Chapter 14 - The Betrayal Beneath Their Roof
The gala attack came from the parking garage.
Dominic recognized the trap before Beatrice did.
A vehicle blocked their exit.
Two men approached.
Dominic pushed Beatrice behind a concrete pillar.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“For once in your life—”
A shot struck concrete.
“Fine!”
Dominic returned fire while security closed in.
The attackers fled.
One was captured.
Under questioning, he revealed what Dominic feared.
Victor had been selling information for nearly a year.
The emergency system.
Guard schedules.
Leo’s routine.
Beatrice’s routine.
Everything.
But Victor’s motive was not merely money.
Years earlier, Dominic had refused to promote him after discovering he had beaten a subordinate.
Victor never forgot the humiliation.
He decided Dominic owed him.
When Dominic trusted Beatrice’s instincts over his explanations, resentment became hatred.
The mansion betrayal had never been about one attack.
Victor wanted Dominic stripped of everything he loved.
First his empire.
Then Leo.
Then Beatrice.
Dominic heard the confession in silence.
Afterward he went to the kitchen.
Beatrice found him there.
“You okay?”
“No.”
She sat beside him.
For once Dominic did not pretend.
“I built that house to keep Leo safe.”
“You did.”
“And the danger was inside it.”
“You couldn’t know.”
“I should have.”
Beatrice took his hand.
“You’re allowed to be human.”
Dominic looked at their joined hands.
“I don’t know how.”
“Start small.”
“How small?”
She smiled.
“Try letting somebody stay.”
He looked into her eyes.
“Stay.”
One word.
But Beatrice understood everything inside it.
May you like
She squeezed his hand.
“I’m here.”
