Chapter 4 - Dominic Burned the RulebookThe first man at Saint Anselm never saw Dominic.
That was intentional.
Luca cut power from the west service line.
Nico blocked the rear alley.
Two Ashford teams entered through the catering tunnel.
Dominic went through the front.
Alone.
Luca hated the plan.
“This is emotion.”
“Yes.”
“You told me emotion gets people killed.”
“Yes.”
“So?”
Dominic checked his weapon.
“I've revised the policy.”
Luca stared.
“That is not reassuring.”
Dominic entered.
The restored church had become one of Victor’s luxury event properties.
Stained glass.
Marble bar.
Old bell tower above.
Tonight, the ballroom was empty.
Except for armed men.
The first guard raised his gun.
Dominic shot the light beside him instead.
Darkness.
Luca’s team moved.
Dominic went for the stairs.
He knew Victor’s style.
Hostage high.
Exit low.
Make rescuers climb into narrow positions.
But Victor was not controlling the building anymore.
The gunfire upstairs had been wrong.
One shot.
Then silence.
Dominic reached the second floor.
Saw Victor’s man dead in the corridor.
Not Ashford work.
Close-range execution.
Sebastian.
He moved faster.
A body near the stairwell.
Another.
Julian’s people?
Then a voice.
“Dominic!”
Evelyn.
Everything narrowed.
He ran.
Third floor.
Bell chamber.
The door locked.
Dominic fired twice at the mechanism.
Inside, Julian spun.
Evelyn dropped instinctively.
The door burst inward.
Dominic saw everything.
Julian.
Gun.
Evelyn tied to chair.
Victor Kane bleeding on floor.
Dominic fired.
Julian dove behind a stone column.
“Dominic!”
Evelyn’s voice.
Alive.
Dominic crossed the room.
Bullets struck the wall.
He cut her bindings.
“You're hurt.”
“Cheek.”
“Anything else?”
“Wrists.”
He touched her face once.
Barely.
Then withdrew.
Evelyn stared at him.
Even now, restraint.
She wanted to scream.
Instead she said,
“Julian is working for Sebastian.”
“I know.”
“He says they're killing you tonight.”
“I heard.”
“Victor isn't in control.”
“I know.”
“You say that a lot.”
Dominic almost smiled.
Gunfire.
He pulled her behind the bell machinery.
Victor groaned.
Evelyn looked.
“He's alive.”
Dominic glanced.
“Unfortunate.”
“Dominic.”
“What?”
“We need him.”
“No.”
“He knows Sebastian’s plan.”
“So do I.”
“You know pieces.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You've been kidnapped eight hours and you're already managing the rescue.”
“Someone has to.”
That was Evelyn.
Dominic felt something in his chest nearly break.
He wanted to hold her.
Instead he reloaded.
“Stay here.”
She grabbed his sleeve.
“No.”
He froze.
Her fingers tightened.
“Do not disappear into a gunfight after spending three years telling me I’m not your responsibility.”
Dominic stared.
Not the time.
Absolutely the time.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Survive.”
Simple.
Impossible.
He nodded.
“Fine.”
Julian shouted from across the room.
“This is touching.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“Come out.”
Julian laughed.
“My father said you'd choose her.”
Evelyn saw Dominic’s jaw tighten.
Julian continued.
“That was the whole point.”
“What?”
Dominic asked.
“Victor needed leverage. Father needed Victor to expose where the Ledger was.”
Dominic understood.
Evelyn kidnapped.
Victor demands Ledger.
Dominic retrieves archive.
Sebastian gets both.
Julian said,
“You did exactly what he expected.”
Dominic looked at Evelyn.
She read his face.
Guilt.
“No.”
Dominic frowned.
“You didn't cause this,” she said.
Julian laughed.
“She is good.”
Evelyn shouted,
“Better than you.”
Julian fired.
Stone chipped.
Dominic pulled Evelyn lower.
Victor moved.
Weakly.
His hand found his fallen gun.
Dominic saw.
Victor aimed.
Not at Dominic.
At Julian.
Fired.
Julian cried out.
Shoulder.
Dominic moved.
Crossed room.
Hit Julian before he could recover.
Gun away.
Julian on floor.
Dominic pressed weapon beneath his jaw.
Julian smiled through pain.
“You won't.”
Dominic’s finger tightened.
“Why?”
“Because she is watching.”
Dominic stopped.
Julian saw it.
“There.”
He laughed.
“You really have changed.”
Evelyn approached.
“Dominic.”
Julian whispered,
“Do it.”
Dominic wanted to.
Betrayal had always earned blood.
That was the rule.
His rule.
Then Evelyn said,
“If you kill him, we lose Sebastian.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Strategy.
Not mercy.
Still.
He lowered the gun.
Julian’s smile vanished.
Luca entered.
“Clear!”
He saw Julian.
Victor.
Evelyn.
“Busy room.”
“Take Julian alive,” Dominic said.
Luca blinked.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Who are you?”
“Luca.”
“Right.”
Security secured Julian.
Evelyn crossed toward Victor.
Dominic stopped her.
“No.”
“He’s bleeding.”
“Good.”
“He'll die.”
Dominic looked at her.
“He kidnapped you.”
“Yes.”
“He hit you.”
“Yes.”
“He threatened your life.”
“Yes.”
“Why do you care?”
“I don't.”
She looked toward Victor.
“I care what he knows.”
Dominic stared.
Evelyn’s expression softened slightly.
“And I don't want someone dying on a church floor because you're angry.”
Dominic laughed without humor.
“This has not been a church in twenty years.”
“Architecture remains judgmental.”
Despite everything, Luca snorted.
Dominic glared.
Luca looked away.
Victor received pressure bandages.
Ambulance unnecessary.
They had a doctor coming.
Victor opened his eyes.
Saw Dominic.
“You found her.”
“Yes.”
Victor looked at Evelyn.
“You escaped badly.”
She smiled.
“You kidnapped badly.”
Then Victor coughed.
Dominic crouched.
“Sebastian.”
Victor’s expression darkened.
“I didn't know.”
“Convenient.”
“He approached me through intermediaries.”
“What did he promise?”
“The archive location.”
“Why?”
“He wanted you forced to reveal it.”
Dominic nodded.
“And then?”
Victor looked toward Julian.
“I assumed he wanted copies.”
“You assumed badly.”
“So did you.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Victor continued.
“Sebastian has men inside Ashford Tower.”
“Names.”
“I know one.”
“Who?”
Victor smiled faintly.
“Nico Falcone.”
Dominic went still.
Nico had served his family fourteen years.
Victor saw the disbelief.
“Check his accounts.”
Luca swore softly.
Then his radio erupted.
“Tower breach.”
Everyone turned.
Static.
Then:
“Multiple armed men entered executive level. Falcone’s team.”
Dominic looked at Luca.
Victor laughed weakly.
“Your uncle moves fast.”
Dominic stood.
“The archive.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Where is it?”
“In the Tower safe.”
Her eyes widened.
“You brought it back?”
“I needed to prepare the exchange.”
Victor said,
“Then Sebastian has it.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
The Black Ledger.
Michael’s archive.
His father’s recordings.
Everything.
If Sebastian obtained them—
He could blackmail half the city.
Destroy Dominic.
Control Victor’s remaining organization.
Erase evidence against himself.
Luca said, “We go now.”
Dominic looked at Evelyn.
“No.”
Her expression changed.
“No what?”
“You leave with Adrian.”
“No.”
“Evelyn.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Sebastian wants you dead.”
“He wants you dead too.”
“I am accustomed to it.”
“Congratulations.”
She stepped closer.
“You were just shot at because you came to rescue me.”
“I was not shot.”
“You know what I mean.”
“You are not returning to the Tower.”
“I know every access schedule.”
“Luca does too.”
“I know every executive credential.”
“We can obtain them.”
“I know where Dominic hides the emergency elevator override because he thinks under the printer toner is clever.”
Luca looked at Dominic.
“Seriously?”
Dominic ignored him.
Evelyn crossed her arms.
“And more importantly, Nico does not know I escaped.”
Dominic understood.
She was an advantage.
He hated it.
“No.”
Evelyn’s face softened.
“Dominic.”
That was worse.
He looked at her.
“Three years ago, I told you I wasn't your responsibility.”
“Yes.”
“I was wrong.”
He stopped.
She continued.
“Not because I'm helpless.”
“No.”
“Because people who care about each other become responsible for telling the truth.”
The room vanished for a moment.
Victor watched with irritating interest.
Evelyn said,
“You don't get to risk everything for me and then send me away before I can do the same.”
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“You shouldn't do the same.”
“Why?”
“Because I can survive losing a building.”
She looked directly into him.
“And me?”
Silence.
Everyone heard.
Dominic had nowhere to hide.
“No.”
Evelyn inhaled.
He continued.
“I cannot survive losing you.”
There.
Three years of restraint collapsed in nine words.
Evelyn’s eyes filled.
Luca looked at the floor.
Victor closed his eyes as though embarrassed by sincerity.
Dominic stepped closer.
“This is not how I intended to tell you.”
“You intended to?”
“Eventually.”
“When?”
“Unclear.”
She laughed shakily.
“Typical.”
Dominic touched her face.
Careful around the bruise.
“I love you.”
Evelyn stopped breathing.
He said it like confession.
Not seduction.
Like a fact he had fought and lost.
“I have for longer than is useful.”
Evelyn’s eyes overflowed.
“You chose now?”
“You complained about my timing three years ago.”
She laughed through tears.
Then grabbed his shirt.
Kissed him.
Dominic froze.
Only for half a second.
Then one hand went to her waist.
The other to the back of her head.
Everything he had refused flooded through.
Fear.
Relief.
Want.
Love.
Three years.
When they separated, Evelyn whispered,
“I love you too.”
Dominic stared.
“You could have told me.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“You first.”
“Fair.”
Victor coughed loudly.
“I deeply regret surviving.”
Evelyn laughed.
Dominic looked murderous.
Victor smiled.
“There he is.”
Luca’s radio crackled again.
Tower lockdown.
Dominic stepped back.
The man replaced the confession with command.
But not completely.
His hand remained linked with Evelyn’s.
“Fine.”
She looked surprised.
“What?”
“You come.”
Luca muttered, “Historic day.”
“But,” Dominic continued, “you stay behind me.”
“No.”
“Evelyn.”
“Beside.”
He stared.
She stared back.
Victor whispered,
“This relationship is going to kill him.”
Dominic sighed.
“Beside.”
They left Saint Anselm together.
Julian in custody.
Victor under guard.
Rain still falling.
On the drive, Dominic called Michael.
“She’s alive.”
Michael’s breath broke.
“Let me speak to her.”
Evelyn took the phone.
“Dad.”
Dominic looked away to give privacy.
Evelyn cried quietly.
Then listened.
Then her expression changed.
“What?”
Dominic looked over.
Michael spoke rapidly.
Evelyn went pale.
“Slow down.”
Silence.
Then:
“Dad, where are you?”
Dominic’s stomach dropped.
Evelyn stared ahead.
The call ended.
“What happened?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“My father’s house was attacked.”
Dominic went still.
“Michael?”
“He got out.”
“Where?”
“He won't say.”
“Why?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“Because Sebastian called him.”
Luca turned from front seat.
“And?”
Evelyn’s voice shook.
“He said if my father testifies, Sebastian will release something from the archive that destroys me.”
Dominic frowned.
“What could destroy you?”
Evelyn looked terrified.
“I don't know.”
Then her phone buzzed.
A file.
Unknown sender.
She opened it.
A scanned birth certificate.
Her name.
EVELYN ROSE MARLOWE.
Mother: Helen Marlowe.
Father:
Not Michael.
VINCENT ASHFORD.
Dominic’s father.
Evelyn stopped breathing.
Dominic stared at the document.
Everything inside the vehicle went silent.
If true—
Evelyn was Vincent Ashford’s daughter.
Dominic’s half-sister.
The woman he had just confessed he loved.
The woman he had just kissed.
Evelyn dropped the phone.
“No.”
Dominic looked as though someone had shot him.
Luca whispered,
“Jesus.”
Evelyn backed against the door.
“No.”
Dominic couldn't speak.
The message beneath the document read:
ASK MICHAEL WHO YOUR REAL FATHER WAS.
— S.A.
May you like
And for the first time that night, Sebastian Ashford managed to do something Victor Kane could not.
He broke Dominic without firing a single bullet.
Related Stories
