Chapter 5 - Dominic Vale’s One Rule
Dominic didn’t look pleased when I chose to stay.
That surprised me.
I had expected satisfaction.
Instead he stared at the closed door as though my choice had made his life significantly harder.
“You understand,” he said, “that staying here doesn’t mean hiding from law enforcement forever.”
“I know.”
“You’ll need an attorney.”
“I know.”
“You’ll eventually have to explain why you were here.”
“I know.”
His eyebrow lifted.
“Do you have another phrase?”
“I’m considering several.”
Marco hid a smile.
Dominic ignored him.
“What I need right now is enough information to keep Caleb from controlling what happens next.”
I folded my arms.
“So help me find it.”
Dominic studied me.
“You trust me?”
“No.”
“Good.”
That answer seemed to satisfy him.
“My father had a rule,” he said. “Trust should always cost something.”
“That sounds depressing.”
“It was.”
“What’s your rule?”
He glanced toward the window.
“Never punish someone for another person’s debt.”
I thought of Caleb.
“Does everyone in your world follow that?”
“No.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
There was no hesitation.
I believed him.
That worried me more than if I hadn’t.
A security employee entered.
“The officers downstairs asked whether Miss Bennett was here.”
Dominic looked at me.
“What did you say?”
“That we would check.”
I took a breath.
“Tell them I’m speaking with counsel and will contact the department.”
Dominic nodded.
Marco made the call.
Twenty minutes later, a silver-haired attorney named Evelyn Ross arrived.
She looked at Dominic as though she had spent fifteen years disappointed in him.
“You always call at charming hours.”
“Nice to see you too.”
Then she looked at me.
“Harper Bennett?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Evelyn. Before you ask, I don’t work for Dominic. I work for you tonight.”
“Who pays you?”
“He does.”
“So technically—”
“He pays. I represent.”
Dominic sighed.
“She likes making that distinction.”
“Because prison is full of people who didn’t.”
I liked Evelyn immediately.
She listened to everything.
The affair.
The wrong door.
The key card.
The accounts.
The audio recording.
When I finished, Evelyn folded her hands.
“You have one enormous advantage.”
“What?”
“You didn’t run from the evidence.”
“I literally ran into the evidence.”
“Different issue.”
She turned toward Dominic.
“I want copies of every security video from the moment Harper entered your club.”
“You’ll have them.”
“And proof she was with you when the alleged theft occurred.”
“Yes.”
“And I want police contact handled through me.”
Dominic nodded.
Evelyn looked back at me.
“Your problem isn’t what you did.”
“It’s what Caleb made it look like I did.”
“Exactly.”
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A message.
I know you're with him.
A second followed.
You don't understand who Dominic is.
A third:
Ask him about Nicholas Vale.
I looked up.
Dominic saw my expression.
“What?”
I showed him.
For the first time since meeting him, he lost color.
Barely.
But enough.
“Who is Nicholas?”
Marco looked away.
Dominic took the phone.
“My brother.”
The room became very quiet.
“What happened to him?”
“Not relevant.”
“Caleb apparently thinks it is.”
“Caleb thinks everything is a weapon.”
I stepped closer.
“Then stop giving him one.”
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“You don’t want this story.”
“I didn’t want any of tonight.”
That stopped him.
Finally he said:
“Nicholas was older than me.”
“Was?”
“He died five years ago.”
I regretted pushing.
“I’m sorry.”
Dominic looked away.
“He ran Vale Logistics. He discovered money disappearing through vendor accounts.”
My pulse accelerated.
“Like mine?”
“Yes.”
“He investigated?”
“And three weeks later, federal investigators received documents suggesting he created the accounts himself.”
“That sounds familiar.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Nicholas spent a year fighting charges.”
“What happened?”
“He was cleared.”
“That’s good.”
“No.”
The word was flat.
“He didn’t live long enough to see it.”
I didn’t ask how.
His expression warned me.
Dominic continued.
“The person who created the fraudulent accounts was never found.”
“And you think Caleb knows.”
“I think Caleb began consulting for Vale Logistics four months before the accounts appeared.”
The room tilted slightly.
“Did Caleb know Nicholas?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because until tonight, I couldn’t prove any connection.”
My phone vibrated again.
Unknown number.
He won't tell you how his brother really died.
Dominic looked at the message.
“Caleb wants you suspicious of me.”
“It’s working.”
His gaze met mine.
“Good.”
“What?”
“Stay suspicious.”
There it was again.
His strange insistence that I question him.
“Most controlling men don’t encourage doubt.”
“Most controlling men need obedience.”
“And you don’t?”
“I get enough of it.”
Something about the way he said it made my breath catch.
I looked away.
Wrong time.
Wrong man.
Wrong everything.
The laptop chimed.
Countdown:
02:59:59.
A new folder unlocked automatically.
Marco opened it.
Inside were scanned documents.
Wedding contracts.
Our venue agreement.
Catering forms.
Florist documents.
Everything I had signed for months.
Then Evelyn leaned closer.
“Stop.”
She pointed.
One document looked almost identical to our catering contract.
Almost.
At the bottom was my signature.
But the first page wasn’t about catering.
It was an authorization for a company called Bennett Events Consulting.
I stared.
“I don’t own that.”
Evelyn scrolled.
“You do on paper.”
Dominic stood behind me.
The company had opened twelve accounts.
Received millions.
Transferred money into Halcyon subsidiaries.
Vale subsidiaries.
And three charities.
“What is this?” I whispered.
Evelyn’s expression was grim.
“A laundering network.”
Using my name.
My address.
My signature.
My life.
Then Marco found another file.
Beneficiary Information.
If something happened to Caleb West before the wedding, control of several accounts transferred to Harper Bennett.
If something happened to Harper Bennett—
I stopped reading.
Dominic closed the document.
“What did it say?”
“Nothing you need to see.”
“Open it.”
“No.”
“Dominic.”
His face became stone.
“Open it.”
He did.
I read the line.
In the event of Harper Bennett’s death, incapacity, disappearance, or criminal detention, control transferred to Caleb West.
I sat very still.
Evelyn whispered, “Harper…”
The countdown wasn’t about money.
Not really.
I looked at Dominic.
“Caleb needs me arrested.”
Dominic nodded slowly.
“Or unavailable.”
My stomach turned.
Then the laptop chimed again.
A map appeared.
One blinking red point.
A location in downtown Chicago.
Our wedding venue.
Underneath were six words.
FINAL RECORDS STORED WHERE SHE SAYS YES.
I stared at the screen.
Dominic stood beside me.
And suddenly our canceled wedding was no longer merely where Caleb had planned to marry me.
May you like
It was where he had hidden the evidence that could destroy both of us.
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