Chapter Forty-Seven: The Lawyers

"So what happened to Dina?" I asked Jules, who was perched on the windowsill like a deadly bird, her eyes constantly scanning the hospital parking lot below.

"Still in custody," she replied without looking away from her surveillance. "Dominic wants you settled and safe before we decide what to do with her."

"She almost killed me with a smile on her face."

"Yeah, well, she's not smiling now. Turns out attempted murder charges have a way of wiping the grin right off someone's face."

Despite everything, I found myself almost smiling. "You're enjoying this way too much."

"After what she tried to do to you and the baby? I'm enjoying it exactly the right amount." Jules finally turned to look at me. "Besides, watching Dominic tear through that hospital like the wrath of God was pretty entertaining too."

"He did break down a reinforced steel door."

"With his bare hands. I've got the security footage. Might frame it for your anniversary."

"We don't have anniversaries. We have a business arrangement."

Jules snorted. "Right. A business arrangement. Is that what we're calling it when a man installs twenty security cameras in one hospital room and stations enough guards to protect a small country?"

I glanced around the ICU room, noting the discreet cameras positioned at every angle, the panic buttons within arm's reach of my chair, the armed guards I could see through the window. Dominic had turned Victoria's recovery room into a fortress.

"He's being cautious," I said.

"He's being insane. But the good kind of insane. The kind that means he'd burn down the world to keep you safe."

The observation hit closer to home than I wanted to admit. In the span of a month, Dominic and I had gone from reluctant enemies to something I couldn't quite define. We weren't lovers—though the tension between us crackled like live wire whenever we were close. We weren't exactly friends either. But somewhere between the poison attempts and the public humiliations and the quiet moments of unexpected tenderness, we'd become something deeper.

Protective. Possessive. Absolutely devoted to each other's survival.

It was a level of intimacy I'd never experienced before, built not on romance or passion but on shared trauma and mutual respect. The knowledge that when everything went to hell, we'd stand back to back and fight our way out together.

I didn't know what to call it. Didn't know what it meant for whatever this thing between us was becoming.

"You're thinking too hard," Jules observed. "I can practically hear the gears grinding from here."

"I'm trying to figure out what the hell is happening to my life."

"Easy. You're becoming exactly who you were always meant to be."

Before I could ask what she meant by that, my attention was drawn back to Victoria. She'd been unconscious for hours now, her breathing steady but her face pale as moonlight. The doctors said it was normal—her body was healing, conserving energy—but seeing her so still and fragile made my chest tight with worry.

"She's going to be okay," Jules said, reading my expression. "Tough old bird like that? She'll probably outlive us all."

"I hope so." I squeezed Victoria's hand gently. "She's the only real family I have left."

"What about Dominic?"

The question caught me off guard. "What about him?"

"Family isn't just blood, Scarlett. Sometimes it's the people who choose to stand with you when everyone else runs away."

I was still processing that when one of the guards stepped into the room, his expression professional but alert.

"Ma'am," he said, addressing me directly. "There are five men and a woman outside. They're asking to speak with Mrs Victoria. They say they're Van Alston lawyers and they want to her to introduce the real heir to the legacy."

My blood turned to ice water.

The Van Alston lawyers. Here. Now. While Victoria was unconscious and couldn't guide me through whatever legal maze they were about to drag me into.

I wasn't ready for this. I'd known for less than twenty-four hours that I was even connected to the Van Alston name, let alone that I was supposed to inherit billions of dollars. I didn't know the first thing about running a business empire, let alone one that spanned multiple countries and industries.

What am I going to do now?