Chapter 17 - The Weight of Betrayal
The heavy steel retractor caught Leo squarely in the sternum with a sickening thump. The impact knocked the wind out of him violently, his eyes widening in shock as his finger slipped off the red detonator button.
Before Leo could recover his balance, Dominic closed the distance between them in three long strides, bringing the butt of his Sig Sauer down hard across Leo’s temple.
Leo crumpled instantly onto the stone floor, unconscious, blood pooling slightly from a gash near his hairline.
The silence that followed was absolute, broken only by the steady, rhythmic dripping of water from the ceiling.
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Dominic murmured, lowering his weapon and looking down at the unconscious household manager before glancing over at me with a slow, appreciative smile.
“Rule three,” I breathed, finally letting my shoulders drop as the adrenaline began to recede from my bloodstream. “Whatever you tell me to do, I do it. I just applied it retroactively.”
Elena rushed forward, dropping to her knees beside the laptop console, frantically typing commands to override the secondary lockdown protocols. “I’ve got it! The gas vents are reversing. The lockdown is lifting.”
Within minutes, the heavy estate air exchangers whirred to life, clearing the stale neurotoxin from the upper levels. Security guards loyal to Dominic, alerted by the commotion in the eastern wing, swarmed down the stone stairs, cuffing Leo and securing the perimeter.
By sunrise, the storm had passed, leaving behind a crisp, cloudless mountain morning.
The estate was quiet once more, though the atmosphere had shifted permanently. The rot had been excised. The traitor was in chains in the basement holding cells, and the Rossi syndicate was more secure than it had ever been.
I sat in the study, bandages and medical supplies packed neatly back into my canvas duffel, staring out the bay window at the newly paved driveway where my new European SUV gleamed in the sunlight.
The door opened softly, and Dominic walked in. He looked tired, the shadows beneath his dark eyes testifying to a sleepless night, but his posture was upright, confident, and entirely unburdened.
He walked over to the desk, picked up the internal accounting ledger, and tossed it casually into the roaring stone fireplace.
May you like
“What are you doing?” I asked, startled.
“Destroying the liabilities,” Dominic said smoothly, walking around the desk and stopping right in front of me. “The past is settled. The books are clean.”
