Chapter 2 - The Lethal Dose
|
Dante released his brother’s hand, stepping back from the bed. The brief, desperate surge of adrenaline faded, leaving behind the suffocating weight of reality.
"Keep monitoring him," Dante ordered, his voice turning cold and devoid of the vulnerability he had shown just moments ago. He turned his piercing gaze to Elina. "Take her back to your quarters. Lock the door. Do not speak of this to anyone. Not the guards, not the kitchen staff. No one."
Elina nodded rapidly, her heart hammering against her ribs. She picked up Mia, holding the toddler tightly to her chest.
"Let’s go, baby," Elina whispered, backing out of the room.
Mia rested her head on her mother’s shoulder, looking back at the bed. "Bye-bye, Mr. Sleeping," she mumbled.
Once the door clicked shut, Dante turned back to Nina. The nurse was already analyzing the IV drip, her face a mask of clinical concentration.
"You really think she saw something, Nina?" Dante asked, the dangerous edge returning to his tone.
"I think children don’t have a filter," Nina replied without looking up. "They don’t see what they expect to see. They see what is actually there. If she said his eyes moved, Mr. Moretti, then his eyes moved."
Dante walked over to the tall windows, staring out at the rain-lashed estate. The ambush in Newark hadn’t been a random hit by a rival family. It had been too precise, too coordinated. Someone inside his own organization had sold them out. Someone who wanted Matteo dead and Dante vulnerable.
If Matteo was waking up, he could identify the traitor. And if the traitor found out Matteo was waking up, they would inevitably come to finish the job.
Dante pulled his phone from his tailored pocket.
"Double the guards on the east wing," he spoke into the receiver. "No one enters this room without my direct authorization. If a doctor tries to step inside, shoot them in the leg and call me."
Nina stopped adjusting the monitors. She held up a small, clear vial she had pulled from the medical waste bin.
"Mr. Moretti," Nina said, her voice unusually tight.
Dante turned around. "What is it?"
May you like
"I didn't administer this," Nina said, holding the vial up to the light. "It’s a powerful sedative. Much higher than his prescribed dosage. It would suppress all brain activity and keep him in a medically induced coma indefinitely."
Dante’s blood ran cold. The enemy wasn't just outside the gates. They were walking the halls of his own home.
