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Chapter 35 : Night on the Town
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Empire of Dominance Chapter 36 : Garth
Raven felt her mind swimming back to the surface like a film coming back into focus. It was an effort: she felt so cold and loose and achy, as if she’d just walked a long way in intense heat. That must have been some kind of drug, she guessed. It had knocked her out completely, and it took a long few moments to come back to herself.The first thing she was aware of was the pressure against her wrists and the awkward angle they were pinioned at behind her. She felt hard plastic edges digging into her skin. Zip ties. She’d been propped upright on a leather bench—a car seat. And she felt the thrum of a motor through the seat, against her back and thighs.God damn it.She’d fucked up. Badly.This wasn’t the hitman—not the one with the double-forehead-hit signature. But she’d allowed herself to be literally cornered. And now she was tied up in a stranger’s car.Voices swam to her awareness, deep and masculine:“She’s up.”“Dose her again?”“Not yet. Let’s assess.”Fingers
Empire of Dominance Chapter 37 : You're Mine
Gunfire blazed, booming through the mist of debris and dust and sharp light that was suddenly turning the air into a maelstrom. Raven let herself go limp, crumpling completely to the floor, trying not to hear the dense punch of bullet impacting wood and concrete and flesh. Who was firing? Garth’s men hadn’t even had time to draw their weapons.Garth himself scrambled on hands and knees around behind her. She heard the sharp sounds of a gun mechanism working, readying.“Clear!” shouted a voice—a woman’s voice. The woman who’d escorted her out of the Rekya Hotel bar. “There’s only him left, sir. As requested.”“Thank you, Veronica. Sterling work, as usual.”That voice.Kade, Raven thought dully through the vortex of terror and rage and pain whirling through her head. Kade had come for her.But she’d never heard his voice so utterly, icily venomous. So full of brutality.She felt Garth Lu’s breath get very shaky behind her.“Don’t come any closer!” he roared, but his voice
Empire of Dominance Chapter 38 : One Possible Answer
Raven woke up to a flood of sunshine: true morning. And to Kade resting on top of her… and inside her. She felt a small, sweet thrill in her thighs as she realized. This had never happened before, not with Kade. Not this lazy vulnerability. This togetherness that wasn’t a clash of bodies and wills and sweat, that ended in the frenzy of pain and passion.This was new. And she didn’t mind it at all.Still, she slid herself out from under him. He didn’t stir: the man needed his sleep, she realized. Staying up all night long, watching over her, then reclaiming her. He’d worn himself down to nothing. For her.In the bathroom mirror, she evaluated the damage. The bruise on her hip was beginning to turn an angry dark blue, where the point of Garth Lu’s dress shoe had connected. But that was nothing. Her face was tender where he’d slapped her, but nothing worse than than. For all his grandstanding, he’d barely left a mark.She showered the last of the mildewy warehouse scent off of her
Empire of Dominance Chapter 39 : Oriri's Payroll
Only hours later, Raven was sitting alongside Kade in the backroom of an elite restaurant during the dinner hour. From the main dining room, there was a pretty flow of piano music, where all the ordinary people—or at least, the ordinary upper-class— here enjoying their steak tartar and fillet mignon.Raven wore what Kade had selected for her: a clean, smart pantsuit of darkest navy blue. The feeling of steel in her bones was still with her, even stronger with Kade sitting beside her.“Are you going to tell me why we’re here?” Raven murmured. “Or shall I continue to guess?”“What would you guess?”“That this is the next step in getting me inside Oriri.”Kade took a sip of the absurdly expensive whiskey he ordered. It was all the confirmation she needed.“And may I ask why we have to do this so publicly?” she continued, picking up her own glass and whirling its amber contents. “Why in a restaurant, and not behind closed doors at the office?”“Because the people we’re meetin
Empire of Dominance Chapter 40 : Half the Battle
“Um, please explain what exactly the fuck you mean?” Raven’s chest felt tight. She felt the shadow of zip tie pressure around her wrists. She and Kade were alone with this man, out of sight, vulnerable—and he knew everything about their plan. Everything.“Don’t panic, Raven.” Kade gestured at the chair that Jane had just vacated. “Sit down, Seymore. I know you have a flair for the dramatic. But that isn’t the kind of dramatic pronouncement you just drop in here. Especially after last night.”“What happened last night?” Seymore asked blankly.Raven turned to Kade, confused. “You didn’t tell him?”“I was focused on the hiring process. Seymore only got off the plane from London late last evening.” Kade sipped. It was a bit of a tell, Raven was realizing. “I didn’t exactly have time to fill him in.”“I’m here now.” Seymore tapped his fingertips on the tabletop. “Right here, waiting.”“Last night, Raven went out for some drinks with coworkers,” said Kade, flat and factual. “O
Empire of Dominance Chapter 41 : Showtime
They rode in silence to the office the next morning, staring out opposite windows: it felt as if silence was far more eloquent than trying to reach back to the place they’d been the night before. Sex was easy, beside this very careful dance of non definitions. They were no longer living within the safe, clear confines of the agreement that had been governing their relationship for the last weeks. Now that agreement was officially dead. And the air between them felt charged with electric warmth–not the simple charge of desire. But something more delicate, more vital. Something neither were willing to look at directly.“I’ll see you at the end of the day,” said Kade as the limo pulled up to the front of the building. “For your report.”“See you.”There was no discussion of her going back to her apartment. They hadn’t even mentioned the fact of her apartment’s existence since the passing mention of the break in a few nights before. It wasn’t as if Raven needed anything from the a
Empire of Dominance Chapter 42 : The Server Room
“It’s almost time.” Kade checked his high-end watch for the the fifth time in five minutes.“I know,” Raven smiled, trying to cool down his nerves and vicariously her own as well. “You said that a minute ago.”“I’ll follow a minute after you. In the car that you’ll be looking for when it’s time to get out. A blue hatchback.”“Yes, you showed me the picture.” Raven rubbed his arm. They were still in the penthouse elevator, standing ready for the taxi that should be appearing in precisely two minutes. Inside would be Seymore, diverting the taxi driver by—untraceable, unhackable—verbal direction to the penthouse. Nothing about tonight could begin with or leave a trail. No rideshare with a saved history and user associated program. It would all be done in cash and borrowed cars. Top secret, she thought. She was beyond finding it funny, though. Nothing about tonight felt funny.When she let her mind wander, she found herself floating back to Garth Lu. His face close to hers
Empire of Dominance Chapter 43 : Bring Her In
Seymore’s POV A few minutes earlier, Seymore strode into the vast Oriri lobby, all slick marble and tasteful gilding along angular edges. They might be evil, murderous assholes, he thought, but they could decorate. Or at least hire good decorators.Seymore’s cheer was his armor, and he kept it up around himself. Nobody could crack good cheer. It was something he’d learned after long struggles. Even Kade didn’t know what Seymore had gone through in the years since school…What he’d struggled with. How he’d nearly broke.But now, he had his armor.He smiled at Charles Lu, as the second-youngest Lu sibling came toward him in the lobby. Seymore grinned cheerfully as he shook the hand of the man who had helped arrange the murder of his best friend’s parents.“Good evening, Mr. Lewis. Thank you for coming.”“Please, call me Seymore.” Seymore knew Charles Lu by reputation, and he was pleased to see his instincts were correct: the surviving Lu brother appeared to be about as
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Empire of Dominance Chapter 42 : The Server Room
