Chapter 4 - BROOKLYN HIDEOUT|
The safehouse was a converted brick warehouse near the Navy Yard.
Inside, it looked nothing like the glass penthouse. It was industrial, rugged, and filled with tactical monitors, weapons racks, and wall maps of the city's financial districts.
Nora sat on a worn leather sofa while Marco brought her a cup of black coffee and a clean fleece jacket to replace her ruined uniform apron.
"Drink," Dominic said, walking out of a side room wearing a plain black t-shirt and dark jeans. Without his bespoke suits, he looked leaner, more dangerous, and surprisingly human.
Nora took the cup, her hands still trembling slightly. "What happens now, Mr. Russo?"
"Dominic," he corrected, sitting in the armchair opposite her. "Now, we figure out how far Chloe's greed goes."
He picked up Chloe's green burner phone, which sat on the table between them, and began scrolling through the decrypted threads using a forensic tool Marco had plugged into it.
"She didn't do this alone," Dominic muttered, his brow furrowing as text after text filled the screen. "Vincent Marro offered her forty percent of my seized assets if she provided my biometric passcodes."
Nora took a slow sip of the hot coffee. "She was packing her trunks at five in the morning. She said she was going to your estate in the Hamptons."
"She lied," Dominic said, showing her a text message thread stamped at 6:15 AM. "She's meeting Marro at the St. Regis hotel downtown at midnight tonight to sign the wire release forms."
Nora set her mug down. "Then you can stop her."
Dominic looked at her intently. "I can destroy her. But first, tell me about yourself, Nora. Why are you working two jobs?"
Nora looked down at her hands. "My father. Arthur Hale. He has late-stage pulmonary fibrosis. The hospice care costs eight thousand dollars a month. My salary at your penthouse was supposed to cover the back payments."
Dominic stared at her for a long moment, then glanced at Marco.
"Marco," Dominic said quietly. "Call St. Jude's Private Hospital. Have Arthur Hale transferred to a private suite under my personal account. Pay his balance in full, and hire round-the-clock specialists."
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Nora gasped, her head snapping up. "Mr. Russo—Dominic—no! I didn't give you that phone for money!"
"I know," Dominic said softly, his pale eyes softening. "You did it because you have a soul. Something nobody in my world possesses. Now let me take care of your father so you can help me take back my empire."
