Chapter 111: Night Visit
Carmen
Even without the medication, the pain had slowly started getting better—enough that I could finally sleep through the night without interruptions.
So imagine my confusion when I opened my eyes, glanced toward the open window blinds, and realized it was still dark outside.
My lashes fluttered closed again, ready to go back to sleep, only for me to hear a voice in my room.
Low.
Deep.
And only a few steps away from me.
"Hello, Carmen."
I didn’t think I had ever been that scared in my life.
Not even when I realized the car I entered was the wrong one and I had to jump out to save myself.
I jerked upright in bed, staring through the darkness as I tried to make out the shape of the man standing there, but it was too dark to see his face clearly.
Still, his presence alone said enough about the kind of danger I was in.
My brows furrowed as I instinctively reached beneath the blanket for my phone, only for him to speak again.
"I wouldn’t do that if I were you."
His voice was unfamiliar and calm as he stood at the far end of the room near the food table, leaning against it with his arms folded across his chest.
I could barely make out anything.
Only that despite it being midnight, he still seemed to be wearing what looked like a doctor’s scrub.
At least now I knew how he got in.
"Relax. If I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead," he said.
And I knew it was true.
Which meant he had woken me up on purpose.
"What do you want?" I asked, mentally searching for some kind of weapon and hating the fact that I hadn’t demanded another gun from Nico and insisted on it.
I tried to sound calm.
Tried to appear calmer than I actually felt.
But I wasn’t calm at all.
I was the one lying helplessly on a hospital bed. By the time I opened my mouth to scream for the guards outside, I would already be dead.
"...it’s simple actually. You know what I want," he answered with a light chuckle, like this was a casual conversation between friends.
"You’re not going to ask me who I am?" he asked.
I almost rolled my eyes.
He was standing in the dark. Obviously, he didn’t want to expose his identity.
"If you’re going to threaten me, then threaten me and leave. I need to go back to sleep," I said, ignoring the pounding in my chest and the way my heart raced harder with every second.
"...threaten? That feels primitive. Why would I threaten you when I can simply make you see things from my own point of view?"
Amusement laced his voice as he reached into his pocket and tossed something toward me.
I almost failed to catch it before realizing it was only paper.
My right hand was in far better condition than my left.
The room was still too dark to properly see anything, but I could tell the paper was folded.
Even if I wanted to read it, I couldn’t.
"What is this?"
"Evidence," he replied smoothly. "Evidence that Nico would rather have you dead. The king was willing to work with Vito, so why not you? Were you really kidnapped by us?"
I was tempted to ask what he meant by us, but I didn’t.
"You killed my father," I spat angrily.
To my surprise, his silhouette slowly nodded.
"Yes. Your father was unreasonable. But why would we kill someone without first trying to have a conversation?"
"You talked to Nico?"
"Yes. And he was unreasonable."
But I was already shaking my head, letting out a scoff as I stared toward him, trying to see through the darkness.
I had no superpowers.
All I could tell was that he was probably in his thirties or forties.
Tall.
Muscular.
I couldn’t even tell his skin color.
"You tried to kill me. Twice," I said carefully, annoyed that he clearly thought I was stupid.
"We tried to kill Nico. You were simply in the way."
The coldness in his voice made me shrink back slightly despite myself.
I was still alone in the room with him.
And there was no way he wasn’t armed.
"I’m guessing this is the conversation I’m due?" I asked, wondering why he kept saying we when somehow I could already tell he was the one giving orders.
The way he carried himself reminded me too much of Nico.
And somehow that only irritated me more.
"Yes. I’m willing to work with you," he began smoothly. "I’ll buy fifty percent of your shares in your parent company and all the others. More capital will be infused into them, and getting government contracts would become easy with my connections."
He paused slightly before continuing.
"Your safety would also be guaranteed."
His voice sounded genuine enough that I almost laughed.
Instead, I simply nodded.
"Like Vito’s safety was guaranteed?" I asked before I could stop myself.
A low sigh escaped him as his gaze settled fully on me.
Even in the dark, I could feel the intensity of it.
"...Vito is inherently untrustworthy. He stepped out of line and had to be put back in his place. You, on the other hand, I trust we can have a good working relationship."
All I could mentally scream was bullshit.
Smiling slightly even though I wasn’t sure he could see me, I nodded again.
"...I’ll need some time to think about it," I told him, already knowing better than to refuse outright.
"Of course. I’ll be in touch," he replied.
I watched him turn and walk toward the door before quietly closing it behind him.
To my surprise, thirty minutes later I still couldn’t sleep.
Every second felt heavier than the last as the fear settled deeper into my chest.
I was genuinely worried I would be killed before morning.
Finally, I grabbed my phone and called Nico.
Once.
Then again but even after two tries, he still didn’t pick up.
