Page 158 of Phantom Mine

A knock at the door stiffens my spine. I reach into one of the kitchen drawers for a knife and hold it behind my back as I go to the entryway. A peek through the keyhole reveals a beautiful woman of Middle Eastern descent holding a leather bag.

“Miss da Silva?” she questions, somehow sensing my presence.

Wariness settles over me. “How do you know my name?”

“I’m Doctor Nasr,” she replies. “Matteo Leone sent me to do a physical examination of your friend. He mentioned that you might not open the door and that I should say the word “pavona” to verify my identity.”

My heart squeezes at Matteo’s attention towards Aurora, and for knowing to send a female doctor and not a man. He may come in the prettiest of packages, but it’s his kind heart that I find most attractive about him.

I open the door and move off to the side. “Come on in.”

Doctor Nasr strides past me into the flat and sets her bag down on the kitchen table.

“She’s in the bathroom. Let me tell her you’re here.” I walk to the back of the apartment and knock on the door. “Aurora?”

Her voice is hushed when she tells me it’s unlocked.

I walk in to find her standing in front of a mirror in nothing but a towel. She stares at herself, her hair dripping down her back. Her eyes are heavy and hallowed.

“There’s a doctor here to examine you.” She shakes her head but doesn’t say anything else. “You don’t want her to?”

“No,” she replies quietly. “It’s not necessary. They forced me to strip naked and paraded me in front of two dozen men.” Her eyes swim with tears. “But they didn’t touch me.”

I cross the bathroom and pull her into my arms, hugging her tightly. We got there in time.

The relief makes me want to weep.

I believe in fate. The parallels between her and Adriana are too many to count, but they differ in one crucial way—their endings. It’s fate that introduced me to Aurora, fate that built a friendship between us, fate that put me in a position to save her. It heals a part of me.

“I still think you should get examined. To be safe.”

She nods. “Okay.”

I exit the bathroom and wave the doctor in, leaving them to it as another knock sounds at the door. This time, the keyhole reveals a young man holding two large paper bags.

“Who are you?” I ask.

Like the doctor, he doesn’t startle. “DonLeone sent me,Signorinada Silva. I’m supposed to give you the code word “cherry”.” He lifts the bags up to the keyhole. “These are for you. Teas, face masks, snacks, and hot food. He wasn’t sure what you’d be in the mood for so there’s Italian, of course, Colombian, and Japanese meal options in here. If none of these are to your liking, I can go pick up whatever you’d like, just let me know.”

God, I love him.

How can he have asked me not to fall in love with him and then done everything in his power to make sure I did?

I open the door. “This is perfect, thank you.”

He hands me the bags, inclines his head, and disappears.

Doctor Nasr comes back into the living room as I’m laying out the food on the coffee table. I straighten, wiping my hands on a napkin.

“How is she, Doctor?”

“Physically? She’s okay. Mentally? It’s hard to say. She’s in shock right now. Only time will tell how she processes the trauma. I’ve recommended her to a psychologist, I hope she calls her.”

“I’ll talk to her about it. Thank you, Doctor.”

I see her out and turn back into the kitchen to find Aurora padding quietly into the living room. She’s in a hoodie and matching sweatpants, her hair loose and still drying.

She eyes the food as she drops onto the couch. “Don’t you think you went a little overboard on the ordering?”

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