Chapter 12 - THE WOMAN WHO WOULDN'T BE OWNED
Grace resigned from her assignment as my private nurse once I no longer needed hospital-level care.
I offered her a position overseeing employee health programs at one of my companies.
She smiled.
“No.”
I blinked.
“No?”
She laughed softly.
“Dominic, I love being a nurse.”
I looked at her.
“You could help thousands of employees.”
“I know.”
“Then why not?”
She sat beside me.
“Because I want to make my own choices.”
I went still.
She continued.
“I don't want my future tied to your money.”
I swallowed.
“That's not what I'm asking.”
“I know.”
She smiled.
“But I need you to understand.”
I nodded slowly.
“I do.”
Three weeks later, I asked Grace to dinner.
She looked surprised.
“Dinner?”
I nodded.
“Somewhere quiet.”
She smiled.
“As what?”
I hesitated.
Then answered:
“As two people who might want to know each other outside a hospital room.”
Grace studied me.
Then laughed softly.
“You're nervous.”
I smiled.
“Terrified.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Dominic Moretti is terrified of dinner?”
“With you?”
I nodded.
“Absolutely.”
She laughed.
Then said:
“Yes.”
Our first date was at a small Italian restaurant in Brooklyn.
No bodyguards at the table.
No photographers.
No expensive spectacle.
Just pasta.
Candlelight.
And two people learning how to talk without fear.
Grace told me about her mother.
Her nursing school years.
The patients she still remembered.
I told her about Matteo.
About my childhood.
About the mistakes I was trying to correct.
At the end of the evening, she looked at me.
“Dominic?”
“Yes?”
“I don't need you to be perfect.”
I smiled faintly.
“That's fortunate.”
She laughed.
Then grew serious.
“I need you to be honest.”
May you like
I took her hand.
“I can do that.”
