Alexander Wolfe wasn't used to being dismissed especially not by someone so composed, so maddeningly unreadable.
He spent the next hour pacing the small room. His phone was still dead. His driver, his assistant, his entire world built on control all out of reach. And she had planned it that way.
Liana Reyes.
He repeated the name like a puzzle. There was something about her that felt familiar, but he couldn't place it. A memory flickered an article from years ago, a rising star in the medical world. Liana Reyes. Gone quiet after… something. A scandal? A tragedy?
He needed answers.
Outside the clinic, the air was crisp, touched by the scent of pine and distant rain. It was quieter here too quiet. The kind of place designed for solitude, not survival.
He spotted a man across the street an older gentleman sitting on a bench, his hand wrapped in a homemade splint. Alexander crossed over.
"You know the woman who runs that clinic?" he asked, gesturing behind him.
The man looked up, squinting. "Dr. Reyes? Best hands I've ever seen. Doesn't ask for money, just your time and truth."
"What does that mean?"
"You'll see."
That wasn't helpful.
Before he could ask more, a low hum caught his attention Liana's car pulling in, dusty and dented but reliable. She stepped out quickly, hair windblown, sleeves rolled up. Her hands were stained with something dark blood?
Alexander's instincts sharpened. He moved to her side.
"What happened?"
"A construction worker," she replied briskly, grabbing supplies from her trunk. "Fell three stories. I had to stabilize his leg and control the bleeding before the ambulance could get there."
"You did that alone?"
"I'm not helpless, Mr. Wolfe."
"I didn't say you were. But you shouldn't be doing this without backup."
She turned, eyes flaring for just a moment. "Backup implies I have a team. I don't. The world you live in abandoned people like him a long time ago."
Her words hit harder than he expected.
"I can change that," he said before he could stop himself.
She paused, examining him like a specimen under glass. "Why would you want to?"
"I don't know yet. But I'm starting to think I should."
For the first time, her expression softened. Not quite trust. Not quite warmth. But a crack in the armor.
She walked past him into the clinic. He followed.
Inside, she washed up, scrubbed away the red, changed into a fresh black blouse. The silence between them grew thick again not hostile, but heavy with things unspoken.
"Stay the night," she said suddenly. "You're not ready to go back to your world yet."
He frowned. "You want me to rest. Again."
"I want you to heal," she corrected. "There's a difference."
"And what if I don't know how?"
She looked over her shoulder at him, her voice low. "Then it's time you learned."
Just as silence settled again between them, a sharp knock hit the clinic's back door.
Liana froze.
"Stay here," she said quickly, already moving toward a narrow hallway that led into the back.
Alexander watched from the doorway, curiosity growing into unease.
Liana opened the door only halfway. A young woman stood there early twenties, wiry, hoodie pulled up over messy curls. Her left eye was swollen, a bruise forming beneath.
"Another fight, Mia?" Liana's tone wasn't surprised just tired.
The girl nodded, biting her lip. "He found me again. I didn't know where else to go."
Liana gently touched her shoulder. "Come inside."
Alexander took a step forward. "What's going on?"
Liana glanced back. "This is Mia. She's... part of the reason I do what I do."
Mia flinched when she saw Alexander. "He's not a cop, is he?"
"No," Liana said. "Just a man who doesn't understand this world yet."
Alexander said nothing. He could see the truth in the girl's posture, her injuries. This wasn't a fluke it was a pattern.
"Do you do this often?" he asked, once Mia was resting in a side room.
"Take in strays?" she replied. "No. I protect people no one else will. That's why I had to disappear."
Alexander's gaze sharpened. "Disappear from what?"
She met his eyes. "A hospital with too many rules. A system that let abusers hide behind lab coats and credentials. I reported someone. They buried the case and me along with it."
He felt a chill settle between them.
"Was it someone powerful?"
"Very."A name sat on the edge of her tongue. She didn't say it.
"Is he still out there?"
"Yes," she whispered. "And I think he knows I'm not hiding as well as I thought."
Alexander took a step closer. "Then let me help you."
She looked up, startled.
"Why would you do that?"
Because I know what it's like," he said, voice quiet. "To build a kingdom just to keep the ghosts out."