Derek

"Mr. Bennett?" Janelle peaked her head into my office. "Do you have a minute?"

I glanced down at my watch and let out a heavy sigh. No, I didn't have a minute. I didn't have a single second to spare. I was already running late for my niece's birthday and if I wasn't there before they served cake and sang to her, my mother would have my head. "Sure, Janelle. What is it?"

"I need you to sign off on these accounts before tomorrow." She smiled nervously, handing me a stack of five files. Janelle was my new assistant, while my regular one was out on maternity leave, and she was still learning the ropes around here. While I appreciated the help, I'd had to go back and correct several mistakes she'd made in the last week and at this point, I was thinking I was better off on my own.

"Thank you." I took them from her, quickly glancing through. Each one was a potential vendor for the new hotel we were opening in a few months, and the final design decisions had to be made. This wasn't exactly something that could be done in a minute, and I couldn't stand to be another second later.

"You know what, Janelle? I haven't made a final decision. I'll bring these home with me and have them on your desk first thing in the morning." I stood up, stuffing them into my bag.

Working at home was typical for me lately, although I didn't mind. It took a lot of work to balance a double life like I was. By day, I ran a wildly successful investment company, and by night—well, that was a little harder to define.

From the time I was little, my father was always helping other people. It didn't matter if the person needed a tire fixed or a warm shower and safe place to stay, everyone in town knew my dad was the guy to go to. It was a value he'd drilled into my brother and me from a young age, and one we both carried into adulthood.

Cole took the sensible route. The stable job, beautiful wife, perfect family. He was an ER doctor for Christ's Sake—it was his literal job to save people. I, on the other hand, had a little different approach.

There was nothing in the world that bothered me as much as good people getting taken advantage of, and fighting for the underdogs sort of became my thing. As a contracted enforcer for a faction of the Italian Mafia, I made sure that people got what they deserved in every sense of the word.

The good. The bad. The ugly.

I guess I was more of an all around problem solver for the group. My work wasn't just to rough people up and get what I needed. If someone needed to disappear? Money moved? Be framed for something? I was the guy. I'd taken the job from my father when he retired after training under him for years, and it was literally in my blood now. I wasn't threaded into the mafia myself, but I'd proven myself enough that they treated me like family regardless. My reputation preceded me so well now that just the mention of my involvement straightened just about any situation out, and I got to cherry pick the cases I was involved in. I didn't just shake people down for the fun of it–every person I went after was the lowest of the low... greedy loan sharks, violent pimps, deadbeat baby daddies... I'd seen my fair share of scumbags.

I had a team I worked with, and most of the time I didn't have to get my hands dirty myself, but I provided the means to make this work. Only the special cases did I handle directly. As the head of a multi-billion dollar company, I had connections and wealth that most of my clients couldn't even fathom, and if I wasn't sharing those with the less fortunate, none of it was worthwhile.

"No problem." She smiled. "Goodnight Mr. Bennett."

"Goodnight." I gave her a disinterested wave as she left my office. She wouldn't last too long around here.

I left the office and headed towards my parents' house as fast as I could. If traffic was right, I could get there for the tail end of dinner and just in time for presents and cake. That was the important part, anyway. Kids Haley's age were all about the presents, and luckily for me, Brooke had picked out a birthday present for her before she left. I had no idea what it was, but the wrapping paper was bright and colorful, and I was sure she would love it.

The house was lit up like a Christmas tree when I arrived, and the driveway was packed with cars. I pulled in behind my brother's BMW and threw my car into park. Grabbing Haley's present, I hurried inside and tossed my coat onto the chair in the front room. I could hear my family down the hall laughing and talking, and it brought a smile to my face. My family was loud and boisterous, and most of the time, completely embarrassing, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

My parents were old school Italians and had been married for the nearly thirty years. My father was commanding, yet gentle, and always seemed to keep to himself, whereas my mother was the life of every party and the perfect compliment to him. I loved watching them together and the way my father just watched my mother in awe. Their love and appreciation for each other was almost otherworldly, as if God had hand crafted each one of them specifically for the other. I used to dream of finding the same thing, but now my mind was on other things. I got my gratification and thrill from my work, and there was no room for a wife or family. And when I wanted to play house, I had two adorable nieces who I could hang out with, sugar them up, and then send them home to their parents.

"Did I miss anything?" I grinned, waltzing into the dining room where my family was in the middle of dinner.

"Uncle Derek!" Haley bounced up and down in her seat, waving wildly at me.

"Oh, there he is!" My mother beamed, standing up and throwing her arms around me. "How are you, sweetie?"

"Good, mama." I kissed her cheek. "It smells incredible in here."

"Well, come sit down. Let's get you a plate." She ushered me in and disappeared into the kitchen to dish something up for me.

"Hey Derek." My sister-in-law smiled, giving me a warm hug. "Its good to see you."

"You too, Kate." I grinned, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek as well.

"Of course you're late." Cole smirked, rolling his eyes.

"I got caught up at the office." I chuckled. "New receptionist can't keep things straight for shit."

"Derek!" my mother scolded.

"What does shit mean, Uncle Derek?" Lily, my other niece, cocked her head to the side, smirking at me as if she knew she was getting me in trouble.

"Nothing, munchkin." I ruffled her hair and kissed the top of her head, and did the same to her sister. "Happy birthday, Haley!"

"Thank you! Is that present for me?" Haley beamed, batting her beautiful eyes at me. This was exactly why I couldn't have a family. I could intimidate the toughest of criminals and gang leaders, but one look into her eyes and I was putty in her hands.

"Well, of course it is." I smiled, setting it down next to her.

"Nonni, now that Uncle Derek is here, can we have come cake?" Lily asked, getting right to the point.

"Sure, sweetie. After Uncle Derek eats his dinner."

"And you have to finish your broccoli." Cole chided.

"Thats right." I said. "And maybe even a few of those carrots you're hiding under your plate..." I smirked, sliding into the seat next to my dad.

"Lillian!" Kate rolled her eyes. "Yes, those carrots, too!"

"Thanks a lot, Uncle Derek." She grumbled, glaring at me. As far as I was concerned, it was payback for pointing out when I cursed earlier.

"Hi dad." I smiled, sitting down in the empty chair next to him.

"Good to see you, son." He slapped me on the back. "How's it going?"

"Been busy. I have something I want to run by you a little later." I said, taking a napkin and draping it over my lap.

"No business at the table, boys." My mother slid a heaping plate of spaghetti and sausage and peppers.

"Of course, mom." I smiled, tabling everything until later.

We enjoyed the rest of dinner and then sang Happy Birthday to Haley as she blew out her candles. She opened presents, and I was a tremendous hit with the nail polish set that Brooke had chosen. My brother was more subdued tonight than normal, usually teasing and bantering with me all night. Tonight, he was quiet and laid back and I could tell something was on his mind.

As she was getting all of her toys out to play, Cole and I slipped outside for a beer.

"You okay, man?" I asked when we were out on the deck alone. "You seem kind of off tonight."

"Yeah, I'm fine." He leaned against the railing, looking out over the lake. "I just have a lot on my mind with work lately."

"Do you want to talk about it?" I pried, taking a gulp out of my beer. Cole was the older brother, and normally I was the one taking advice from him.

"Not really." He shook his head. "There's just this girl..."

"Girl?" My eyes widened in horror. "You're cheating on Kate?"

"No, you moron." He rolled his eyes. "Nothing like that."

"Its just this girl who has been coming into the ER." He raked his fingers through his hair. "It could be nothing, but I'm worried. She's come in twice that I know of and given a fake name each time. Young, beautiful, I can tell she comes from money. She lives in Tribeca, but comes to the Bronx for her medical care, probably to avoid running into anyone she knows. Pays in cash so that there's no paper trail. She's being beaten by her husband. Badly. Last night, I stitched up a nasty cut on her forehead. A few weeks before, I set a separated shoulder. That's just what she's been seen in my ER for, but she had a bunch of old bruises along her collarbone and neck."

"Jesus." I let out a heavy sigh. This hadn't been what I was expecting at all. Cole usually took his work home with him, but how could you not with a case like this? "What are you going to do?"

He shrugged. "There isn't much I can do. I don't know if I'll ever see her again, and I have no way of tracking her. All I've got is a few fake names."

"Do you want me to look in to it?" I offered, a pit forming in my stomach. It was already bringing up terrible memories from an old case I worked.

"No, it's fine. I just need to forget about it. Can't help somebody who doesn't want to be helped, right?" He shook his head. "Come on, let's get back inside."

As we headed in, his phone pinged with a text message. "Shit."

"What is it?"

He let out a heavy sigh. "Work. It's my floating shift, and I got called in."

Cole

I drove to the hospital in frustration. It would happen that on the night of my daughter's birthday, I'd be heading in for this stupid floating shift. The hospital required everyone to take one a month, and most of the time, it was at one of our sister hospitals around the city. I helped pilot the program with a few other ER Chiefs, and most of the time, I loved it. It was a fun way for our docs to get out and see how other hospitals ran their departments. Tonight, though, I was cursing myself.

Kate took the kids home, and I'd had to leave my parents' house quickly so I could get there in time. Tonight, I would work at St. Joe's in Queens. That was generally a tough ER to be in.

It was a rough area with a lot of gang violence, and more often than not, we would deal with multiple gunshot victims. Going home to my family after a night of carnage like that was always hard, which was odd considering what my brother did for a living. I'd had to help him more times than I cared for, and was used to the chaos of his storm, but it wasn't for me. He had all the money and guns and girls he could want, and he was damn good at what he did. Both the legal and illegal things.

I parked in the employee lot and headed inside. Right off the bat, I was hit with a bunch of cases to see. The first was a woman who had cut her hand cooking dinner. Eight stitches and I was out. Next was the man with the dislocated knee. His leg bones were going in completely different directions, and I couldn't reset it right away, so I gave him some sedative and left to let it set in.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman being escorted to an empty room. Was that... Well, I'll be damned. It was my mystery woman.

"Hey." I got the attention of the resident. "You've got room five, right?"

"Yep!" He nodded enthusiastically.

"Here. I need to trade you." I handed him the file for the dislocated leg guy.

The kid frowned. "Why?"

"Because this will be a better experience for you." I grabbed her file from him. Elizabeth, with broken ribs. That was a new one.

The kid agreed and headed off down the hall, while I went to room five where the mystery girl was waiting. I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to handle this.

"Knock, knock." I said, opening the door slowly.

She turned around with a big smile on her face, but it quickly faded when our eyes met. She grabbed her purse and stood up frantically. She had a hell of a shiner forming and a fat lip.

She was completely frazzled as she tried to move past me. "I made a mistake coming here."

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***If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence of any kind, please reach out to someone in your community. In the US, that number is 1-800-799-7233**