Chapter 5 - The Golden CageBy Friday afternoon, Clara found herself standing in the penthouse suite of the newly constructed Vane Tower, overlooking the entire Boston skyline. The floor-to-ceiling windows offered a breathtaking view of the harbor, but inside, the atmosphere was suffocating.
The door opened silently, and Dominic walked in. He had changed out of his casual clothes into a sharp, bespoke navy suit. The bandage beneath his shirt was hidden well, and there was no trace of the pale, bleeding man she had dragged into her kitchen three nights ago.
"How do you like your new office?" Dominic asked, walking over to the minibar and pouring two glasses of scotch without waiting for an invitation. He extended one toward her. Clara didn't take it.
"You ruined my life," Clara said, her voice shaking with suppressed fury. She stepped right up to him, glaring into his dark, fathomless eyes. "You fired me from my hospital, you bought my debts, and you dragged me into your criminal underworld without my consent! Are you insane?!"
Dominic took a slow sip of his scotch, his gaze never leaving her face. "I secured your future, Clara. That hospital was draining your soul fourteen hours a day for a pittance. Now, you have the financial freedom to fund any medical charity you want, hire the best doctors, and save lives on your own terms. As for my underworld... you were already a part of it the moment you pulled me out of that alley."
"I saved a human being!" she fired back. "I would have done it for anyone!"
"And that is your fatal flaw," Dominic said softly, his voice dropping to a dangerous, intimate murmur. He stepped closer, closing the distance between them until she could feel the faint warmth radiating from his body. "In this city, people don't help strangers for free. Compassion is a luxury, Clara. And by showing it to the wrong man, you made yourself my responsibility."
"I am not your property, Dominic!"
"No," he agreed, his eyes darkening with an intensity that made her breath hitch. "You are my equal. And very soon, you're going to realize that the people who hunted me down that night are coming back. And when they do... you'll want me standing right beside you."
Before Clara could process his words, a muffled explosion rocked the lower levels of Vane Tower, shaking the glass windows and setting off the building's emergency alarms.
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Red strobe lights flooded the penthouse. Dominic's expression didn't panic; it hardened into pure, lethal ice. He reached into his jacket, pulled out the matte-black Glock, and checked the magazine with cold, practiced precision.
"They found us," Dominic whispered, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the private panic room hidden behind the bookshelf. "Stay behind me. If you want to survive tonight, you follow my rules."
