Chapter 8 - The Price Dominic Was Willing to PayRain hammered Pier Nine.
Chloe heard it against the warehouse roof.
Vincent checked his watch.
11:57.
“He’ll come.”
Chloe said nothing.
“He always does exactly what emotion tells him not to do.”
“You sound jealous.”
Vincent looked at her.
“Of Dominic?”
“Of anyone capable of caring about another human being.”
His smile disappeared.
Score two.
Chloe’s wrists hurt.
She had spent forty minutes working one hand against a sharp metal edge beneath the chair.
The rope was fraying.
Slowly.
Not enough.
Outside, engines approached.
Vincent smiled.
“Showtime.”
Dominic entered alone.
Black coat.
Rain on his hair.
Ledger in one hand.
Chloe’s heart stopped.
“Dominic.”
His eyes found her.
Everything else vanished.
“Are you hurt?”
“Not badly.”
Vincent laughed.
“How touching.”
Dominic held up the ledger.
“Let her go.”
“Put it on the table.”
“Release her first.”
“You don’t negotiate tonight.”
Dominic’s expression remained calm.
Chloe knew him well enough now to understand that calm meant rage.
He placed the ledger on the table.
Vincent picked it up.
Flipped pages.
Smiled.
“Your father would be ashamed.”
“My father is dead.”
“He understood loyalty.”
“He understood fear.”
Vincent’s face hardened.
Dominic continued.
“You spent thirty years convincing yourself they were the same.”
Vincent drew his pistol.
“Careful.”
Dominic did not move.
“Chloe walks.”
Vincent nodded toward a guard.
The man untied her ankles but left her wrists bound.
“Go.”
Chloe stood.
She walked toward Dominic.
Ten feet.
Eight.
Six.
Then Vincent said:
“Stop.”
Chloe froze.
Dominic’s eyes changed.
Vincent smiled.
“I changed my mind.”
Of course.
Chloe almost laughed.
“Shocking.”
Vincent aimed at Dominic.
“You see, the ledger is only useful if someone can authenticate it.”
His gaze moved toward Chloe.
“Elaine is dead. Mercer is dead.”
Chloe understood.
“I’m next.”
“Yes.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Vincent.”
The warning in his voice could have frozen water.
Vincent smiled.
“You gave me exactly what I wanted.”
“No.”
Dominic looked at Chloe.
Then smiled faintly.
“I gave you what you expected.”
Vincent frowned.
Red laser dots appeared across his chest.
Windows shattered.
Federal agents flooded the upper catwalks.
Vincent spun.
Chaos erupted.
Dominic ran toward Chloe.
Gunfire.
She dropped.
Dominic reached her.
“Move!”
They ran behind shipping containers.
Leo appeared.
“How did—”
“Later.”
Vincent’s men returned fire.
Agents closed in.
Chloe looked at Dominic.
“The ledger?”
“Copy.”
“You gave him a copy?”
“A very good one.”
Despite everything, Chloe laughed.
“I’m impressed.”
“Please save compliments until we aren’t being shot at.”
They reached a side exit.
Then Vincent appeared.
Gun aimed directly at Chloe.
Dominic saw him first.
He pushed her.
The gun fired.
Dominic jerked.
Chloe screamed.
He fell.
“NO!”
Vincent aimed again.
Leo fired.
Vincent dropped behind cover.
Agents tackled him seconds later.
Chloe crawled to Dominic.
Blood spread beneath his shoulder.
“Dominic.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding!”
“I’ve had worse.”
“Stop saying stupid things.”
She pressed both hands against the wound.
His face was pale.
“Chloe.”
“No.”
“Listen.”
“You are not dying.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good.”
His hand found hers.
“I love you.”
Chloe froze.
Rain blew through the open warehouse doors.
Sirens screamed outside.
Men shouted.
But all Chloe heard were those three words.
Dominic looked almost annoyed with himself.
“I realize the timing is poor.”
She started crying.
“You think?”
“I had a better speech.”
“Save it.”
“Chloe—”
“Save it for when you’re not bleeding on me.”
He smiled weakly.
“Does that mean I get another chance?”
She bent down.
Kissed him.
“Yes.”
Paramedics rushed in.
Dominic was taken to Massachusetts General.
The same hospital where Chloe had lost her mother.
She sat in the waiting room with blood dried across her hands and felt the universe had developed a cruel sense of symmetry.
Three hours.
Four.
Five.
At 5:38 a.m., a surgeon entered.
“The bullet missed the lung and major vessels.”
Chloe stood.
“He’s alive?”
“Yes.”
Her knees nearly failed.
Leo caught her.
“He’ll need surgery and recovery, but he should be fine.”
Chloe cried.
Not quietly.
Not elegantly.
She cried until Leo sat beside her and pretended not to notice his own eyes were wet.
At 7:12 a.m., Chloe entered Dominic’s room.
He looked terrible.
She told him so.
“Good morning to you too.”
“You got shot.”
“So I’m told.”
“Because of me.”
His expression changed.
“No.”
“Dominic—”
“No.”
His voice was weak but firm.
“Vincent shot me because Vincent chose to shoot me.”
Chloe stared.
He continued.
“You saved my life at The Brass Lantern. Everything after that was my family’s war reaching you.”
She sat beside him.
“What happens now?”
“Vincent goes to prison.”
“And you?”
“What about me?”
“Your world.”
Dominic looked toward the window.
“I’ve been thinking about that.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It usually is.”
He looked at her.
“I don’t want you belonging to my world.”
Chloe’s heart sank.
“Oh.”
“I want out of parts of it too.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“The legitimate companies stay. The rest ends.”
“Can you do that?”
“Not easily.”
“People will fight you.”
“Yes.”
“You could lose money.”
“A great deal.”
“Power.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Because the first woman I ever loved was killed by this life.”
His mother.
“And the second nearly was.”
Chloe stopped breathing.
Dominic reached for her hand.
“I won’t build a future that requires you to survive me.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Was that your better speech?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
May you like
“It needs work.”
For the first time since the shooting, Dominic laughed.
