Chapter 1 - THE JOB NOBODY WANTED
The first thing Emma Carter noticed about the Blackwood mansion was that nobody smiled.
Not the guards standing beside the iron gates.
Not the housekeepers moving silently through the marble corridors.
Not even the old woman who interviewed her.
And certainly not the man sitting at the end of the hallway in a wheelchair.
Emma had been told his name was Victor Blackwood.
She had also been told not to ask questions.
At thirty-two, Emma had worked enough difficult jobs to know when someone was hiding something.
But she had never worked for a man whose name could make an entire city lower its voice.
Victor Blackwood was supposed to be a businessman.
At least, that was what the newspapers called him.
But everyone in the city knew the rumors.
He controlled nightclubs, shipping companies, warehouses, construction firms, and half a dozen businesses nobody could explain.
People called him the Blackwood King.
And six months ago, a car accident had left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Now he needed a live-in caregiver.
The previous three had quit.
The fourth had disappeared without saying goodbye.
Emma should have walked away.
Instead, she thought about the envelope of money she needed to pay her mother's hospital bills.
So she stayed.
The old woman, Mrs. Dalton, handed her a key.
"Your room is upstairs."
Emma looked toward Victor.
He hadn't moved.
"Does he need anything tonight?"
Mrs. Dalton's expression hardened.
"Mr. Blackwood needs nothing from you except professional care."
Emma nodded.
Then Victor spoke.
"Leave us."
His voice was deep, cold, and surprisingly calm.
Mrs. Dalton immediately turned away.
Emma watched her disappear.
Now they were alone.
Victor finally looked at her.
His face was sharper than she'd expected.
Dark hair.
A faint scar near his temple.
Strong hands resting on the wheelchair.
But his eyes were what unsettled her.
They weren't cruel.
They were exhausted.
"You can still leave," he said.
Emma frowned.
"I just arrived."
"I know."
"Then why tell me to leave?"
"Because everyone leaves eventually."
Emma didn't know what to say.
Victor looked toward the window.
"You're here for the money."
"Yes."
"Good."
His answer surprised her.
"I don't need someone pretending to care."
Emma folded her arms.
"That's convenient, because I don't pretend."
For the first time, something flickered across his face.
Almost amusement.
"Most people are afraid of me."
"Should I be?"
"Probably."
Emma looked at his wheelchair.
Then back at him.
"Can you scare me from there?"
Silence.
Victor stared at her.
Then, unexpectedly, he laughed.
It was short.
Almost painful.
Emma had the strange feeling she had just heard something nobody in the house had heard in months.
But the moment disappeared.
Victor's expression became cold again.
"You'll bathe me at seven tomorrow morning."
Emma nodded.
"All right."
"You'll help me dress."
"All right."
"You'll never enter my study."
"Fine."
"You'll never touch the locked cabinet in my bedroom."
"Understood."
"And you'll never ask how I became paralyzed."
Emma paused.
"Deal."
Victor looked at her carefully.
"You're not curious?"
"I am."
"Then why agree?"
"Because curiosity doesn't pay hospital bills."
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Victor rolled his wheelchair toward the elevator.
As he passed Emma, he stopped.
"One more thing."
She turned.
"What?"
His voice became quieter.
"If anyone asks what you see in this house, you saw nothing."
Emma frowned.
"What am I supposed to say?"
Victor looked directly into her eyes.
"That you came here to take care of a disabled man."
He pressed the elevator button.
"Nothing more."
The doors opened.
He disappeared inside.
Emma remained in the hallway.
She told herself she had made the right decision.
She told tells herself she was there for the salary.
She told herself Victor Blackwood was simply a difficult patient.
But at 2:13 the following morning, Emma woke to a sound outside her bedroom.
A man's voice.
Angry.
"Where is the woman?"
Another voice whispered:
"She's upstairs."
Emma opened her door.
Two armed men stood at the end of the hallway.
And behind them stood Victor Blackwood.
Except he wasn't in his wheelchair.
He was standing.
Emma froze.
Victor looked directly at her.
His face went pale.
May you like
Then he whispered the words that changed everything.
"You weren't supposed to see this."
