Chapter 5 - The Night August Chose HerSecurity rushed in.
August pulled Hollis behind cover.
Shots echoed through the building.
Rafferty's men scattered.
Hollis heard a scream.
Emma.
They found her in a storage room.
Alive.
Her wrists were tied.
Hollis ran to her.
Emma cried.
“I knew you'd come.”
Hollis hugged her.
August cut the restraints.
Then Emma looked at him.
“Are you him?”
Hollis frowned.
“Who?”
“The man you've been talking about.”
Hollis froze.
Emma smiled weakly.
“You told me.”
August looked at Hollis.
She blushed.
“I did not.”
Emma laughed.
The moment broke the tension.
Then a phone rang.
Rafferty.
“Congratulations.”
August answered.
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Come get me.”
Rafferty laughed.
“No.”
“I want Hollis.”
August's voice became cold.
“You will never touch her.”
“Then your empire dies with her.”
The call ended.
August looked at Hollis.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“I've been investigating Branick Holdings for months.”
“Why?”
“Because money was missing.”
“How much?”
“Three hundred million.”
Hollis stared.
“That money was supposed to fund worker pensions and insurance.”
“Yes.”
“Then it wasn't just theft.”
“No.”
“It was murder waiting to happen.”
August nodded.
“Daniel discovered it.”
“And my mother.”
“Yes.”
“And Rafferty.”
“Yes.”
Hollis whispered:
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't trust anyone.”
She looked at him.
“Do you trust me now?”
He answered immediately.
“Yes.”
The word changed something between them.
That night, Hollis stayed at August's estate.
Emma slept downstairs.
Hollis sat in the nursery.
There was no nursery yet.
Just an empty room.
August appeared in the doorway.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“Thinking.”
“About what?”
“How different my life was three months ago.”
He entered.
“You were married.”
“Yes.”
“You loved him.”
“Yes.”
“Do you still?”
Hollis looked down.
“I love who he was.”
August nodded.
“And who am I?”
She smiled sadly.
“You're a man who scares everyone.”
“And?”
“A man who listened to me in an elevator.”
He almost smiled.
“Anything else?”
“You stayed.”
He sat beside her.
“I don't know what to do with that.”
“What?”
“Caring.”
She looked at him.
“You don't have to do anything.”
He took her hand.
They stayed that way.
Then he kissed her.
Slow.
Careful.
He pulled back before she did.
“If this is wrong—”
“It isn't.”
They kissed again.
Outside, snow fell.
Inside, for a moment, the world disappeared.
The next morning, the media exploded.
PHOTOS OF AUGUST BRANICK WITH PREGNANT WIDOW SPARK QUESTIONS.
Hollis stared at the screen.
Rafferty had leaked them.
Then another headline.
BRANICK CEO ACCUSED OF FINANCIAL CORRUPTION.
The story claimed August had stolen money.
The evidence looked real.
Hollis knew immediately.
“It's a setup.”
August nodded.
“They want me removed.”
“Why?”
“Because without me, nobody can challenge Rafferty.”
The board suspended August.
His accounts were frozen.
His security team was reduced.
Suddenly, the most powerful man in Chicago was a suspect in his own company.
Rafferty won.
Or thought he had.
August looked at Hollis.
“Leave.”
“No.”
“You need to protect yourself.”
“No.”
He stared.
She stepped closer.
“You told me not to fight alone.”
“So?”
“I listened.”
May you like
He smiled.
“Then I will too.”
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