My Brother Owed A Mobster — The Monster Who Saved Me Burned The City Down
Part 1
I leaned against the nurse’s station, staring blankly at a patient chart.
It was past one in the morning on a freezing Tuesday, and I was deep into hour fourteen of a grueling trauma shift.
My scrubs were stained, my dark hair pulled back into a messy knot.
My eyes burned with a profound exhaustion that seeped straight into my bones.
Surviving in a cramped apartment meant working double overtime just to keep the heat running.
The rest of my waking hours were wasted trying to clean up the disastrous messes left behind by my older brother, Tyler.
Gambling had always been his poison, constantly chasing the electric thrill of a quick payout.
But six months ago, that reckless addiction crossed a line that simply couldn’t be uncrossed.
A staggering loan had been taken out from Dan, a ruthless syndicate boss who owned a vast narcotics trafficking network.
When Tyler skipped town three weeks ago, the debt collectors turned their eyes on the only family he had left.
My phone buzzed in my pocket with a restricted number.
I had already received three voicemails that week from Craig, the chief enforcer.
His last message had been dangerously quiet, informing me that my grace period was officially over.
A coworker handed me a steaming cup of coffee, pulling me from my spiraling thoughts.
He asked if I was distracted because of that VIP patient from last month.
Just the mention of his name sent a strange, involuntary shiver down my spine.
A month ago, Greg had been brought into the ER through the private loading dock.
He was a billionaire real estate mogul whose wealth was vast and entirely untouchable.
He had arrived bleeding from a massive laceration to his chest.
I had been the attending nurse when his core temperature dropped thirty degrees too low.
When the attending surgeon stepped out, Greg had awakened.
He grabbed my wrist with a grip like iron, his irises a mesmerizing shade of predatory gold.
He compelled me to hide his blood panels and erase his vitals.
I didn’t know why, but I had followed his command.
By morning, his fatal wound had miraculously closed to a mere scar.
He disappeared into a sleek black town car, leaving me with nothing but a heavy black card.
Shaking off the memory, I gathered my coat and walked out into the biting New England wind.
The streets were desolate, casting long, menacing shadows across the damp pavement.
I hurried toward the parking garage, not noticing the heavy footsteps breaking off from the shadows.
My beat-up car was parked on the third level, a completely isolated sector.
Then I heard the counter-rhythm.
Heavy boots.
Three sets.
I froze, my keys slipping between my fingers to form a makeshift weapon.
A voice like grinding gravel echoed through the empty garage, instantly paralyzing me.
Standing ten feet away was Craig, a mountain of a man in a tailored leather jacket.
Flanking him were two massive enforcers.
I backed away, my spine hitting a concrete pillar.
Craig chuckled, explaining they were going to squeeze whatever Tyler left behind.
He revealed they had been watching me, that they knew I had gotten close to a billionaire patient.
My blood ran cold.
Craig snarled, slamming his heavy fist into the concrete pillar right next to my head.
He demanded I call my rich boyfriend to pay Tyler’s debt.
I yelled in sheer desperation that I didn’t even know him.
Craig spat his toothpick onto the ground and nodded to the two men.
What happened next was a blur of agonizing pain and sheer terror.
A heavy fist caught me in the stomach, driving the air from my lungs.
I collapsed to my knees, gasping.
Before I could recover, a steel-toed boot connected with my ribs.
The sickening crack echoed loudly.
They dragged me by my arms down the concrete stairwell, my heels scraping helplessly against the stairs.
They threw me like garbage into the freezing, rain-slicked alleyway.
I hit the brick wall hard, collapsing into a pile of trash bags.
Craig grabbed a handful of my dark hair and yanked my head back.
My left eye forced shut, blood pouring from a deep cut above my brow.
He whispered into my ear that I had twenty-four hours to get the money.
He violently shoved my head back against the brick and walked away.
I was left alone in the dark.
The pain in my side was excruciating.
My ribs were shattered.
As the edges of my vision began to tunnel, I realized I was not going to make it through the night.
I closed my eyes, letting the darkness take me.
I was abruptly pulled back to consciousness by a sudden, drastic shift in the air pressure.
The relentless rain seemed to stop falling directly over me, blocked by a massive silhouette.
I forced my good eye open, peering through the blood and rain.
He was dressed in an impeccably tailored black trench coat.
His eyes glowed in the darkness like molten gold.
It was Greg.
The air grew thick, heavy with an ancient, suffocating power.
He fell to his knees in the puddles of rain.
His hands hovered over me, trembling slightly from a rage so profound it seemed to warp the very reality around him.
His voice was a lethal whisper, demanding the name of the men who did this to me.
I coughed, a violent spasm racking my chest, and gave him Craig’s name.
Greg’s golden eyes flared with a terrifying luminescence.
He commanded me not to speak.
He bit into his own wrist, the blood glowing in the darkness, and pressed it to my lips.
