Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN DOMINIC COULDN’T LOSE
We hit the floor together.
Another bullet tore through the wall.
Dominic rolled over me, shielding my body with his.
“You have a habit of doing this,” I gasped.
“Doing what?”
“Getting shot at around me.”
“That was my complaint about you.”
Despite everything, I laughed.
Then another window shattered.
Dominic pulled me toward the kitchen.
We escaped through the cellar and reached his SUV beneath covering fire from two security vehicles he had secretly stationed nearby.
“So much for alone.”
“I lied.”
“I noticed.”
“Are you offended?”
“Later.”
The ledger remained beneath my coat.
That mattered more.
We returned to Blackthorne after midnight.
Caleb ran toward me.
He stopped when he saw blood on my sleeve.
“It isn’t mine.”
He looked suspicious.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Then he hugged me.
Dominic watched.
Something in his expression had changed.
Later, after Caleb slept, I found Dominic on the balcony overlooking the Hudson.
He held two glasses.
“You drink bourbon?”
“No.”
“Tonight you do.”
I took one.
For a while, we stood silently.
Then Dominic said, “Caleb’s mother was murdered.”
I knew she had died.
Not how.
“Her name was Rebecca.”
He stared toward the river.
“She wasn’t involved in my business. She hated it.”
“Did you love her?”
“Yes.”
The answer hurt more than it should have.
Dominic continued.
“Someone planted a bomb beneath her car. Caleb was supposed to be with her.”
I turned.
“He was sick that morning. I kept him home.”
Dominic’s hand tightened around the glass.
“I spent four years believing one of my enemies killed Rebecca to punish me.”
“And now?”
“Her death happened two weeks after she discovered irregularities in a charitable shipping foundation.”
My stomach dropped.
“Hale.”
“Or Cross.”
Rebecca had been another casualty of the same conspiracy.
Dominic looked at me.
“I couldn’t protect her.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
“That isn’t how guilt works.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He turned.
I stepped closer.
“You think being powerful means you should be able to stop everything bad from happening. You can’t.”
His expression tightened.
“You nearly died protecting my son.”
“That was my choice.”
“You made it without hesitation.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The answer frightened me.
“Because I love him.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
When he opened them, the crime boss was gone again.
Only the father remained.
“He loves you too.”
“I know.”
“And that terrifies me.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone I love becomes leverage.”
The words hung between us.
Everyone.
I understood what he had almost said.
“Dominic.”
He stepped closer.
“You should leave.”
My heart sank.
Then he continued.
“And I don’t want you to.”
The distance between us disappeared.
His fingers touched my cheek.
Not possessive.
Almost uncertain.
I had never imagined Dominic Mercer could touch anyone uncertainly.
“I haven’t trusted anyone in eight years,” I whispered.
“Neither have I.”
“That seems unhealthy.”
“Probably.”
I smiled.
He kissed me.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As though both of us expected the other to disappear.
Then Caleb’s voice came from behind us.
“Eww.”
We separated.
Caleb stood in dinosaur pajamas.
Again.
Dominic sighed.
“Why are you awake?”
“I wanted water.”
“You have water beside your bed.”
“I wanted different water.”
I covered my mouth to hide my laughter.
Caleb pointed between us.
“Were you kissing?”
“No,” Dominic said.
“Yes,” I said simultaneously.
Caleb frowned at his father.
“Lying is bad.”
“Go to bed.”
He turned to me.
“Are you going to marry Dad?”
I choked.
Dominic actually dropped his bourbon.
Caleb nodded thoughtfully.
“I think yes.”
Then he walked away.
I stared at Dominic.
“Your son is terrifying.”
“He gets it from me.”
The moment didn’t last.
At 2:17 a.m., Alexander entered carrying a laptop.
“Hale just moved.”
The senator had scheduled an emergency flight to Switzerland.
More importantly, three federal agents connected to my old witness-protection case had disappeared.
Hale was cleaning up.
“We release the ledger,” I said.
Dominic shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because paper can be dismissed as forgery.”
Alexander agreed.
“We need corroboration.”
I thought of Julian.
“He has it.”
Dominic understood.
“Cross kept records to protect himself.”
“Yes.”
“So we find him.”
We didn’t have to.
At 3:04 a.m., the front gate called.
A black sedan had stopped outside.
One passenger.
Julian Cross.
He stepped from the car with both hands visible.
Dominic’s men surrounded him.
Julian smiled toward the security camera.
Then he raised a phone.
A video began playing.
Senator Hale sat behind a desk.
Beside him was a photograph of Caleb.
Julian looked directly into the camera.
Then he said:
“I’m not here to kill Eleanor.”
May you like
He paused.
“I’m here because Thomas Hale has decided to kill all of us.”
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