm flattered."

"Six nurses left."

"Apparently I'm difficult."

Gabriel smiled.

"So is Vincent."

He crouched in front of her.

"I needed him weak. Angry. Isolated."

Mara stared.

"And you kept him drugged."

"Just enough."

"You could have killed him."

"That became acceptable."

Her disgust must have shown.

Gabriel stood again.

"Then you arrived."

He looked almost annoyed.

"The infection improved. The drugs disappeared. He started leaving his room."

"And opening the curtains."

Gabriel's expression flickered.

Mara noticed.

"You knew about those too."

"I knew Elena."

Mara's blood chilled.

Gabriel walked away.

"She was too soft for that family."

Something in his tone changed.

"You were there."

He stopped.

Mara stared at his back.

"The day she died."

Gabriel turned slowly.

"Careful."

"You were there."

He smiled.

But the warmth was gone.

"You're smarter than the others."

Before Mara could push further, a phone rang.

Gabriel answered.

"Yes?"

He listened.

Then smiled.

"Let him through."

He ended the call.

"Your patient is here."

---

Vincent arrived in a wheelchair.

Gabriel had chosen the warehouse carefully.

One entrance.

Open floor.

Armed men positioned along the upper walkway.

Tony had been forced to remain outside with the rest of Vincent's security.

Vincent rolled forward alone.

Mara's heart nearly stopped when she saw him.

"Vincent."

His eyes found her.

Checked her face.

Her hands.

Her posture.

Looking for injuries.

"I'm fine," she said.

Gabriel laughed.

"Touching."

Vincent looked at him.

"Let her go."

"Still giving orders."

"She has nothing to do with this."

"She has everything to do with this."

Gabriel walked behind Mara and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Vincent's expression changed.

"Take your hand off her."

Gabriel smiled.

"There he is."

"Gabriel."

"You know, I wondered what it would take."

"What?"

"To make you careless."

Vincent's hands rested on the wheelchair arms.

Gabriel looked down at him.

"Your father used anger."

He circled Vincent.

"Your mother used guilt."

Then he nodded toward Mara.

"She uses something much more effective."

Vincent didn't respond.

Gabriel leaned closer.

"Hope."

Mara watched Vincent's right hand.

His fingers tightened around the armrest.

Gabriel continued.

"I spent years making you exactly what this family needed."

"You arranged Lower Wacker."

"Eventually you would've gotten in the way."

"My mother?"

Silence.

Mara stopped breathing.

Gabriel's smile disappeared.

Vincent's face changed.

"What about my mother?"

Gabriel looked toward the broken windows.

"Ancient history."

"Answer me."

"She discovered things she shouldn't have."

Vincent's entire body went still.

Mara understood before he said it.

"You killed her."

Gabriel sighed.

"I didn't pull the trigger."

Vincent's voice was almost inaudible.

"You knew."

"She was going to take you away."

"She was my mother."

"She was going to destroy everything your father built."

Vincent looked at him.

Seventeen years of grief.

Seventeen years of staring at closed curtains.

Seventeen years believing that garden held only a memory he couldn't survive.

And Gabriel had been there the entire time.

Mara saw Vincent's right foot move.

Just slightly.

Gabriel didn't.

He was too busy enjoying the victory.

"You know what the funny part is?" Gabriel said.

Vincent's hands tightened.

"Everyone in Chicago used to be afraid of you."

He kicked one of the wheelchair wheels.

"Now look at you."

Mara's eyes stayed on Vincent.

Don't.

His gaze found hers.

She shook her head almost imperceptibly.

Not yet.

Gabriel stepped closer.

"The great Vincent DeLuca can't even stand up to save his nurse."

Vincent looked down.

Then he smiled.

Mara had never seen that smile before.

Gabriel frowned.

"What?"

Vincent placed both hands on the armrests.

"You made one mistake."

Gabriel laughed.

"Only one?"

"You believed the doctors."

Vincent pushed.

His left foot planted.

Then his right.

And Vincent DeLuca stood.

Gabriel's face emptied.

"What the—"

Vincent took one step.

Gabriel backed away.

Another.

The men above began shouting.

Then the warehouse lights went out.

Tony.

Mara threw herself sideways.

Gunshots cracked somewhere above.

Not at her.

Security teams flooded the side entrances.

Gabriel reached inside his coat.

Vincent hit him before he could draw.

Both men crashed into a table.

Vincent's injured leg buckled.

Mara tore at the plastic tie around her wrists.

"Vincent!"

Gabriel kicked him.

Vincent fell to one knee.

Mara found a jagged piece of metal on the floor and sawed through the tie.

Gabriel raised the gun.

Mara lunged.

She slammed into his arm.

The gun skidded across the concrete.

Gabriel grabbed her.

Then Vincent was there.

He drove Gabriel backward.

Tony reached them seconds later.

"DOWN!"

Gabriel froze.

Three guns were aimed at him.

Cole Harris emerged behind Tony with two Chicago detectives.

Mara stared.

Gabriel stared too.

Vincent was breathing hard.

"Police?"

Tony shrugged.

"Your nurse has been a bad influence."

Cole cuffed Gabriel.

"You can complain downtown."

Gabriel looked at Vincent.

"This isn't over."

Vincent looked at Mara.

"Yeah."

His voice was exhausted.

"It is."

Then his right leg gave out.

"Vincent!"

Mara caught him before his head hit the floor.

He landed heavily against her.

His face tightened in pain.

"Don't move."

"Bossy."

"Shut up."

She checked his pupils.

His pulse.

His breathing.

Vincent smiled weakly.

"Still think I'm a terrible patient?"

Mara's eyes filled.

"The worst I've ever had."

"Good."

Then he passed out.

---

Vincent woke at Lakeview Medical Center six hours later.

Mara sat beside him.

He opened one eye.

"Am I dead?"

"No."

"Disappointing."

"Your orthopedic surgeon says you didn't damage the fixation."

Vincent opened the other eye.

"My spine?"

"No new damage."

He exhaled.

Mara looked down at her hands.

"Rebecca says the neurological recovery is real."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning if you actually follow instructions for once in your miserable life..."

He waited.

"You could walk normally again."

Vincent stared at her.

"Could?"

"Months of rehab."

"Fine."

"Actual rehab."

"Fine."

"With professionals."

"Mara."

"Not me."

Silence.

His face changed.

She continued before she lost courage.

"I'm resigning."

"No."

"See? This is why."

"No."

"You don't need a private nurse anymore."

"I can find a medical reason."

Mara laughed.

"I'm sure you can."

Vincent reached for her hand.

She let him take it.

"Stay."

One word.

It hurt more than all their arguments.

Mara looked at him.

"As what?"

He didn't answer quickly enough.

She gently pulled her hand free.

"That's what I thought."

"Mara—"

"You need to figure that out."

She stood.

"So do I."

This time, when she walked away, Vincent didn't order her back.