Chapter 4 - The Price of His Protection
Dominic moved instantly.
He opened a concealed panel behind the bathroom mirror and entered a security code. Part of the marble wall slid aside, revealing a narrow corridor.
Harper stared.
“There is a passage inside the penthouse?”
“There are three.”
“Of course there are.”
Dominic guided her into the corridor.
Smoke had not yet reached the hidden passage, but the building alarms echoed through the walls.
Elias met them at the emergency stairwell with four guards.
“We have vehicles waiting in the service garage,” he said. “The main elevators are disabled.”
“Madison?” Harper asked.
“Safe,” Elias answered.
Dominic kept one hand around Harper’s arm as they descended.
On the forty-sixth floor, gunfire erupted below.
Dominic pushed Harper behind the concrete wall.
“Stay with Elias.”
“No.”
His eyes hardened.
“This is not a discussion.”
“You said I wasn’t your prisoner.”
“And you said you wanted your sister to live.”
The words stopped her.
Dominic turned to Elias.
“Get her out.”
Harper grabbed Dominic’s hand.
“Come with us.”
“I’ll follow.”
“That sounds like something people say when they don’t plan to.”
For one second, Dominic’s expression softened.
Then he kissed her forehead.
“Trust me.”
He disappeared down the stairwell with two guards.
Elias led Harper through another maintenance corridor and into the underground garage.
A black SUV waited with its engine running.
Harper climbed inside.
Before Elias could join her, a masked man emerged from behind a pillar.
He struck Elias and pulled open Harper’s door.
Harper kicked him in the chest.
He grabbed her ankle.
She seized the first object within reach—a metal flashlight—and swung it against his wrist. His grip loosened.
Elias recovered and tackled him.
“Drive!” he shouted.
The vehicle sped from the garage.
Harper looked through the rear window, but Dominic did not appear.
They drove to a fortified townhouse in Brooklyn.
Madison waited inside.
Harper ran to her sister and held her tightly.
“You’re pregnant,” Madison whispered.
Harper pulled back.
“How did you know?”
“You’re holding your stomach like Mom used to.”
Harper laughed through tears.
Before she could explain, Elias entered with a cut on his forehead.
“Dominic is alive.”
Harper’s knees weakened.
“Where is he?”
“Handling the breach.”
“Who attacked us?”
“We captured one man. He carried a Falco family insignia.”
“Carmine?”
Elias hesitated.
“Dominic has suspected him for months.”
“Then why did he attend the Catskills gathering?”
“Because refusing would have started a war before Dominic knew which families would stand with him.”
Harper looked toward the locked windows.
“This marriage was never only about appearing stable.”
“No,” Elias admitted. “It was also intended to draw Carmine into exposing himself.”
Harper felt betrayed again.
“Dominic used me as bait.”
“He did not expect Carmine to target you directly.”
“That does not make it better.”
Elias lowered his voice.
“Dominic has made many ruthless decisions. Marrying you may be the first one he regrets for reasons unrelated to strategy.”
Harper looked away.
Regret did not erase danger.
Two hours later, Dominic arrived.
His shirt was torn at the shoulder, and dried blood marked one side of his face. He walked past everyone and came directly to Harper.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“The baby?”
“I think we’re fine.”
He placed both hands around her face.
For several seconds, he only looked at her.
Then Harper stepped back.
“You used our marriage to provoke Carmine.”
Dominic’s hands fell.
“Elias told you.”
“He told me enough.”
“I needed Carmine to believe the commission supported me.”
“So you purchased a wife.”
“Yes.”
“And when he threatened Madison?”
“I moved her.”
“When he attacked the penthouse?”
“I protected you.”
“You brought this danger to us.”
Dominic’s face tightened.
“I know.”
Harper had expected denial.
His admission left her with nowhere to place her anger.
“I want out,” she said.
The room went silent.
Dominic stared at her.
“The contract ends now.”
“Harper—”
“I will not raise my baby inside a war disguised as a marriage.”
“You cannot leave while Carmine is alive.”
“Then send us somewhere safe.”
“There is nowhere safer than beside me.”
“The penthouse exploded tonight.”
Dominic took a slow breath.
“If you leave, he will hunt you.”
“If I stay, he will attack again.”
“I will end this.”
“And what will ending it cost you?”
His eyes became cold.
“Whatever it takes.”
Harper shook her head.
“That is what frightens me.”
Dominic ordered a private plane prepared.
By morning, Harper and Madison were scheduled to leave for a secure estate in Vermont. Dominic handed Harper a new phone and documents under another name.
She accepted them without meeting his eyes.
At the door, Dominic held out the diamond ring.
Harper had left it on the bathroom vanity during the escape.
“You forgot this.”
“No,” she said. “I left it.”
Pain flickered across his face.
“It offers protection.”
“So does the armed escort.”
“Keep it until Carmine is gone.”
Harper took the ring but slipped it into her pocket instead of onto her finger.
Dominic looked at her stomach.
“May I?”
Harper hesitated before nodding.
He placed one hand against the baby bump.
The child moved.
Dominic closed his eyes.
“I will come for you when it is safe.”
Harper’s voice trembled.
“Do not come unless you are bringing me the truth.”
She boarded the plane.
Vermont was quiet, cold, and almost peaceful.
For three weeks, Harper lived inside a secluded house surrounded by Dominic’s guards. Madison continued treatment at a nearby private clinic.
Dominic called every evening.
At first, Harper refused to answer.
Then Madison placed the phone in her hand.
“He asks about you every day,” she said.
“He asks Elias.”
“He asks me too.”
Harper finally answered.
Dominic appeared on the screen from his Manhattan office.
He looked exhausted.
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
“Is the baby moving?”
“Yes.”
“Are you eating?”
“Dominic.”
A faint trace of humor entered his eyes.
“I am told pregnant women require food.”
“So do mafia bosses.”
“I ate this morning.”
“It’s almost midnight.”
He looked away.
Harper realized she had missed him.
That frightened her almost as much as Carmine.
“What is happening in New York?” she asked.
“Carmine is losing support.”
“Because of the attack?”
“Because I proved he ordered it.”
“How?”
Dominic paused.
“My father left financial records. Carmine arranged his death and used the warehouse fire to destroy the remaining evidence.”
Harper’s anger softened.
“You found proof?”
“Yes.”
“What will you do?”
“Present it to the commission.”
“And then?”
Dominic’s silence answered.
“Will you kill him?” Harper asked.
“Would that make you afraid of me?”
“I am already afraid of what this life turns you into.”
Dominic leaned closer to the screen.
“This life did not turn me into anything. It revealed what I was willing to become.”
“And what are you willing to become for our child?”
His expression changed.
“Someone better than my father.”
The next afternoon, Harper received a message from Dominic’s number.
The commission meeting ended. Carmine confessed. It is safe. Come home.
Elias was away coordinating security.
Harper showed the message to the guard commander.
He confirmed that Dominic’s encrypted contact had sent it.
A helicopter arrived twenty minutes later.
Harper boarded with Madison.
Halfway to New York, Madison noticed the pilot’s tattoo.
A black falcon.
The same symbol Harper had seen on Carmine’s men.
Harper looked at the city approaching below.
Then the pilot locked the cabin door.
May you like
The message had not come from Dominic.
They were being taken directly to Carmine.
