PART 6: THE RECKONING
Dr. Walsh froze, his pistol half-raised, the clinical calm instantly draining from his face and replacing it with sudden, desperate panic.
“Dominic!” Dr. Walsh forced a weak, nervous smile, lowering the weapon by an inch. “Thank goodness you’re here. Ms. Bennett... she went rogue. She threatened me with a weapon, she’s the one who—”
“Shut your mouth,” Dominic interrupted, his voice dropping to a terrifying, dead calm that echoed through the glass structure.
He didn't run. He walked forward with measured, deliberate steps, each movement radiating deadly authority. Marcus and the guards fanned out instantly, their weapons locked squarely on the doctor’s chest.
“You think I didn't check the perimeter cameras the moment Claire left the kitchen?” Dominic snarled, stopping just ten feet away from the doctor. “You think I didn't see your encrypted transmission routed from your medical clinic into my estate’s secondary server?”
Dr. Walsh’s face turned pale. “Dominic, listen to me, we can reason—this is about your father’s old business—!”
“My father is dead. My wife is dead. And you tried to take my son,” Dominic whispered, his eyes burning with a dark, terrifying fury. “There is no reasoning with a dead man.”
Before Dr. Walsh could raise his pistol again, Marcus fired a single, perfectly placed shot from his suppressed weapon.
Pffft.
The bullet struck Dr. Walsh’s right shoulder, spinning him around and sending the pistol clattering harmlessly onto the gravel floor. The doctor screamed, clutching his bleeding shoulder as he collapsed to his knees against the damp earth.
Marcus rushed forward, kicking the weapon away and slamming plastic zip-ties around the doctor’s wrists with military precision.
Dominic didn't even look down at the groaning man. His entire focus snapped instantly to Claire.
He crossed the distance between them in two massive strides, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her tightly against his chest. His hands were shaking slightly—the only outward sign of the sheer terror he had felt when he realized she was in danger.
“Are you hurt?” Dominic demanded, his voice thick with emotion as he pulled back to look at her face. “Did he touch you?”
“I’m fine, Dominic,” Claire breathed, burying her face against his coat for a brief moment, letting out a long, shuddering breath. “I’m okay.”
Dominic pulled her back into his arms, burying his face in her hair, holding her as if he would never let go. The fierce, untouchable Mafia boss dissolved completely into a man holding the only person who kept him anchored to the light.
“Take him to the basement holding cell,” Dominic ordered coldly over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving Claire. “And make sure he stays alive. I want every asset, every account, and every accomplice he has down to the last penny stripped away before he meets his end.”
“Yes, Boss,” Marcus said, hauling the bleeding doctor up by his collar and dragging him out of the greenhouse.
The greenhouse grew quiet again, save for the soft rustle of the wind through the ivy outside.
Dominic cupped Claire’s face in his hands, his dark eyes searching hers with a vulnerability that few people in the world would ever witness.
“You risked your life,” he said softly. “You didn't have to.”
“I told you, Dominic,” Claire answered, her voice steady and warm as she placed her hand over his. “We protect the people we love. That’s what family does.”
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Dominic stared at her, the word family hanging in the air between them like a sacred vow. For a man who had built his life on fear and isolation, those words were a complete salvation.
He leaned down and kissed her—not with the desperate urgency of the nursery, but with a deep, permanent tenderness that promised forever.
