Chapter 5 - The Empire Strikes Back
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For three days, the motel room served as a war room.
Elena bought Dominic clean clothes, an untraceable laptop, and enough food to keep him strong. While she cleaned houses during the day, maintaining her cover, Dominic waged a digital war from a sagging mattress.
With Silas acting as his proxy on the outside, Dominic systematically dismantled Marcus’s power base. He froze the corporate accounts Marcus had tried to seize. He redirected massive shipping contracts to loyalist lieutenants. He effectively crippled his brother without ever showing his face.
On the fourth evening, Elena returned to the motel carrying a bag of takeout.
Dominic was standing by the window, peering through a crack in the curtains. He looked sharp, clean, and terrifyingly focused. He wore the simple black jeans and dark sweater she had bought him, but he carried himself like a king preparing for battle.
"He's panicking," Dominic announced as Elena set the food on the small table. "Silas reports that Marcus tore the corporate office apart today looking for the security override codes. He knows he's been locked out. He knows I'm alive."
"What will he do?" Elena asked, feeling a cold knot form in her stomach.
"He will become desperate," Dominic replied, turning away from the window. "A desperate man makes mistakes. He will try to flush me out by targeting my vulnerabilities."
Dominic paused, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her.
"You haven't been back to the mansion, have you?"
"No," Elena shook her head. "I told the realtor I quit. I said the place gave me the creeps."
"Good," Dominic nodded. "But Marcus saw your face. He knows you were there. If he gets desperate enough, he will start looking for the cleaning woman."
"I gave a fake name to the realtor agency," Elena said quickly. "I'm careful."
"Marcus has access to private investigators who can find a ghost in a blizzard," Dominic warned. "You are not safe in your apartment anymore, Elena. You and Noah need to move. Tonight."
"Move where?!" Elena gasped, panic finally breaking through her calm exterior. "I don't have anywhere to go! Noah has school!"
"Noah is taking an extended vacation," Dominic said smoothly, walking over and placing his hands firmly on her shoulders. "I have a secure penthouse downtown. Off the books. Fully staffed with men loyal only to me. You and your son will be untouchable there."
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"I can't just move in with a mob boss!" Elena blurted out, her voice rising.
Dominic offered a dark, humorless smile. "I am not a mob boss, Elena. I am a legitimate businessman who occasionally employs aggressive negotiation tactics. And you are moving in, because I will not allow the woman who saved my life to be collateral damage in my brother's treason."
