Page 76 of Beautiful Enemy

When I come back to him, I find Matteo is lost in thought. Is he worried for his boss? Does he see that as an opportunity to take power?

Two police officers enter the ER and walk up to the nurses station. A nurse points in my direction.

“Uh, Matteo?” I whisper, nodding to the officers. He stands to attention.

“We heard you brought in Dante Moretti to the hospital. Is that correct?” A male officer asks. The other one is female.

“Yes. He got stabbed and we had to save his life.”

“Did you know this man before he got stabbed? Do you work with him, perhaps?”

“No. My girlfriend and I found him on the side of the road and we wanted to help.” Matteo gives me a pointed look. Play along, it says. “I’ve never met him before.”

The female officer frowns. “But you told the nurse his name.”

“Because he told me in the car. He told us that he was stabbed. I tried to fix his wound before taking him here. We don’t know what happened.”

“And you,” the male officer says to me, making me almost jump ten feet into the air. My father told me the police were to be avoided at all costs. “Can you corroborate what he’s saying?”

“Yes,” I whisper. “Everything my… boyfriend said is true.”

The officers share a look. “Well, we’ll be back with more questions. Don’t go anywhere.” They walk away.

“Matteo, what do we do?”

“We don’t panic. The moment Dante is out of surgery, we get him out of here.”

As if on cue, the doctor who took Dante into surgery, comes over to us. “So, Dante is fine. He had a small nick on one of his arteries but we clamped it. He’ll survive. You can go see him if you want.”

“Thank you.” Matteo and I head straight for Dante’s room until Matteo stops. “Those officers are following us. Don’t look back. Why don’t you go in to talk to Dante and I’ll stay out here in case they have any more questions. I’m a better liar than you.”

Talk to Dante? Alone? Even though he’s seen me naked, I feel much more vulnerable right in this moment.

I step inside the room and find Dante on the bed, eyes closed, an oxygen tube attached to his nose. He looks so vulnerable. I feel my heart starting to crack a little around him.

Without even thinking about it, I touch his hand. His eyes flutter open.

“Nadia? What are you still doing here?”

I snatch my hand back. “Are you mad that I stayed? Because if you really want me to go, then I’ll go. I’ll return to my sister.”

“No.” He grabs my hand. “I don’t want you to leave. I’m just confused. Why did you help me?”

“I don’t really know. I just did.”

He’s silent for a moment. “Well, I’m glad you did. You saved me. That was pretty stupid of you though. Now I can use you against your family. You should have left when you had the chance.”

“I still can. Matteo won’t stop me.”

“Bullshit. He’s my second. He’ll keep you here.”

“No, he won’t. I don’t think he wants all this fighting, Dante. That’s what I wanted to talk with you about. I want you to end this war.”

He blinks before laughing. The sound is harsh. I try not to take it personally. “Why would I do that? I’m winning. I wanted you to come to me willingly and you just showed me that you want me alive. You helped save me. My plan is working.”

“No,” I say hotly. “I only saved you because I wanted to convince you to stop this war. But I see now that that was a mistake. You can’t stop me from leaving from your hospital bed. I don’t even think you could get up if you wanted to.”

Case in point, he tries to sit up and ends up flopping right back onto the bed. “Son of a bitch. I’m going to kill that Ivan fucker for stabbing me in the first place.”

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