Chapter Nine

Dominique

The words barely registered.

“What?”

“Take him away.”

“Dad, what are you talking about?”

Two officers grabbed my arms.

I tried to pull away.

“Dad!”

He didn't answer me.

His eyes stayed on Nikolai.

Nikolai was already surrounded by officers, his hands restrained behind his back. He looked completely calm.

Too calm.

“Nikolai!”

His eyes found mine.

For one brief second, everything else disappeared.

Then one of the officers dragged me toward a waiting police vehicle.

“ What is going on?” I shouted. " We haven't done anything. "

Nobody answered.

By the time they put me inside the interrogation room, I had asked the same question so many times that my throat hurt.

Nobody gave me an answer.

They took my phone.

They took my watch.

They took everything from my pockets.

Then they left me sitting alone beneath a harsh fluorescent light.

I stared at the door.

Where was my father?

Why had he arrested me?

And what the hell was happening to Nikolai?

The door finally opened hours later.

I expected to see my father.

It was my mother.

She stepped inside slowly and closed the door behind her.

I stared at her.

“What are you doing here?”

She didn't answer immediately.

She looked at me for several seconds, and something about her expression made my stomach twist.

“Where's Dad?”

Her lips parted.

“Dominique…”

“Where is Dad?”

She pulled out the chair opposite me and sat down.

“Your father was shot.”

Everything inside me stopped.

“What?”

“There was a confrontation.”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“No. Where is he?”

“He's dead.”

I stared at her.

The room suddenly felt too small.

“No.”

“Dominique...”

“No.”

I pushed away from the table.

“You're lying.”

“I wish I was.”

My hands began trembling.

“ Dad was standing right there.”

“I know.”

“He was fine.”

“He was trying to arrest the man you were with.”

I looked at her.

“What happened?”

My mother took a slow breath.

“He pulled his gun.”

“Who?”

She looked directly into my eyes.

“Nikolai.”

My stomach dropped.

“No.”

“He shot your father.”

“No.”

“He killed him.”

I stood so quickly the chair scraped against the floor.

“No!”

My mother didn't move.

“He isn't who you think he is."

I shook my head repeatedly.

“You don't know him.”

“Oh, I know exactly who he is.”

Her voice hardened.

“Nikolai Rozanov.”

The name sounded different coming from her mouth.

“He isn't some businessman who owns a few clubs. He's the head of one of the most dangerous criminal syndicates in the world.”

I stared at her.

My mind struggled to connect the man I knew with the man she was describing.

“No…”

“He has ordered murders. He controls entire territories. Men disappear because he wants them gone.”

“Stop.”

“You've been opening your asshole for a monster.”

“Stop!”

My voice cracked.

My mother leaned forward.

“And now your father is dead because of you. Because you chose to be stupid.”

I covered my face with both hands.

I couldn't breathe.

I thought about Nikolai.

His voice.

His smile.

The way he looked at me.

The man who held my hand in the car.

The man who told me I was safe with him.

I lowered my hands.

“He wouldn't…”

My mother interrupted me.

“He did.”

Silence filled the room.

Then she reached across the table.

“I can forgive you.”

I looked at her.

“What?”

“You're my son. I don't want to lose you too.”

I stared at her outstretched hand but didn't take it.

“What do you want?”

She withdrew her hand.

“I want you to testify.”

My heart sank.

“Against Nikolai?”

“Yes.”

I shook my head.

“No.”

“Dominique.”

“I can't.”

“You can."

“You don't understand.”

“I understand perfectly.”

She leaned closer.

“You've been manipulated by him. You were young. You didn't know what he really was.”

“ I love him and he loves me.”

My mother went silent for a moment.

Then she said quietly,

“And look where loving him brought you."

I looked away.

“Your father is dead. That man will spend the rest of his life destroying anyone who stands in his way. But you can stop him.”

I swallowed.

“How?”

“Tell the court everything you know.”

I looked back at her.

“And if I don't?”

Her expression softened.

“Then I don't know what happens next.”

She stood.

“But if you testify, I will forgive you.”

She walked toward the door.

“You come home. We forget the past. We start again.”

Her hand rested on the doorknob.

“And Nikolai Rozanov goes to prison.”

The door opened.

I sat alone.

For the first time in two years, I began wondering whether I had ever truly known the man I loved.

Six weeks later.

The courtroom was packed.

Reporters filled the benches behind me, cameras flashing every few seconds. Lawyers moved around, officers stood along the walls, and everyone seemed to be waiting for one man.

Nikolai.

He sat behind the defense table, dressed in a dark suit, his hands resting calmly in front of him.

He looked completely unbothered.

As though he wasn't facing a lifetime behind bars.

As though the entire world hadn't gathered to watch him fall.

I hadn't seen him since the night of his arrest.

Until today.

Our eyes met for a brief second.

He gave a small smile.

My heart twisted painfully.

I looked away.

He couldn't be the man I loved anymore.

He had killed my father.

He was a criminal.

And today, he was finally going to pay for everything he had done.

The prosecution stood.

“Your Honor, we have one final witness.”

My stomach tightened.

“Dominique Reed.”

My name echoed through the courtroom.

I stood.

My legs felt weak as I walked toward the witness stand.

I could feel Nikolai watching me.

I refused to look at him.

I raised my hand and took the oath.

Then I sat.

The prosecutor approached.

“Mr. Reed, do you know the defendant?”

I swallowed.

“Yes.”

“How do you know him?”

I looked at Nikolai for the first time.

His eyes were still fixed on me.

“We were in a relationship.”

A murmur moved through the courtroom.

The prosecutor continued asking questions.

And I answered.

I told them things I had seen.

Then I told them things I hadn't.

I described meetings I had never attended.

Conversations I had never heard.

Orders I had never witnessed.

I repeated everything my mother had told me and filled in the gaps with whatever I thought the court needed to hear.

With every lie, something inside me cracked a little more.

But I kept going.

“He ordered people killed.”

Nikolai's jaw tightened.

“He controlled everything.”

“That's a lie. Baby you know it.”

His voice cut through the courtroom.

The judge struck the gavel.

“Mr. Rozanov, you will remain silent.”

Nikolai didn't take his eyes off me.

“Everything he's saying is a lie.”

My chest tightened.

I looked down at my hands.

I couldn't look at him anymore.

The questioning continued until there was nothing left for me to say.

When I finally stepped down from the witness stand, I felt like I was leaving a piece of myself behind.

The judge reviewed the evidence before finally speaking.

“Nikolai Rozanov, you have been found guilty of the charges brought against you.”

The courtroom fell silent.

“For the crimes committed under your direction and authority, this court sentences you to life imprisonment.”

A strange mixture of relief and pain settled inside me.

It was over.

My father would have justice.

The world would be safer without Nikolai Rozanov.

Officers approached him.

He stood without resistance.

As they escorted him away, they passed directly in front of me. He gave me a twisted look.

" I'll find you. " He said.

I shivered and kept my eyes on the floor.

I couldn't look at him.

I couldn't survive seeing what was in his eyes again.

The doors opened.

The officers took him away.

I kept staring at the floor until I could no longer hear his footsteps.

It was over.

Nikolai Rozanov was going to prison.

My father had been avenged.

I had done the right thing.

But if it was the right thing why did my heart hurt so bad?