Chapter 6 - The Fire Within
|
Charlene retreated to the laundry room, burying her face in a pile of warm, freshly dried towels to muffle her jagged, agonizing sobs.
You will have your announcement.
The words echoed in her mind, a cruel, mocking chant. She knew Dominic was playing a dangerous game of chess, but the reality of hearing him agree to marry another woman felt like a physical knife twisting in her gut. The hormones surging through her pregnant body amplified the betrayal, logic entirely overridden by pure, unadulterated heartbreak.
She closed her eyes, remembering the night this entire nightmare had begun six months ago.
She had been working as a waitress at an upscale Italian restaurant downtown. It was a Thursday night when the Petrov syndicate firebombed the building to send a message to the owner. The explosion had shattered the front windows, filling the dining room with blinding smoke and searing heat.
Charlene had been trapped behind the bar, coughing violently, the flames licking at the ceiling above her. She was newly pregnant, terrified, and completely alone.
Then, a massive figure had emerged from the black smoke. Dominic Hamilton, who had been dining in the private back room, hadn't fled with his bodyguards. He had heard her screaming. He had kicked through the burning debris, wrapped his heavy, expensive overcoat around her shaking body, and carried her out of the inferno into the freezing Chicago street.
He had saved her life. And in the chaotic hospital room hours later, when he realized the terrified waitress carrying a child had no family and nowhere to go, he had offered her an impenetrable shield.
“They will come back to silence witnesses,” he had told her in the sterile hospital room, his dark eyes burning with fierce determination. “You come with me. You disappear into my estate. I will protect you and your child.”
The protection had slowly mutated into a consuming, passionate love affair hidden in the shadows of his mansion. But now, the shadows felt like a permanent prison.
“Charlene.”
She jumped, spinning around to find Vincent standing in the doorway of the laundry room. He looked at her tear-streaked face, his expression softening with genuine sympathy.
“He didn't mean it,” Vincent said quietly, stepping into the room and closing the door. “It’s a stalling tactic. He just needs to keep the Senator happy until O'Rourke signs the treaty.”
May you like
“What if O'Rourke doesn't sign?” Charlene wept, clutching a towel to her chest. “What if Dominic actually has to marry her to keep his empire?”
“Dominic would burn his entire empire to ash before he puts a ring on that woman’s finger,” Vincent vowed fiercely. “You just have to trust him.”
