Chapter 3 - THE MAN IN THE WEST WING
I forced my shoe back onto my bleeding foot.
The pain was excruciating, but the adrenaline masking it was stronger. Lily was out there. If Marcus disappeared, she disappeared with him.
“Stay here,” Dominic ordered, racking the slide of his weapon.
“No.”
He looked at me. He saw the absolute desperation in my eyes.
Without another word, he nodded.
We moved silently through the dim, carpeted corridors of the second floor. The west wing was strictly off-limits to the staff. It housed Dominic’s private vaults, documents, and millions in untraceable cash.
When we reached the heavy steel door of the vault room, it was cracked open.
Inside, Marcus was frantically stuffing stacks of hundred-dollar bills into a black canvas duffel bag.
Dominic stepped into the room, raising his weapon.
“You’re short, Marcus.”
Marcus froze. The duffel bag dropped from his hands, hitting the floor with a heavy thud.
He turned around slowly. His face was pale, slick with sweat. He looked at the gun aimed at his chest, and then his eyes flicked to me.
To my shock, Marcus didn’t look angry. He looked terrified.
“Dominic,” Marcus breathed, raising his empty hands. “You don’t understand. I’m not stealing from you.”
“You’re bleeding on my floor, beating my staff, and emptying my safe,” Dominic said coldly. “Looks exactly like stealing.”
“I’m paying a ransom!” Marcus shouted, his voice cracking.
I froze.
“What?” Dominic asked, his gun not wavering a single millimeter.
Marcus fell to his knees. The arrogant, cruel house manager was completely gone. He was a broken man.
“They took my wife,” Marcus sobbed, burying his face in his hands. “Three days ago. They sent me a picture of her tied to a chair. They demanded five million dollars and access to your waterfront blueprints.”
My mind spun.
“Then why did you take my daughter?” I screamed, stepping out from behind Dominic. “Where is Lily?”
Marcus looked up at me, tears streaming down his face.
“I didn’t take her, Emma. They did. They knew I wouldn’t be able to carry the blueprints out of the house past Dominic’s security. They needed someone invisible. A maid.”
He pointed a shaking finger at me.
“They took Lily to force you to steal the files for me. They made me the middleman so it wouldn't trace back to them.”
My legs gave out. I caught myself on the doorframe.
“Who?” Dominic demanded, stepping forward and pressing the barrel of the gun to Marcus’s forehead. “Who took them?”
Marcus laughed. It was a hollow, broken sound.
“You still don’t get it, Dominic. You think you rule this city. But you don’t even rule your own family.”
Marcus reached into his jacket pocket.
Dominic braced, ready to fire.
But Marcus didn’t pull out a weapon. He pulled out a heavy, antique silver locket.
He tossed it onto the floor. It slid across the marble tiles and stopped at Dominic’s feet.
“They’re at the old shipyard,” Marcus whispered, looking past Dominic, staring at nothing. “They told me if I failed, they’d kill my wife. And your daughter, Emma.”
Before either of us could react, Marcus lunged forward, grabbing the barrel of Dominic’s gun and jerking it toward his own chest.
“Tell my wife I’m sorry!” Marcus screamed.
He pulled the trigger himself.
The gunshot echoed through the mansion like a cannon blast.
Marcus fell backward, lifeless.
I screamed, covering my ears.
May you like
Dominic didn’t flinch. He lowered his weapon, staring at the dead man on his floor.
Then, very slowly, he bent down and picked up the silver locket.
