Semua Bab Bound by Contract, Freed by Love: Bab 11 - Bab 20

Dominic's POVI keep the folder closed on my desk and stare at the name stamped on the manila: Corbin — Blackwood file. The office is near empty. The city hums below. I pour a glass of water, set it down untouched, and tap the edge of the folder with a fingertip until the sound steadies my thoughts.My parents’ faces in the photograph on the shelf watch me. I press my thumb against the frame and tell myself I will not lose my head. Not now. Not after twenty-eight years of holding everything together.The phone rings. Castillo says, “Inspector Corbin is here, sir.” He sounds calm. Good. Corbin is precise. He does not do drama. He does work.“Send him in,” I say.The door opens and Corbin steps through, coat buttoned, hat in hand. His hair is graying at the temples. The lines near his eyes deepen when he smiles. He closes the door and sets the hat on a chair.“Dominic,” he says. He nods once and then a second time like he is measuring my countenance. “You wanted to see me.”“Yes.” I mot

Dominic's POVI answer the phone before it rings a second time. Elena’s name flashes and I already knew something was wrong. Her voice was low and shaky as she spoke on the phone.“Dominic… Mom’s gone!”“What??? Explain,” I said with an alarming tone. My voice was flat but my heart is not.“The front door was open when the driver checked this morning. The house is a mess. Corbin is here. He thinks someone took her.” Her breath catches. “I don’t know where she is.”“Stay put,” I tell her. “Lock the doors. Don’t go outside. Corbin will protect you. I’m coming right now.”“Please,” she whispers.I hang up and move before I feel my legs. I pull on a jacket and bark orders to Castillo. “Get my SUV. Call Percival. Tell him to notify security and block every exit from the compound.”Castillo is already two steps ahead. He nods and hustles. I do not wait for a second call. I grab my keys and go.On the ride over I call Corbin. He picks up on the second ring.“Dominic,” he says. Calm, as alway

Dominic's POVThe hospital room is quiet in that way hospitals get when damage fades away but the world is not yet quite okay. Beeping machines go softly in soft rhythms. Light from the blinds is soft and pale. I'm sitting in a chair beside the window watching Elena.She moves with a soft step I have come to appreciate. She tucks the blanket tighter around her mother, sweeps a stray curl from Rosalind's forehead, and speaks in that soft voice nurses employ to calm. "Drink slow, Mom. Little sips." She holds the cup as though it were fragile as glass.Rosalind's eyes open and she smiles at her. "I will, love."I blink and let the vision settle. The woman at the bedside is her own. She doesn't do her care with bluster. It is a quiet, unobtrusive thing. I have seen her stand in boardrooms and call out tabloids. I have seen her read a contract and catch an error no lawyer saw. But here, alongside her mother, she is only Elena: the daughter who will not let the world break the woman she lov

Dominic's POVI arrived at the office before sunrise. The city was still gray and quiet. I opened the security brief on my tablet and scrolled through the overnight notes. My eyes snagged on one line and would not let go: Marcellus Sloane — alias Victor Brandt — flagged at a Blackwood supplier site. New identity. False papers. Movement last night.I felt the room tilt for a second. I read the sentence again. Then I called Percival.“Percival,” I said when he picked up. “Read me the feed on Brandt.”He spoke steady. “Brandt was seen at the packing yard two hours ago. He asked about crate thirteen. He left in a van two minutes after staff called security. Cameras showed his face. We ran a match. It’s Marcellus.”I closed my eyes. “Keep it quiet. Get Corbin and Alpha Team on the trail. No broadcast. No leaks.”“On it,” Percival replied. “We’ll tail him and see where he goes.”I hung up and walked to Elena’s office. I needed to see her. I needed to tell her. She had been right there for h

Dominic's POVI dressed slowly that night. The suit was armor and silk blended together. I stood before the mirror and made an adjustment to a cuff. I reminded myself to breathe. Tonight was going to be different. Tonight we were going out like a proper couple.Elena knocked and came in. She had on a dress that pleasantly surprised me at how well it suited her. It was simple and bold. She smiled and my chest untensed."You look good," she said."You're perfect," I told her. The emotion made me blunt and candid. She moved closer and for a moment we stood in the quiet of the suite together. The city lights bathed the windows in a dim, distant starlight.We left together. Cameras were at the door. Reporters were waiting. Flashbulbs went off. I felt the old urge to come out, to control the moment. But she was with me and she was serene and that anchored me.Outside, a woman from public relations was walking with us. "Tonight is for the foundation," she said. "Brief statements, then dinner