Chapter 2 - The Scent of Old Sins
"Breathe with me, Clara. Just steady breaths," Julian muttered, stripping off his bespoke tuxedo jacket and gently bunching it beneath her neck to stabilize her cervical spine. The multimillion-dollar silk meant nothing; human bone and pulse were all that mattered.
Clara winced as Julian gently inspected her wrist. "Sprained. Maybe fractured," she groaned, her clinical training battling the fog of concussion. "Julian... look at the spill. Smelling it... that isn't motor oil. It’s castor oil... mixed with hydraulic fluid. Colorless until hit by direct light."
Julian dipped his thumb back into the substance and brought it to his nose. A sickeningly sweet, chemical scent flared. His father’s antique roadster collection in the south garage used that exact imported compound.
Above them, the quiet click of a mahogany door closing reverberated like a gunshot. Walter had vanished from the landing.
"Can you push through the pain if I lift you?" Julian asked softly, leaning close so she could feel his steady warmth. "The house isn't secure. If Walter went to the security hub, the cellular jammer in the west wing will engage in ninety seconds."
"I can walk... if you support my left side," Clara gritted out, her jaw setting with stubborn resolve. She was a working-class girl from South Boston who had put herself through nursing school while caring for an invalid mother. She didn't break easily, even when targeted by shadows in a billionaire's den.
Julian slipped his arm beneath her shoulders and hoisted her carefully against his chest. Clara gasped as white-hot pain flared from her ribs, burying her face into the curve of his tattooed neck. Julian absorbed her weight without a shudder, pivoting toward the back service corridor.
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"Why would he want you dead?" she whispered against his collar, feeling the heavy, frantic thrum of his heartbeat.
"He doesn't," Julian replied grimly, kicking open the concealed door beneath the staircase. "He wanted me to break my neck on that turn before the nine o'clock shareholders' vote."
