Chapter 7 - The Night Chloe DisappearedDominic became unbearable.
That was Chloe’s opinion.
“You cannot leave.”
“I’m going downstairs.”
“No.”
“There are six armed men downstairs.”
“Exactly.”
“Dominic.”
“No.”
“You know, for a terrifying criminal mastermind, your vocabulary is limited.”
He did not smile.
Three days had passed since the chapel.
Vincent vanished.
That was worse than an attack.
Dominic knew his uncle was waiting.
Chloe knew Dominic was unraveling.
He slept perhaps two hours a night.
Checked every door personally.
Changed vehicles twice per trip.
He also stopped touching her.
That hurt more than Chloe wanted to admit.
The kiss was never discussed.
Finally she confronted him.
“Was it a mistake?”
Dominic looked up from his desk.
“What?”
“You know what.”
His expression closed.
“Chloe.”
“That means yes.”
“No.”
“Then why are you pretending it didn’t happen?”
“Because Vincent photographed it.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It is exactly the answer.”
Dominic stood.
“The second I allowed myself to care about you, he saw leverage.”
“Allowed yourself?”
“Yes.”
“You arrogant—”
“I am trying to keep you alive.”
“And I’m trying to remain a person!”
Silence.
Chloe stepped closer.
“You don’t get to turn me into a locked box because you’re afraid.”
His jaw tightened.
“I watched my father make that mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“Love someone.”
Chloe froze.
Dominic looked toward the window.
“My mother.”
He had never mentioned her.
“She died when I was twelve.”
“I’m sorry.”
“She was kidnapped by a man trying to force my father out of the North End.”
Chloe’s anger faded.
“What happened?”
“My father paid.”
“And?”
“They killed her anyway.”
Dominic’s voice was empty.
“He spent the rest of his life making sure nobody could use anyone against him again.”
“So that’s what you’re doing.”
“Yes.”
Chloe approached.
“That didn’t save him.”
“No.”
“And locking me inside won’t save me.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Maybe.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“It is if you’re alive to hate me.”
Chloe stared.
There was no winning against fear that old.
So she changed strategy.
“I want to see Joanna.”
“No.”
“Dominic.”
“Video call.”
“She thinks I’ve joined a cult.”
“She may be correct.”
Chloe almost laughed.
“Let her come here.”
After extensive security checks, Dominic agreed.
Joanna arrived Saturday afternoon carrying Thai food and enough questions for a federal inquiry.
She hugged Chloe.
Then looked at Dominic.
“So you’re the mafia boss.”
Dominic blinked.
Chloe groaned.
“Joanna.”
“What? We’re all thinking it.”
Dominic said, “I prefer businessman.”
“Sure.”
Leo coughed to hide laughter.
For two hours, Chloe felt normal.
Then Joanna left.
At 7:42 p.m., the lights failed.
Dominic was upstairs.
Leo was outside.
Chloe heard the backup generator start.
Then stop.
A security guard entered the kitchen.
“Miss Bennett, we need to move you.”
She recognized him.
Paul.
He had guarded the house all week.
“Where?”
“Secondary location.”
“Dominic knows?”
“Yes.”
Something felt wrong.
“Call him.”
Paul’s expression changed.
Tiny.
Enough.
Chloe backed away.
He grabbed her.
She screamed.
A cloth covered her mouth.
Chemical smell.
The room disappeared.
When Chloe woke, her wrists were tied.
Concrete floor.
Warehouse.
Vincent Moretti sat opposite her.
“Good evening.”
Chloe’s head pounded.
“You need better hobbies.”
Vincent smiled.
“I see why Dominic likes you.”
“Let me go.”
“No.”
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
“Dominic has it.”
“I know.”
“So kidnapping me doesn’t help.”
Vincent leaned forward.
“It helps enormously.”
Chloe stared.
“You really believe he loves you?”
She said nothing.
“I knew Dominic when he was a boy. He learned very young that love gets people buried.”
“You sound proud of that.”
“I taught him survival.”
“You taught him fear.”
Vincent’s smile faded.
Good.
Chloe continued.
“You’re losing.”
“Am I?”
“The ledger exists. Federal investigators probably have copies.”
“Not yet.”
Chloe’s stomach tightened.
Vincent knew.
How?
Another traitor.
Vincent watched understanding appear.
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Dominic still has a leak.”
Across Boston, Dominic discovered Chloe was gone four minutes after the blackout.
Paul was found unconscious in the basement.
The man who took Chloe had used Paul’s uniform.
Security footage had been looped.
Dominic stood in the kitchen staring at Chloe’s broken phone.
Leo entered.
“Dom.”
No response.
“Dominic.”
He looked up.
Leo had known him twenty years.
He had never seen that expression.
“She’s alive,” Leo said.
“You don’t know that.”
“Vincent needs the ledger.”
Dominic’s hands were covered in blood from breaking the security console.
“He took her because of me.”
“He took her because he’s losing.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
Vincent.
Dominic answered.
A video appeared.
Chloe.
Alive.
Bruised cheek.
Tied to a chair.
Dominic stopped breathing.
Vincent’s voice:
“Ledger. Midnight. Pier Nine.”
Dominic looked at Chloe on-screen.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Don’t give him anything.”
Someone struck her.
Dominic’s vision went red.
“Touch her again and—”
Vincent laughed.
“Midnight.”
The call ended.
Dominic stood completely still.
Leo waited.
Finally:
“Get the ledger.”
“Dom.”
“Get it.”
“If you give him the original—”
“I said get it.”
Leo stared.
“You once told me we never trade the family for one person.”
Dominic looked at him.
Everything in his face had changed.
May you like
“She is not one person.”
And by 11:30 p.m., half of Boston’s underworld was moving toward Pier Nine.
