Chapter 7 - The Price on Khloe BennettThe story became national news.
Senator Kensington was indicted.
Vincent Marchetti faced charges connected to Thomas Bennett’s murder.
Vivien accepted a cooperation agreement.
Anthony Costello publicly reappeared after twelve years.
And Khloe Bennett became the woman every reporter wanted to interview.
She hated it.
For years, strangers had looked through her.
Now cameras followed her everywhere.
Some headlines called her courageous.
Others reduced everything to her body.
PLUS-SIZE WAITRESS TAKES DOWN POLITICAL DYNASTY.
Dominic nearly broke a television after reading one.
Khloe stopped him.
“That television costs more than my first car.”
“I'll buy another.”
“That isn't the point.”
“Then what is?”
“You can't punch every person who insults me.”
“I can try.”
She laughed.
He loved that sound.
Dominic had begun restructuring the Costello businesses.
Legitimate shipping.
Commercial construction.
Restaurants.
Real estate.
His accountants warned that walking away from criminal revenue would cost hundreds of millions.
He did it anyway.
Then Khloe received the first death threat.
A photograph of her leaving the courthouse.
A red X over her face.
Dominic doubled security.
She hated that too.
“I can't live inside your house forever.”
“You can.”
“No.”
“There are twenty-three bedrooms.”
“That's not an argument.”
“Twenty-four if you count the library.”
“Dominic.”
He smiled.
She threw a pillow at him.
But the danger was real.
Three days before her testimony, someone broke into her Quincy apartment.
Nothing was stolen.
Only one thing was left.
Her father's photograph had been placed on her bed.
A bullet rested on top of it.
Dominic stopped joking.
He moved Khloe to a secure estate outside the city.
That night she found him sitting alone beside the pool.
“You're doing it again.”
“What?”
“Blaming yourself.”
He stared at the water.
“I brought you into this.”
“No. My father brought me into this seven years ago.”
“I could send you away.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
Khloe sat beside him.
“Is that what you want?”
“No.”
“Then stop deciding for me.”
He looked at her.
“I don't know how to do this.”
“Do what?”
“Care about someone I can't control.”
She smiled slightly.
“That's generally how caring about people works.”
His expression remained serious.
“If something happens to you—”
“Something has been happening to me my entire life.”
Dominic frowned.
“People treated me like I was less valuable because of how I looked. I let them because I thought survival meant accepting whatever people gave me.”
She took his hand.
“You didn't teach me to fight back.”
He waited.
“I did.”
That silenced him.
Khloe leaned against his shoulder.
“I'm not asking you to save me, Dominic.”
“What are you asking?”
“Stand beside me.”
He intertwined their fingers.
“That I can do.”
The next morning, Matteo identified the man behind the threats.
Gavin Rourke.
Former Kensington security chief.
He had disappeared after the arrests.
More troubling was the source of his payments.
The transfers came from a Costello account.
Dominic stared at the records.
“That account was closed after Salvatore died.”
“Someone reopened it,” Matteo said.
“Who has authorization?”
“Three people.”
Dominic.
Anthony.
And Dominic’s mother, Elena.
Khloe felt cold.
“No.”
Dominic shook his head.
“My mother wouldn't.”
They confronted Elena.
She didn't deny it.
Instead, she closed the sitting-room door.
“I hired Rourke.”
Dominic stared at her.
Khloe's stomach turned.
“To kill me?”
Elena looked horrified.
“No.”
“Then why is he threatening me?”
“I hired him to find Vincent six months ago.”
Dominic frowned.
“Before Salvatore died?”
“Yes.”
Elena sat down.
“Your uncle knew someone was coming after him. He asked me to investigate quietly.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Salvatore believed the traitor was you.”
Silence.
Dominic looked stunned.
“He thought I betrayed him?”
“At first.”
Elena reached into a drawer.
“But before he died, he learned the truth.”
She handed Dominic a sealed envelope.
“He told me to give this to you only if Anthony returned.”
Dominic opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Gavin Rourke stood beside a man Khloe recognized.
Lorenzo Bianke.
The restaurant owner.
On the back, Salvatore had written:
Rourke is only the weapon.
Lorenzo chooses the target.
Khloe's mouth went dry.
“Lorenzo?”
Dominic stared at the photograph.
“He protected you.”
“No.”
Khloe remembered the night at Laura.
Lorenzo forcing her to serve Dominic.
Vivien already hating her.
The Costello family gathered in one place.
“He put me at your table.”
Dominic understood simultaneously.
The humiliation.
The fight.
The guns.
The attack outside.
None of it had been random.
Khloe whispered, “That dinner was supposed to start a war.”
Dominic nodded.
“And you ruined the plan.”
“How?”
“By fighting back.”
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Dominic answered.
Lorenzo’s voice came through.
“You finally figured it out.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“Where are you?”
Lorenzo laughed.
“Ask Khloe.”
She froze.
“What does that mean?”
“Her father wasn't the only Bennett who knew my secret.”
Khloe stopped breathing.
“My mother?”
Lorenzo whispered:
“Your mother didn't die from cancer, Khloe.”
The room disappeared around her.
May you like
“What?”
“She was poisoned.”
