Everyone Fled the Paralyzed Mafia Boss Within Three Days—But When Declan Ordered His Poor New Maid to Leave, Narin Refused, Dragged Him Out of an Ambush, and Made the Most Feared Man in the City Realize She Wasn’t Staying Out of Pity
Victor looked away, hiding the faintest reaction
Victor looked away, hiding the faintest reaction.
Declan’s gaze narrowed.
Narin continued before courage failed her.
“When I was sixteen, my father drank away our rent.”
Declan said nothing.
“Our landlord came to collect what we didn’t have.”
Memory tightened her throat.
“He decided money wasn’t the only thing he could take.”
Declan’s entire body changed.
Not dramatically.
His shoulders simply became still.
“My father did nothing,” Narin said. “So I broke a bottle across the landlord’s face.”
Victor looked at her again.
“I nearly killed him.”
The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead.
Narin pushed the tray closer.
“I know violence can be ugly. I also know sometimes people tell themselves they had no choice long after they did.”
Her eyes moved toward the bound men.
“I’m not deciding which this is.”
Then she looked back at Declan.
“But I’m not going to pretend I didn’t see it.”
Something in his expression shifted.
He took the pill.
Drank the water.
Then handed her the glass.
“Victor.”
“Yes, boss.”
“Find out who opened the gate.”
Declan returned the gun beneath his jacket.
“No more until I come back.”
Victor’s eyebrows rose.
It was subtle.
But Narin noticed.
So did Declan.
He rolled toward the door.
Narin followed.
At the stairs, he stopped.
“You changed my order.”
“I brought medication.”
“You walked into a room where I gave an order, challenged me in front of my lieutenant, and I changed it.”
Narin considered him.
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“No.”
His eyes remained unreadable.
“That is what bothers me.”
He continued toward the lift installed beside the staircase.
Narin took the stairs.
When they reached the main floor, he waited for her.
“Why?”
“What?”
“Why does my opinion matter enough to bother you?”
The question came out more sharply than she intended.
Declan stared toward the ruined foyer.
Workers had already begun boarding the entrance.
“You saved my life.”
“That creates gratitude. Not authority.”
His eyes returned to hers.
Narin’s pulse moved strangely.
She wished she had not said it.
Because his answer came too quietly.
“I’m beginning to understand that.”
That night the estate locked down.
Narin accepted a staff room because public transportation had stopped and the outer grounds remained restricted.
At two in the morning, a crash came from Declan’s bedroom.
She found him on the floor beside his bed.
The bedside lamp lay broken nearby.
His legs were tangled beneath the comforter.
He looked up.
Every wall slammed into place.
“Go away.”
Narin stepped over the broken glass.
“I can get up.”
“I know.”
“Then leave.”
“No.”
His laugh was humorless.
“Do you enjoy saying that to me?”
“More every day.”
For half a second, his mouth almost moved.
Then humiliation returned.
Narin knelt but did not touch him.
“How do you normally transfer?”
He looked at her suspiciously.
“Chair close to the mattress. Lock wheels. Use my arms.”
“So tell me what you need.”
The wording changed everything.
Not let me help you.
Not stop being difficult.
Tell me what you need.
Declan glanced at the bed.
“The comforter is around my left leg.”
She freed it.
“Chair?”
“Closer.”
She moved it where he indicated and locked the wheels.
Declan placed one hand on the mattress.
Another on the chair.
His first attempt failed.
Narin stayed silent.
On the second, his arm trembled.
“Put your arms around my shoulders,” she said. “You do the lift. I’ll guide your hips.”
He looked up.
“You’re too small.”
“Very flattering.”
“Narin.”
“I’m not carrying you.”
She held his gaze.
“I’m giving you another point of balance.”
Slowly, he agreed.
His arms circled her shoulders.
She braced.
“On three.”
They moved together.
Declan lifted through his arms while Narin guided his weight.
He landed across the mattress.
Momentum pulled her forward.
She caught herself on both hands.
For a suspended moment, their faces were inches apart.
Neither moved.
Then Declan released her immediately.
The restraint affected her more than being held might have.
She sat back.
“You could have pulled me closer.”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
His expression darkened.
“Because you work for me.”
It was the correct answer.
Somehow, she had not expected it to hurt.
Narin stood.
“I’ll get another lamp tomorrow.”
“Narin.”
She looked back.
“Why did you come for me today?”
She could have repeated her joke about wages.
Instead she told him part of the truth.
“Because everyone here treats your chair like it changes whether you’re human.”
His eyes stayed on her.
“And you don’t?”
“I think it changes what you can do physically.”
He stiffened.
“But not what you’re worth.”
The anger vanished.
Narin continued carefully.
“I also think being trapped in your body has convinced you that controlling everything around you is the same as being safe.”
His gaze sharpened again.
“That sounds dangerously close to pity.”
“It isn’t.”
“What is it?”
“An observation.”
A long silence passed.
“Do you make observations about everyone?”
“Only employers who throw glass at me.”
A rough laugh escaped him.
This time they both heard it.
Narin reached the door.
“Good night, Mr. Graham.”
“Declan.”
She turned.
He seemed almost annoyed that he had said it.
“My name is Declan.”
Narin’s pulse tripped.
“Good night, Declan.”
The following morning, Victor met her in the kitchen.
“The gate was opened internally.”
Narin stopped buttering toast.
“What?”
“One of our own people disabled it.”
Victor studied her reaction.
“Declan doesn’t want staff wandering alone.”
“Does Declan know who did it?”
“Not yet.”
Narin looked toward the hallway.
“Then you have a security problem.”
Victor almost smiled.
“We noticed.”
“You also have people changing routines because he orders them to. That means whoever betrayed him knows exactly how everyone will react.”
Victor’s expression changed.
Narin looked down at her toast.
“What?”
“You said you were a maid.”
“I am.”
“That sounded like security analysis.”
“It sounded like common sense.”
Victor leaned against the counter.
“Most people around Declan are too busy proving loyalty to question his instructions.”
