Chapter 2 - THE HEARTBEAT
The first thing Della heard inside the emergency room was her baby's heartbeat.
Fast.
Steady.
Alive.
She covered her face with both hands and finally allowed herself to cry.
The nurse adjusted the monitor while the doctor studied the ultrasound screen.
"The baby looks stable."
Della swallowed hard.
"Are you sure?"
"As sure as I can be tonight."
The doctor pointed toward the screen.
"There is no sign of placental separation, but you took a serious impact."
Della's relief came with a warning.
She would need rest.
Observation.
Another examination in forty-eight hours.
And if she experienced pain, bleeding, dizziness, or decreased movement, she was to return immediately.
Della nodded at every instruction.
She barely noticed Luca standing beyond the glass partition.
He had been there almost the entire time.
He had not tried to enter.
He had not demanded special treatment.
He simply waited.
That surprised her more than anything else about him.
Outside her room, two uniformed officers were speaking with hotel security.
Cordelia Vance was still downstairs somewhere answering questions.
Della knew that because every few minutes another reporter appeared outside the hospital entrance.
Somebody had already leaked Luca Moretti's involvement.
When the nurse finally left, Luca stepped inside.
"How is the baby?"
"Okay."
His shoulders relaxed almost invisibly.
Della noticed.
"You don't have to stay."
"I know."
"Then why are you here?"
Luca looked toward the monitor.
"Because eight years ago, you stayed."
Della looked away.
"I didn't know who you were."
"That was the point."
She frowned.
Luca pulled a chair closer but did not sit until she nodded.
"You helped someone you believed had nothing to give you."
Della stared at him.
"You were bleeding in an alley."
"Most people walked past."
"I didn't."
"Exactly."
The room became quiet.
Della examined the bandage around her palm.
The crescent scar remained visible beside it.
"I looked for you."
She raised her eyes.
"For eight years?"
"Not every day."
The corner of his mouth moved slightly.
"But for longer than I care to admit."
"Why?"
"Because I owed you my life."
Della's expression hardened.
"Then forget the debt."
Luca blinked.
"I don't want money."
"I wasn't offering money."
"I don't want a job."
"I wasn't offering that either."
"I don't want a house, protection, cars, lawyers, or whatever else billionaires give people when they want to feel like they've settled an account."
Something almost resembling respect appeared in Luca's eyes.
"Good."
Della hesitated.
"Good?"
"I don't want you bought."
The answer silenced her.
Then Luca leaned forward.
"But I do want one thing."
Della immediately became suspicious.
"What?"
"Tell the truth about what happened tonight."
"I already planned to."
"Even if the Vances come after you?"
She studied him.
"Why would they?"
Luca's gaze changed.
Before he could answer, the door opened.
A police officer stepped inside.
"Ms. Marsh?"
Della nodded.
"We need to take your statement."
Luca stood.
The officer glanced toward him.
"Alone."
Luca didn't argue.
He reached the doorway before Della spoke.
"Mr. Moretti."
He turned.
She looked directly at him.
"Did Cordelia get arrested?"
Luca paused.
"No."
Della frowned.
"Why not?"
"Because someone arrived with three attorneys before the officers finished interviewing witnesses."
Della understood immediately.
Money.
Influence.
The old rules.
Luca's face became colder.
"But something else happened."
"What?"
"One of the hotel security recordings disappeared."
Della stopped breathing.
Luca continued.
"The recording that showed the thirty seconds immediately before Cordelia pushed you."
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And suddenly the shattered mirror no longer felt like the beginning of the story.
It felt like someone was already trying to rewrite it.
