Chapter 6 - ESCAPE INTO THE RAIN
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I packed only the absolute essentials: my passport, my birth certificate, the encrypted flash drives, my late mother’s pearl necklace, and three thousand dollars in cash I had kept hidden inside an old hollowed-out book in my vanity.
I stripped off the emerald evening gown and pulled on a pair of dark leggings, an oversized black wool sweater, and comfortable flat boots.
I checked the hallway. The sliver of light beneath Dominic’s study door remained bright. The muffled sound of his voice in Italian echoed through the thick mahogany as he argued with an overseas executive.
He was completely oblivious.
I slipped my overnight bag over my shoulder and walked silently toward the penthouse’s service entrance near the kitchen—the exit used by catering staff and cleaners. It bypassed the main elevator lobby where Dominic’s personal security guard, Viktor, was stationed.
I pushed open the heavy fire door and entered the concrete service stairwell.
My knees throbbed as I descended twelve flights of stairs in the dark, clutching the handrail with one hand and supporting my heavy belly with the other. Every step was a agony of tension, expecting the door above to burst open at any second.
When I finally reached the basement parking garage, cold rain was washing through the drainage grates.
I bypassed the rows of sleek black SUVs belonging to Callahan Maritime and hurried toward the alley exit. Stepping out into the pouring Manhattan rain, I pulled my hood low over my face and flagged down a yellow taxi cruising past Fifth Avenue.
“Where to, lady?” the driver asked, barely glancing back.
“Brooklyn,” I said, my voice steady despite the rain soaking my coat. “Take the Manhattan Bridge.”
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As the taxi pulled away into the storm, I looked back through the rear window at the towering lights of the Fifth Avenue penthouse.
Dominic thought he was playing chess with a toy. He had no idea the game had just begun.
