Chapter 2 - The Offer She Never Saw Coming
Khloe expected a threat.
Instead, Dominic offered her a contract.
She stared at the folder sitting on the glass table.
"What is this?"
"An employment agreement."
"I'm already employed."
"Not for long."
She looked at him sharply.
"Did you fire me?"
"I bought the company."
Her mouth fell open.
"You what?"
"The event company."
"You bought my company?"
"Yes."
"You can't do that."
"I can."
"Why?"
"Because I bought it through a legal holding company."
She stared at him.
"You are unbelievable."
"I hear that often."
Dante stood in the corner, looking amused.
Khloe glared at him.
"Don't laugh."
"I'm not."
"You look like you're laughing."
"I'm naturally intimidating."
"No, you're naturally annoying."
For the first time, Dante smiled.
Dominic looked at the contract.
"I'll pay you three times your current salary."
"I don't want your money."
"Then keep your current salary."
She frowned.
"What?"
"You'll work for my legitimate companies."
"Doing what?"
"Event strategy."
"Why?"
"Because you're good at it."
"That's not the real reason."
"No."
He leaned forward.
"I need someone outside my inner circle."
Khloe crossed her arms.
"You want me to spy on your own people?"
"I want you to notice what they overlook."
"And if I say no?"
"You can leave."
She stared.
"Just like that?"
"Yes."
"You're not going to threaten me?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I know what it looks like when someone is afraid."
She remembered the gun.
"You didn't exactly help with that."
His expression hardened.
"I know."
Silence.
"I shouldn't have threatened you."
Khloe looked at him.
"Was that an apology?"
"Yes."
"It was terrible."
"I'm new at it."
She almost smiled.
Then she looked back at the contract.
"What happens if I sign?"
"You get a secure apartment."
"I have an apartment."
"Someone broke into it last night."
Khloe stiffened.
"What?"
Dante placed photos on the table.
Her apartment door.
Broken lock.
The room inside.
Someone had searched it.
Khloe's stomach twisted.
"How?"
"We monitored your building."
"You were spying on me?"
"Protecting you."
"There's a difference."
"Not from where I'm standing."
She looked at the contract again.
"What else?"
"Transportation."
"I have a car."
"It's unreliable."
"I know."
"Childcare isn't relevant."
"I don't have children."
"Family?"
"My sister."
Dante glanced at Dominic.
Dominic nodded.
"Your sister lives in Milwaukee."
Khloe stared.
"How do you know?"
"We investigated your background."
"Of course you did."
"Her name is Lily."
Khloe's expression softened.
"She is my only family."
Dominic's gaze remained steady.
"Then let me keep her safe too."
Khloe swallowed.
She signed.
Not because she trusted him.
Because she needed protection.
The first week working for Dominic was strange.
He gave her access to boardrooms, schedules, hotels, charity foundations, and financial reports.
She discovered that half the things people whispered about him were exaggerated.
The other half were understated.
Dominic could walk into a room and silence everyone without speaking.
Yet every Friday afternoon, he personally visited a children's hospital funded by one of his companies.
He knew nurses by name.
He paid school fees for employees' children.
He never raised his voice at the staff.
And he never touched alcohol again after the day Vincent died.
One evening, Khloe found him alone in his office.
"You don't drink anymore."
He looked up.
"What?"
"The whiskey."
His expression darkened.
"I had a reason."
"What reason?"
"Someone used alcohol to manipulate my father."
Khloe waited.
He continued.
"My father was killed eight years ago."
"Business rival?"
"My uncle."
She stared.
"Your uncle killed your father?"
"I believe so."
"You said believe."
"Because I never found proof."
Khloe looked at the papers on his desk.
"What does this have to do with Vincent?"
"Everything."
He showed her a financial report.
Vincent had been secretly moving money through shell companies.
"Someone was paying him."
"Who?"
Dominic pointed to a coded line.
C-17.
"What's that?"
"An internal designation."
"For what?"
"An insider."
Khloe felt a chill.
"You think someone in your organization killed Vincent."
"I know someone did."
"Who?"
"That's what we have to find out."
She studied the numbers.
Then she noticed something.
A repeated amount.
$414,000.
Again.
And again.
"What's this?"
Dominic leaned closer.
Her finger rested on the screen.
"Every transaction ends in 414."
He stared.
She continued.
"It's not random."
"What do you mean?"
"Your hotel room."
Dominic went still.
"Room 414."
"Exactly."
She looked through the records.
"The number isn't a room number."
"What is it?"
"A date."
Dominic stared.
April 14.
He looked at Dante.
Dante's expression changed.
"April 14 was the day Mr. Castile's father died."
Khloe looked between them.
"I thought he died eight years ago."
"He did."
She whispered.
"So someone has been using the death date as a code."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"Why would anyone?"
Khloe shook her head.
"I don't know."
Dante suddenly pulled out his phone.
"Boss."
"What?"
"Someone accessed the old archive."
"Who?"
"Your sister."
Dominic froze.
"What?"
"Elena."
Khloe remembered meeting her once.
Beautiful.
Elegant.
Warm.
Dominic's younger sister.
"Maybe she needed something."
Dante shook his head.
"No."
He turned the phone toward Dominic.
"The archive was accessed from her personal credentials."
Silence.
Dominic looked at Khloe.
"She knows about the ledger."
"What ledger?"
"The original financial ledger linking my father's network to Vincent."
Khloe swallowed.
"Where is it?"
"Missing."
That night, Elena called.
She sounded terrified.
"Dominic, listen to me."
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why?"
"Because they're watching me."
"Who?"
A pause.
Then Elena whispered:
"Someone inside your house."
The call ended.
Dominic stood immediately.
Khloe saw the change.
"What happened?"
"My sister is in danger."
"Then go."
He looked at her.
"You're coming."
"Why?"
"Because if Elena called you specifically, it means she trusts you."
"I've met her twice."
"That's enough."
They found Elena at an old church.
She was hiding beneath the balcony.
When she saw Dominic, she started crying.
"I didn't betray you."
He pulled her into a hug.
"I know."
Khloe watched.
Elena turned to her.
"You found it."
Khloe frowned.
"Found what?"
"The key."
"What key?"
Elena pointed to Khloe's necklace.
Khloe touched it.
A small silver pendant her mother had given her years ago.
"What about it?"
Elena whispered:
"Your mother gave that to you because she knew one day someone would come looking."
Khloe stared.
"My mother died when I was thirteen."
Elena nodded.
"I know."
"Then how do you know her?"
Elena looked at Dominic.
"We need to tell her everything."
Dominic's expression darkened.
"Everything?"
Elena nodded.
"Your mother didn't die by accident."
Khloe's heart stopped.
"What are you saying?"
May you like
Elena took a breath.
"She was murdered."
Related Stories
