THE PRICE OF LEAVING

Nico pushed the paper back.

"I'm not going."

"We'll discuss it when you're calmer," Matteo said.

"Come back in a month. The answer will still be no."

His father looked at me as though I were the source of an infection.

"Adeline, leave us."

I stood, but Nico said, "She stays."

I didn't like being caught between two orders. I rested a hand on the back of my chair.

"I can wait outside if you'd like a private conversation with your father. But I won't leave because he decided I should."

Nico watched me for a moment, then nodded.

"I'd like you here."

Matteo picked up the paper.

"You've always struggled to distinguish loyalty from self-interest."

"Tonight made it easier."

His father left. At the door, he announced that the transport would arrive at nine in the morning.

Nico made two more calls. A physician named Daniel Mercer, recommended by an old family acquaintance, agreed to examine him that night. Rafael was on his way. Only then did I go upstairs for my records and the envelope, with Edna beside me.

I'd kept them in a box of personal documents at the back of the closet. My suitcase was already open on the bed.

"Who's been in here?"

Edna twisted her hands in her apron.

"Camille asked for your things to be packed."

I checked the documents. The copies were there. So were the clothes I'd set aside for Wes's first visit, a visit Camille had always found a reason to cancel.

I packed everything.

When I stepped out, Matteo was in the corridor.

"Is your neighbor still looking after the boy?"

I stopped so abruptly that Edna nearly walked into me.

"What do you want?"

He opened the door to a small sitting room and gestured inside. I stayed on the threshold. Edna remained a few steps away.

"To prevent a problem you can't afford. There's a severance payment. Six months of salary. Your brother's clinic will continue to receive the agreed support."

An envelope lay on the desk beside two pages.

"What do I have to sign?"

"A statement clarifying that there were errors in the nursing notes. You're young. People make mistakes under pressure."

My face went hot.

"You want me to say I altered the records."

"I want you to end an unfortunate situation before it destroys your career."

I thought of the hospital where I'd first seen Wes as a newborn, lying among wires. I'd been twenty when our mother died. Ever since, every promise of stability had felt like something I needed to grab before it could be taken away.

Matteo nudged the envelope closer.

I didn't touch it.

"I'm taking my documents downstairs and finishing my shift."

"You should think carefully."

"I haven't stopped thinking since I accepted this job."

My legs shook all the way back to the library.

Nico knew before I spoke.

"What did he offer?"

I told him. Anger moved across his face slowly, draining away what little color remained.

"You can leave," he said.

I waited for the rest.

"Rafael will get you home safely. None of this has to land on you."

"What about you?"

"I'm my family's problem. Wes is your brother."

It hurt to hear him try to be generous while reducing himself to a problem.

"You're my patient. I've found something wrong, and I'm giving the information to someone who can investigate it. After that, I'll decide what to do about my next job."

"And if I ask you to stay?"

"Ask when you can be sure I'm free to answer."

He lowered his eyes. When he looked back at me, the irritation was gone.

"Fair enough."

Mercer arrived shortly before midnight. He examined Nico's shoulder, listened to him, reviewed the records, and looked at what I'd set aside. He didn't promise immediate answers. He recommended further assessment and said the discrepancies warranted an independent review of the entire care plan.

He arranged to meet us at a medical center he knew, unconnected to Bell, as soon as we could get there.

While he made arrangements, Nico opened a camera feed on his phone. I saw an empty living room and enormous windows.

"My apartment in Chicago," he explained. "Still mine. My father never liked it. That's finally an advantage."

Rafael called from the property entrance. The gate had opened, but a car blocked the driveway directly outside the house.

Nico closed the app.

"Get your bag."

We went through the foyer together. Edna brought his coat and briefly squeezed my arm. The documents felt heavy in my purse.

Matteo waited on the porch with two guards. Beyond them, I could see Rafael beside an accessible vehicle.

"You're not leaving like this," Matteo said.

"The doctor just said I could."

"I'm not talking about your health."

His gaze shifted to my purse.

"Some things belong to this house. I won't allow you to take them."

Nico put a hand on his wheel and stopped directly between his father and me.

"Paul."

The guard squared his shoulders.

"Look at me when you answer. Whose orders are you taking tonight?"