Chapter 5 - The Snake in the Harbor
By Wednesday morning, the safehouse was buzzing with tension.
Julian Vance had issued a public bounty on any loyalists still serving Nicholas Vale. Street gangs were sweeping the Baltimore docks, looking for any trace of the missing boss.
Hannah sat in the mansion’s high-tech library, looking over a stack of medical charts, when Nicholas walked in.
He was wearing a tailored charcoal suit over a crisp white shirt, walking with a subtle silver-handled cane to favor his injured leg. Despite the leg wound, his presence was overwhelming—commanding, lethal, and effortlessly elegant.
"You shouldn't be walking," Hannah scolded, standing up from her chair. "The suture line on your quadriceps is under severe tension."
"I have a meeting to attend," Nicholas said smoothly, leaning against his cane as he walked toward her desk.
"You're not going anywhere near a gunfight, Nicholas," Hannah said, crossing her arms. "I didn't cut you out of a basement with a piece of broken mirror just for you to get shot again three days later."
Nicholas stopped right in front of her. A small, rare smile touched his lips—a look that Adrian had told her Nicholas hadn't worn in over fifteen years.
"Are you giving me medical orders, Miss Brooks?"
"I am," she insisted, standing her ground despite the fact that he towered over her. "And as your attending caregiver, I order you to sit down."
Nicholas stared at her for a moment, then surprisingly complied, taking a seat in the leather armchair across from her desk.
"Julian Vance bought off three city council members and two hospital board executives to secure his territorial expansion," Nicholas said, watching her face carefully. "One of those board executives happens to be Dr. Arthur Sterling."
Hannah’s breath caught in her throat. "Sterling?"
"The man who ruined your medical career five years ago," Nicholas revealed, his voice dropping into a dark tone. "He took Vance’s money to cover up illegal pharmaceutical shipments through Mercy Hospital's loading docks."
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Hannah felt the blood drain from her face. "Sterling... did that?"
"He sacrificed your career to protect his dirty syndicate payouts," Nicholas said softly, reaching across the desk to cover her shaking hand with his own. "Tonight, I take back my city. And tonight, Hannah, I give you back your life."
