Chapter 4: Ricardo
1053 Words
Chapter 4: Ricardo
The fire made headlines for a week.
“Explosion at St. Sadine Hospital 12 individuals Injured and 3 Dead.”
Officials blamed a gas leak. Liyanah knew better what actually happened.
She’d seen the men with guns. She’d seen Dante’s face when he shot them. She’d heard the fear in his voice when he said she could have died.
But after that night, he vanished again.
No calls,no messages and no shadow of his car outside her apartment.Just silence and the quiet ache of something unfinished.
She told herself she was fine. She buried herself in work, patched wounds, set bones, ignored the way her hands shook every time someone mentioned his name.
Until one morning, a week later, she walked into the hospital café and froze.Still like a ghost.
Sitting at a corner table, sipping coffee like he owned the place, was a man who looked so much like Dante it made her heart stop. But this one was different from Dante ,he was younger, lighter. His smile reached his eyes. His suit wasn’t black but navy blue and his tie undone.
When he saw her, that smile widened.
“Dr. Khan, I presume?”
Liyanah hesitated. “Who’s asking?”
He stood, extending a hand waiting patiently for a handshake. “Ricardo Moretti. Dante’s younger brother.”
Her breath caught. “Oh.”
“Don’t look so alarmed,” he said, laughing softly. “I’m not here to shoot anyone. Or get shot.”
She didn’t shake his hand. “What do you want from me?”
“To thank you,” he said easily. “You saved my brother’s life. That means you saved mine too.”He smiled.
She crossed her arms. “He didn’t send you.”
“No,” Ricardo admitted. “He’d kill me if he knew I was here talking to you.”
“Then why come?”
He leaned against the counter, staring at her. His eyes were lighter than Dante’s amber instead of black, mischievous instead of haunted. “Because I wanted to meet the woman who makes my brother act like a human being and not a murderer.”
Her pulse quickened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He smiled knowingly. “You do. Dante doesn’t care about anyone. He never has. Until he met you.”
Liyanah’s chest tightened. “He doesn’t—”she said pretending to not believe it.
“Don’t bother lying,” Ricardo said gently. “I saw his face when he came home that night, covered in blood and smoke. He didn’t even flinch about the men who died. But when I asked if you were okay… he couldn’t utter a word.”
She swallowed hard, unsure what to say.
Ricardo watched her carefully, then added, “He’s trying to stay away from you. That’s what he does when he’s scared.”
“He should stay away,” she said. “His world and actions almost got me killed.”
Ricardo nodded slowly. “And yet here you are, still thinking about him and talking about him.”
She looked away. “You don’t know me.”
“No,” he said, “but I’d like to get to know you.”
Over the next few days, Ricardo kept showing up.
Sometimes he’d bring coffee and muffins to her break room, sometimes he’d wait outside the hospital late at night just to walk her to her car. He was polite, funny, impossible to hate. Where Dante was storm and silence, Ricardo was sunlight after rain.
He asked about her work, her family, her favorite music and her favorite movie. He never mentioned guns, or blood, or the shadows his surname carried.He was different in a good way. And maybe that’s why she started to let her guard down.
One evening, she finally asked, “What do you really want from me Ricardo?”
Ricardo smiled . “Maybe I want to understand why you’re the first person Dante’s ever talked about like he’s not already dead inside.”
Her voice was quiet. “You love him.”
“More than I should,” Ricardo said. “But he’s made his bed with devils, and I can’t save him from it. Maybe you could save him.”
Liyanah shook her head. “I’m not here to save anyone. Not him. Not you.Not anyone.”
“You say that like you believe it.”
“I do.”
“Then why are you trembling?”
She hadn’t realized she was.
Ricardo’s expression softened. “I’m not my brother. But I see why he can’t stay away from you.”
She stepped back. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you know what I’m feeling inside.”
He smiled. “You think fire only burns once, Liyanah?”
Her breath hitched. He was too close now not touching her, just near enough that she could smell his cologne, something crisp and clean, the opposite of Dante’s smoke and whiskey.
She whispered, “You should go now.”
He nodded slowly. “Alright. But you’ll see me again very soon.”
When he left, she sat down on the bench outside the hospital, heart pounding.
Ricardo was dangerous but maybe not like Dante, but in his own way.
Because where Dante had terrified her, Ricardo disarmed her.
And somewhere deep down, she knew this wasn’t just another storm. It was the beginning of something far more complicated.
---
Later that night, her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.It was Dante.
DANTE: He came to see you, didn’t he?
Her fingers hovered over the screen.
Then she typed: He said you told him not to.
DANTE: You shouldn’t trust him. He smiles too easily.His not trustworthy.
She hesitated. He’s your brother though.
DANTE: That’s why I know him.
Her heart thudded. Why do you care who I talk to?
The reply came after a long minute.
DANTE: Because I can’t stop thinking about you. And it’s starting to scare me Liyanah.
She stared at the message until the screen dimmed.
And for the first time, she realized the fire that had nearly killed her wasn’t behind her anymore.
It was inside of her.
- Writer
