Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151410 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Isa jabbed her elbow into my side, making me jump. “What’s wrong?” She followed my gaze, and so did the guys.
I smiled awkwardly. They probably thought I was paranoid.
“Aurora thinks she’s got a stalker,” Valerio said with a teasing smile.
I pursed my lips. “Do not.”
“Do you want me to walk around the area and take a look?” Flavio asked, already scooting to the edge of the bench.
“No, it’s nothing. Valerio misinterpreted my words on purpose.”
Flavio’s brown eyes moved back and forth between Valerio and me.
“Let’s eat, okay? There’s always a potential danger lurking around the corner waiting to kill us all, but I’m starving and would rather die with a full stomach,” Isa muttered.
My eyes widened, and I pressed my lips together, torn between wanting to laugh and concern because of Isa’s bitter words.
“Spoken like a true pessimist,” Valerio announced.
“I’m not a pessimist.”
“Flavio and I are around to make sure you can torture us with your hangry attitude for years to come.”
“I’ve been well protected all my life. It doesn’t mean I’m safe, and that’s realism, not pessimism.”
Flavio and Valerio exchanged a look that spoke of buried guilt. I knew what incident they were all thinking about, which was why it was important that Nevio left New York as soon as possible.
An hour later, Valerio returned me to the hospital while Flavio took Isa back to Gianna’s gym. Again, I thought I had seen a brief glance of Nevio’s reflection in a shop window across the street, but I was starting to doubt my own perception.
“I’ll pick you up in about two hours, okay? There are three guards on the premises, so don’t worry.”
“I’m not,” I insisted, at least not for my safety.
My sanity. Peace. My heart. For those, definitely yes.
As expected, my paranoia festered overnight, and when Valerio and I walked into the coffee shop to get our caffeine fix, I couldn’t stop looking over my shoulder. But I didn’t spot anyone following me until he dropped me off at the clinic, where I spotted Nevio again right before I walked inside.
This had to stop. The problem was I didn’t know how to get him off my back before this ended in a major disaster. Plus, I needed him gone for my own sake. I wanted to forget him, and his stalking wasn’t giving me the chance to do so.
I was jumpy all morning, trying to come up with a plan to confront Nevio, even if it was the absolute last thing I wanted. Unfortunately, the hospital was closely monitored by security cameras, so my every move was recorded and seen by the guards. I couldn’t leave the place without someone noticing, and then they’d stop me. Luca definitely wouldn’t be impressed if I ran off from his protection.
I was helping one of the nurses change the dressings of one of the patients when a shrill alarm filled the vast inside of the building. I clamped my ears shut, my eyes scrunching up in pain and my pulse pounding madly in my veins.
“What is it?” I screamed at the nurse.
“Fire alarm,” she screamed back, but her words were drowned out by the unbearable noise. It finally turned off.
“We need to leave the building,” she told me.
The patients, nurses, and doctors as well as the guards gathered in front of the building.
“We need to find the source of the fire,” one of the guards explained. A second was on the phone. I glanced around. This was a big coincidence. One day after I started interning at this place, a fire broke out.
In the general confusion and commotion, nobody really paid attention to me. I knew I didn’t have long before more guards would arrive. I rushed away, out of the back alley where the hospital’s entrance was. This area wasn’t one I’d usually like to spend time on my own. Many strange-looking people walked around, but I was confident I wasn’t alone as I hurried along the sidewalk. An arm shot out and grabbed me, pulling me into a narrow dead end.
My pulse spiked. I was pressed against a rough wall and found myself face-to-face with Nevio.
I wasn’t shocked, yet I felt disbelief and indignance over his presence.
I glared up at his overly pleased face. As usual, he was dressed in all black—T-shirt, cargo jacket, cargo pants, and boots—but he had a baseball cap on his head, which was new. Probably to hide his identity.
“I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” I gritted out.
Nevio tilted his head as he regarded me from head to toe, his hands casually stuffed into his pockets. His nonchalant attitude really pissed me off. “I’m disappointed that you’re not in a nurse outfit.”
I balled my hands to fists, unable to believe his audacity. “Why are you here? I don’t want to see you, to talk to you, to even think of you.”