Chapter 5 - The Snake in the Grass
The peace within Blackthorne House was shattered three days later by a discovery that chilled the blood of every guard on the estate.
It was two o'clock in the morning. I was standing by my bedroom window, unable to sleep as the trauma of the shooting continued to plague my dreams. Outside, the fog rolled off the Hudson River, swallowing the manicured gardens in white darkness.
A soft click sounded at my bedroom door.
Instinct, sharpened by years of hiding, made me freeze. I slipped silently behind the heavy velvet drapes near the window, picking up a heavy bronze candlestick from the side table.
The door creaked open. A shadow slipped into the room, moving with silent, practiced precision toward the bed. In the faint moonlight, I saw the glint of a silenced handgun in the intruder’s hand.
The figure raised the weapon and aimed it directly at the head-shaped pillow under the duvet.
Before the assassin could squeeze the trigger, the double doors of the bathroom flew open.
Dominic materialized like an enraged shadow. He seized the assassin’s wrist, twisting it violently until a sickening SNAP echoed through the room. The gun clattered to the carpet.
The assassin gasped in pain, but before he could make another sound, Dominic slammed him face-first into the heavy oak wardrobe, pinning him with a forearm across his throat.
I stepped out from behind the curtains, my chest heaving, holding the candlestick.
Dominic turned the assassin’s face toward the light. I gasped.
It was Julian, one of Dominic’s senior personal bodyguards—a man who had worked on the Blackthorne estate security detail for over five years.
"Julian," Dominic said, his voice dropping to a terrifying register that promised unimaginable horror. "I paid for your mother's cancer treatment. I bought your sister's house. And you sell my home to Vance?"
Julian coughed, blood spattering from his lips. "He... he offered ten million, Boss," the guard wheezed out, his eyes wide with terror. "He said... he said he only wanted the British girl. He said he wouldn't touch the kid or you..."
"You brought an assassin’s contract into the house where my son sleeps," Dominic whispered softly.
With a brutal twist, Dominic rendered the traitor unconscious, dropping his limp body onto the floor like a sack of trash.
Within minutes, the room was filled with Dominic’s most trusted enforcers, led by his security chief, Marcus. The traitor was dragged away to the subterranean cells beneath the estate to be interrogated.
Dominic stood in the center of my bedroom, his chest rising and falling heavily. His hands were covered in minor abrasions, his eyes dark with residual adrenaline.
I walked over to him, setting the candlestick aside. Without thinking, I reached out and took his bruised hands in mine.
"You knew he was coming," I realized softly.
"I suspected there was a leak," Dominic admitted, his gaze softening as he looked down at our joined hands. "When Vance sent that message, only three people in my inner circle had access to the server. I set a digital trap. When Julian accessed your room's security codes tonight, I was already waiting in your bathroom."
"Dominic... he was inside the house," I said, a tremble invading my voice. "Arthur is bribing your men. He’s closing in."
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Dominic stepped closer, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me flush against his hard chest. The sudden intimacy was electric, overwhelming every fear in my mind.
"He tried to take you from me in my own house," Dominic murmured, his head dipping down until his lips brushed against my forehead. "That was his final mistake. I’m done playing defense, Genevieve. Tomorrow, we take the fight to him."
