Page 33 of Bleed with Me

I frowned, chewing the skin on my thumb. My legs paced the length of my room mindlessly, but my mind was razor-focused.

“Invisible…” I repeated in a low voice, my brows almost connecting above my eyes.

“Oh God,” Lucas grunted. “Please tell me you’re not planning to pretend to be a ghost.”

“No.” I smiled wickedly, an idea striking me at the best possible moment. “Better. I’ll use the doors.”

“The…” Lucas almost choked with incredulity. “The front doors? Like walking in? Like a visitor?”

“Yes,” I confirmed, insane determination dripping from my tongue. “The darkest place is under the lamp. Not even Malin would expect his brother’s kidnapper to march through the front entrance.”

Lucas stared at me in horror. He surely thought I’d lost my mind, but it was an excellent plan.

“If I had a gun, I would shoot you just to stop this madness,” he said, but eventually, he still helped me. He always did.

Ileft Lucas at his hacker den with his equipment. He pulled up the hospital schematics and blinded every camera that might catch me. And because the mission’s success depended on his skill to override Malin’s security system, it was understandable that he wanted to use everything at his disposal.

My hands trembled as I carried a plain black bag through the hospital parking lot. Inside were my new mask, leather outfit, gloves, an untraceable gun, and a tiny camera for Dorian’s office. If I was already risking my life to see him, I might as well make future visits easier.

I inhaled deeply, hoping this wasn’t the last time my lungs tasted fresh air.

The hospital lobby welcomed me with sterile brightness and the soft humming of the air conditioning. No one looked at me twice. I was just another visitor with a bag. I hurried to the elevators, and one came as soon as I pushed the up button. The door slid open, and Lucas murmured in my ear through the tiny earpiece.

“When the door opens, you’re free to go. Dorian’s office is on the opposite side.”

I hastily marched into the hall. My palms were sweaty; the blood rushing in my ears was deafening, but I focused only on the dark door.

“Walk slower.” Lucas’s voice made me flinch. Thankfully, no one was around to see me startle for no reason. “Nina,” he hissed. “You’re not fleeing a murder scene. Slow down!”

I rolled my eyes and followed his cues.

“Ready?” Lucas whispered when I placed my hand on the silver knob. “Keycard bypass in three… two… one… Go.”

The door clicked, and I slipped inside, immediately releasing a sharp breath. My chest eased, and relief flooded my bloodstream. I did the hard part. I was safe.

Glancing around, I walked into the office, a tiny smile appearing on my lips. The place smelled like him, reminding me of the short time we’d spent together, and it gave me another piece of the picture I’d been assembling in my imagination of the man I’d grown attached to.

Dorian’s office was a perfect contradiction, elegance wrapped in absolute, unapologetic chaos. The dark walnut desk was sleek and expensive, but buried under a landslide of files, medical charts, half-finished reports, and pens scattered like fallen soldiers. A white coat was tossed over a chair. Two towering bookshelves lined the wall, filled with medical textbooks beside stacks of printed articles he clearly reread a hundred times, the pages bent and marked with obsessive notes. A faint scent of antiseptic mingled with cedar and something warm and unmistakably him, giving the room an oddly comforting aura. It was a place built for a perfectionist with the soul of a hurricane. Sharp, brilliant, and impossible to tame.

I sucked my lower lip into my mouth, the pang of guilt striking my heart unprepared. This was Dorian, his world, and I invaded it again. However, before I would let the wave of emotions drown me, I acted.

Hastily, I stripped and pulled on the leather outfit, wincing when it brushed the fading bruise on my ribs. The almost-healed scab on my forehead disappeared beneath the edge of my new mask. With Lucas’s guidance, I secured the camera high in a shadowed corner where it captured the entire office without drawing attention and set it up.

In the end, I attached the gun to my thigh and sank into the soft couch beside the thick book that looked like a Bible, but its name was Trauma. Underneath was another one, but I only read the words Top Knife, because Lucas’s voice crackled in my ear.

“Brace yourself, psycho bride. He’s out of the elevator.”

A shuddering breath escaped me as my pulse raced. Finally, I would see him again.

“Lock the door when he comes in. And don’t listen,” I ordered, a disgusted wail piercing my eardrums.

“I would never—” Lucas started, but I pulled out the earpiece and tucked it into my leather jacket.

Dorian’s footsteps approached across the polished floor, each one sending my heart higher into my throat.

Soon, I would have him alone in his office with nowhere to run.

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