I regained consciousness in the hospital to find Sarah practically collapsing on top of me.
“Thank God you’re alright,” she sobbed.
“Hey, save the funeral tears,” I managed a weak smile.
“Don’t even joke about that,” she sniffled.
“You’re lucky Mr. Rivera got there in time.”
“Where is Nathan?” Sarah’s face fell.
“Not good. His left arm’s fractured.”
“How did that happen?”
“From breaking down the door.”
The realization hit me like a wave. That heavy fire door – had Nathan really broken through it with sheer force?
“Think about it,” Sarah whispered. “He carried you out despite a broken arm. Is he really as terrible as you made him out to be?”
I slipped out of bed to find him. Nathan sat by the window, his left arm heavily bandaged, calmly reviewing business reports as if this were just another day at the office.
When he saw me, he quietly asked everyone else to leave.
“Any discomfort?” he asked softly.
“I’m fine.”
“Tell the doctors immediately if anything feels wrong.”
“Weren’t you supposed to be out of town?” The question burst out before I could stop it.
“Landed at eight. Heard you were working late, so I wanted to check on you. Good timing, I’d say.”
His voice remained gentle, not mentioning his injury once. “Do you realize how dangerous that was? What if you’d been trapped too?”
Chapter 18
“Then I would have burned with you.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“Sorry,” he said quietly. “You seemed tense. I won’t joke about it.”
I studied his face, confused by the complexity of emotions I felt.
“You’re worth millions. Why risk everything for me?”
“Saving you wasn’t a conscious decision. My body moved before my brain could think.”
“You really confuse me, Nathan. First you deceive me, then you save me.”
“Why do you think I deceived you?”
“For your family’s reputation, your company’s image…”
Nathan’s expression shifted suddenly.
“Who told you that?”
Chapter 19
