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Chapter 26 : MInd Games
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Empire of Dominance Chapter 27 : Findings
After she heard Kade leave the apartment the next morning, Raven pulled her laptop and all her files from her windowless back office to the living room, where the expansive open concept space made her feel less like she was in a box. She wanted badly to be able to open the curtains and look out over the city, but she knew what Kade would think of that. She sat cross-legged in front of the low super-modern coffee table, opened her laptop, turned on the TV at low volume, and got to work.To her surprise, there was a small ping when her computer booted up. An email? Nobody ever used her work email, except for the automatic messages about lunch catering deliveries and company-wide announcements. All her work was done in the office and face-to-face.She triple checked her VPNs before going to her inbox.It was from Kade. Between their official company accounts.“What the hell?” she murmured aloud. The subject line read: “Regarding your performance.”She clicked it open and r
Empire of Dominance Chapter 28 : Sitting Across from a Hitman
The word “hitman” hovered at the front of her mind as she opened the file Kade had delivered to her.The police report was thorough. It would have been convincing if she didn’t know what she knew.She felt explosive with restlessness. She tried not to count the days she’d been in this apartment, staring at the inside of the curtain. Day after day after day after day.This was the only place she could put her restlessness, her energy. Her desperation.Again and again, Hector Lyonell’s name stood out to her against the yellowed paper of the report. These were Hector Lyonell’s words, his description of the scene, his impression and conclusions. Typed up and printed and shoved in a file.It was surreal to know what was behind those simple, cut-and-dried reporting. She would believe it—and that terrified her. These people were so good at moving in the shadows while moving in plain sight. Even as an ordinary citizen, she could have filed a Freedom of Information Act request for
Empire of Dominance Chapter 29 : The Real Kade
Kade did not disappoint.The following evening, Raven spent a long time soaking in the wonderful scents of Kade’s master ensuite bathtub and even longer fixing herself up with the expansive set of cosmetics from the gala evening.The door chimed. Kade was home. She took her time heading toward the front room, wrapped in that robe they both liked so much.He had already hung the garment bag on the coat stand, empty in the summertime, where it hung like an art piece in a strange gallery. She couldn’t see through the bag, but she recognized the iconic name on the shoebox sitting beneath it.“Chop chop.” Kade sounded bored, checking his absurdly expensive watch. “Our reservation is at seven.”“Five minutes.”“Two.”“Yes, sir.” She grinned at him, trying not to seem too giddy as she picked up the garment bag and tucked the shoebox under her other arm. She also tried not to show that she noticed the change in him tonight as well. There was no sight tonight of the weariness t
Empire of Dominance Chapter 30 : Danger Lurking
Raven spent the rest of the meal wondering exactly what the gold leaf in her mouth actually tasted like. She came to the conclusion that it didn’t taste like anything at all, by the time the last of the wine was gone and Kade was leaning back in his chair, dabbing his lips clean delicate touches of his napkin.“Now for the real test,” he said, meeting her gaze.“The real test?”“When we came down from the penthouse, there was no way for our observers to have anticipated that. Now we’ve given ample time for whatever concierge or doorman is on the Oriri payroll to have notified them of our movements. Which makes the return journey the really dangerous part.”Raven breathed out, slowly and heavily.“Listen, I know you’re all in favor of paranoia and all that, but the concierge? Really?”“Why not?” Kade refolded his napkin. “I know they keep Frederick on the take. And besides, I control most of the concierges in each of the Lu siblings’ buildings.”She knew she shouldn’t be s
Empire of Dominance Chapter 31 : A Date with the Devil
Without discussing it, they went to sleep in Kade’s bed while he stayed on the phone, managing the story.Raven half awoke in the middle of the night to the solid weight of him close behind her, as if he’d fallen asleep considering whether or not to spoon her. She smiled, sliding back into sleep: that was the first time she’d seen Kade be any kind of indecisive.It felt surreal to rise in the morning and step into the fresh steam of the shower, to scrub down with luxury soaps, and begin the process of doing her makeup—all the while knowing that not twenty-four hours ago, she’d narrowly avoided a knife swinging at her throat.To her surprise, Kade wasn’t at the office already, as he usually was by the time she got out of bed. To top it off, he had a delicate cup of espresso in each hand.“What are you doing here?”“Good morning. And I live here, by the way.” He put down one of the espressos on the bathroom counter in front of her. “I think that’s your robe now, though.”She
Empire of Dominance Chapter 32 : Family Resemblance
Kade’s POV In the livery car parked on the corner of the Reyka Hotel, Kade was gnashing his teeth. He allowed himself the luxury of showing his anger in private, as he listened to Hector Lyonell’s bombastic, idiotic monologue. Raven’s chilly responses made him bitterly happy, though—she was unshakable.Then he heard:“And if you do not let go of my wrist in the next ten seconds, I guarantee you will find yourself in an extraordinary amount of pain. If you haven’t noticed, you’re quite surrounded.”He almost burst out of the car at that moment. He was going to break this insolent little puppet of Oriri, make him eat his teeth while he apologized for his actions.But as Raven continued, he knew he wouldn’t have to. Lyonell dug his own grave with every word. There was no way Christina Lu would let this slide. Kade wasn’t entirely sure how Christina would find out—but he was sure that she would. And this useful puppet, the man who’d hired the assassin to clean up Christina’s
Empire of Dominance Chapter 33 : Obeying Kade
Raven’s POVIt hadn’t been easy getting out of the penthouse. Raven hadn’t even been sure it was going to work. She knew she needed two things: Kade’s isolated index fingerprint and a full capture of his palm print.The first she lifted with scotch tape off the metallic buttons of the intensely elaborate espresso machine. The second she peeled with a sheet of saran wrap off the marble panel that read the palm print itself. A circular maneuver, but it worked. The elevator door opened. And escaped into the humid summer night.She wasn’t fleeing. Not exactly. But she wasn’t going to be kept caged up, not now that she knew how to get out. And when she had such a good lead to follow up on.She hadn’t told Kade, but she’d found out the name of Hector Lyonell’s brother-in-law—the other cop who’d been with him the night of the Sinclairs’ murder.And now it was time to investigate.Hours later, long past the end of the working day, she dragged herself back to the penthouse via the s
Empire of Dominance Chapter 34 : Changes
Raven leaned in over her second cup of coffee in the morning, scrolling through her phone. Kade had already left the apartment—when, she didn’t know. It was Saturday; the day before her was a long void.She watched social media posts flicker by under her thumb.There was smiling photo after smiling photo, over and over again: people with their ordinary lives. Most of her close friend network was leftover from high school and college. Faces she recognized by instinct, names she loosely remembered.Then, all at once, she saw a familiar face, a familiar name, and with a familiar background buildings.Tatum, her roommate for the first two years of college, posed in a selfie, waving a peace sign.Raven hit the message options in seconds: Raven: Hey girl!!! Why the hell didn’t you tell me you were in town?? She didn’t have to wait even five seconds for the response: Tatum: Holy shit I completely forgot you’re still here!! For some reason, I thought you moved to LA
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