Her Drunk Stepdad Hit Her at Dinner—Then the Mafia Boss Said, Let Go of Her Right Now

There was a long, stunned silence on the other end of the line.

Grant wasn't used to hearing me speak without a tremor in my throat. He was used to quiet obedience, suppressed tears, and immediate compliance.

“What did you say to me?” Grant growled, his tone dropping into the dark, toxic register that used to make me retreat into my bedroom.

“You heard me,” I replied calmly. “We know about the second mortgage on the Queens house. We know about Viktor Petrov. We know about the three hundred thousand dollars you owe to the Brighton Beach syndicate.”

A sharp gasp came from Grant’s end. “Who... who told you that?! Was it that guy from the restaurant? Nora, you don't know who you’re dealing with! That man is a criminal! He’s using you!”

“The only criminal in my life for the past twelve years has been you, Grant,” I said coldly. “If you come near my mother, if you call my phone again, or if you set foot near the Bellevue Hotel, I will personally hand Viktor Petrov’s enforcers the location of your hidden offshore bank accounts.”

“You wouldn't dare—”

“Try me,” I said.

I pressed the red end button, terminating the call, and tossed the phone onto the glass table. My hands were shaking, but my chest felt lighter than it had in a decade.

Dominic stared at me, an expression of genuine, awe-inspired respect lighting up his sharp features. A slow, breathtaking smirk spread across his lips.

“You handled that brilliantly,” Dominic murmured, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table.

“I learned from the best,” I replied, offering a faint, breathless smile. “He’s desperate now, Dominic. A desperate man with debts to a mobster is capable of doing anything.”

“Which is why you’re not going back to your old life,” Dominic declared smoothly. He stood up, walking around the table until he was standing directly behind my chair. He placed his hands on the leather backrest, leaning down so his face was close to mine. “The bookstore job is gone. The house in Queens is being legally bought out by my holdings firm today—your mother will receive the full equity value in cash, free and clear of Grant’s forged liens.”

I turned my head to look at him, wide-eyed. “Dominic... that’s hundreds of thousands of dollars! You can’t just buy our house!”

“I can do whatever I want with my capital, Nora,” he replied smoothly, his gray eyes locking onto mine with intoxicating warmth. “Consider it an investment in your future. But as for you... I have a proposal.”

“A proposal?”

Dominic stepped around the chair, offering me his hand. “I need an executive assistant for my primary front corporation, Moretti International. The position pays three times what your bookstore paid, includes full private security, and puts you directly by my side twelve hours a day.”

I looked at his open palm, feeling the steady electric current between us. “You’re offering me a job because you want to keep me safe?”

“I’m offering you a job because you’re smart, resilient, and you stand your ground under pressure,” Dominic corrected softly, his fingers gently folding over mine. “And because having you near me makes my world considerably less dark.”

My heart did a double-thud against my ribs. The lines between protection, gratitude, and undeniable attraction were blurring so fast I couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.

“I accept,” I whispered.

Before Dominic could answer, his lead security chief, Marco—a towering man built like a brick wall—stepped briskly into the penthouse living room, holding a encrypted radio.

“Boss,” Marco said grimly. “We have a situation down at the docks.”

Dominic’s expression hardened back into stone. “Talk to me.”

“Grant Holloway just met with Viktor Petrov’s top lieutenant in an alley behind the Brooklyn piers,” Marco reported. “Grant offered them a deal. He told Petrov that if they help him snatch Nora and her mother, Grant will hand over the master security codes to Moretti International’s west-side shipping warehouse in exchange for wiping his gambling debt.”