Zuri
The corridor of the private hospital in Macau smelled of disinfectant and money.
Nora left Peter's room with the unsteady gait of someone who'd just run for two hours at 200 miles an hour. She was pale, her pupils dilated, her hands still stained with soot and burn ointment.
"Nora..." I took a step toward her.
She looked at me as if she didn't recognize me for a second, then collapsed against my chest. I held her tightly, one hand behind her neck, the other around her back. I felt her body tremble against mine.
"They knew everything, Zuri..." Her voice was hoarse, broken. "They let Adriano burn so as not to interrupt the live broadcast. For the money. For the bets."
I didn't say anything. I just held her tighter, breathing in her smell of smoke and sweat.
Then I saw him.
At the end of the corridor, Stephan Wilson.
Motionless.
With a bouquet of white flowers in his hand that looked ridiculous, out of place, pathetic. His eyes were those of a man who knows he's already lost everything.
Jealousy bit my stomach, acid and hot.
But it wasn't just jealousy.
It was anger.
It was the memory of Adriano burning as he continued to run.
"Go away, Wilson," I growled, not letting go of Nora.
Stephan didn't move. He just took a step forward, his voice low.
"Nora... I need to talk to you. It's not what you think."
She pulled away from me abruptly. Her eyes, filled with pain a second before, became razor-sharp.
"Peter told me about the radio," she said, her voice icy. "He told me about the Audi deal. You sold me, Stephan. You agreed to get rid of me just to get that seat."
Stephan paled. The bouquet slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor with a dull thud.
He didn't deny it.
That silence was more brutal than any words.
Nora took a step back, as if he were radioactive.
"Get out of my life," she whispered. "Before I decide to end it."
Stephan stood there for a few more seconds, then turned and walked away, his shoulders hunched as if he were carrying the full weight of Macao.
I didn't move. I stayed beside her, my heart pounding too fast.
I knew it wasn't over.
And I knew that, sooner or later, I would have to choose whether to protect her... or let her go to her own personal hell.