DOMINIC’S POVI came down the staircase, my laptop balanced on my arm, AirPods plugged into my ears. The screen was crowded with the faces of my management team scattered across time zones. A man in London was talking about projections, his voice echoing in my ear. I nodded occasionally, giving curt responses when necessary but my focus was all over the place.As I reached the living room, I paused. Ariel was perched on the couch at her usual spot, her legs tucked under her, completely absorbed in her phone. Her face glowed faintly from the screen’s light, and she didn’t look up as I approached.“Ariel,” I called out to her and pulled one AirPod out. She glanced up lazily.“Hmm?”“Is Ruby back yet?”“Nope,” she replied, popping the “p” as she turned back to her phone, her fingers moving rapidly across the screen.I frowned and glanced at the clock on my laptop. 9:45 p.m. That was far too late.The last time I’d spoken to Ruby was this afternoon around 1 p.m., if I remembered correctly
RUBY’S POVThe pounding in my head when I woke up was relentless, like tiny hammers striking behind my eyes. I winced as I threw the covers aside and stood from bed.I could hear voices and giggling downstairs, coming from Dominic and his daughter. Sighing, I reached into my bedside drawer and fetched a bottle of aspirin. Popping two pills into my mouth, I washed it down with the cup of water beside me.Five minutes later, I stood under the warm shower, letting the water flow down my body and wash off all the physical pain from the previous night. It helped, a little. Once I was dressed in an oversized blue sweater that reached halfway down my thighs, I shuffled downstairs, my bare feet padding softly against the wood.The first thing I noticed was the smell. It was a rich aroma of sizzling bacon, eggs and something sweet. My stomach rumbled. I followed the scent to the kitchen, where Dominic stood at the stove, flipping eggs like he’d done it a hundred times. Ariel was by his side, h
Dominic’s POVI stood at the foot of the staircase, glancing at my watch for the third time in five minutes. Ruby was taking her sweet time, and I wasn’t about to tell her to hurry. After last night, I figured it was better to let her move at her own pace.A voice carried down from the second floor: Ariel’s voice.“How did you do that with your eyeshadow? And your lipstick, wow. You look like an office siren.”Office siren? I raised an eyebrow at that. Ariel had a way of saying the strangest things.Ruby’s voice followed, calm and amused. “Ariel, it’s just makeup. Nothing magical.”I could hear Ariel’s footsteps trailing behind Ruby as the two of them descended. Ariel kept going excitedly. “What shade is that lipstick? Do you always blend your eyeshadow like that? How do you even get your bun to stay up so perfectly?”I smirked to myself and shook my head. Ariel had an endless supply of energy and apparently, Ruby was her new favorite subject.Then I saw her.Ruby appeared at the top
RUBY'S POVWe stayed that way for minutes: Dominic in the driver's seat, me straddling his laps and resting my head against his shoulder. I couldn't see much of his face, but the slight curve of his lips told me he was amused about something.“So,” I raised my head to look at him, “you said we were going to be late, right?”He glanced at me, quirking up his eyebrows. “We are late."“Then maybe you shouldn’t have wasted time kissing and fucking me in your car like this." I teased. "Or dragging me outside."Dominic gave a low chuckle. “Dragging you? I don’t recall dragging. I seem to remember you willingly following me.”“Because you were pulling me,” I sighed.“You had plenty of time to get ready,” he said. “If anyone’s to blame for us running late, it’s you.”I rolled my eyes. “Oh, please. You were the one standing at the bottom of the stairs like some smitten schoolboy. If you hadn’t been staring, we’d already be at the office by now.”Dominic’s lips twitched into a full smile. “You
RUBY'S POV"Let's go to work." Dominic announced.He started the car as I put the sex toy back into the box and returned it back to the glove compartment. The car rolled back into motion, but I barely noticed. My thoughts were stuck on what had just happened. My lips still tingled, and the memory played on a loop in my mind. I crossed my arms and tried to forget about it but the blush refused to fade.Dominic glanced over at me and smiled. “Did a cat get your tongue?”I shook my head and kept my eyes fixed on the road ahead. “I'm just thinking.”His chuckle carried a teasing edge. “About me, I hope.”I rolled my eyes. "You really like to flatter yourself.""I know you're thinking about me." He grinned, clearly pleased with himself. I didn’t push further, and neither did he. It was still weird unlocking this playful side of Dominic; It was hard to even remember the brooding man who had walked into that club on the night after I divorced Gabriel.When we finally pulled up to the office,
RUBY'S POVI kept my focus on the woman across the room. Something about her just didn't sit right with me or my head. Even though she had her back turned to me, I could see how stiffly she sat. I could also see that her hands were fidgeting with the hem of her sweater. Twice, I caught her stealing quick glances in my direction. Both times, she looked away sharply when I noticed.It was unnerving. My instincts told me to take this seriously, but I brushed it off. What else could I do? If she wanted to speak to me, she would. Until then, I refused to waste energy puzzling over her behavior.The sound of heels sounding against the polished floor broke my train of thought. I looked up and saw Dominic’s blonde secretary entering the room. Still the same as ever, I thought to myself.She had a skin-tight pencil skirt and fitted blouse on, which accentuated her figure 8 shape. There was a full pound of makeup on her face: dark blue eyeshadow, penciled eyebrows, red lips, the works. She move
Ruby's POVAs I stepped inside, I looked around. The room was large and panelled with more brown wood, with a long table stretching across it and twelve chairs evenly spaced around it. The part of the walls that weren't covered in wood were painted gray gray, and the light from the overhead fixtures made the place feel like sone hospital theatre.Maybe It was a theatre, and I was the one being operated on.The room was empty, or at least it seemed that way at first. My eyes landed on the chair at the head of the table. It was turned away from me, its high back hiding whoever sat there.I shifted my feet in unease, then walked closer to the table. When I reached the table, I gently knocked on the polished wood, hoping to get their attention.The chair swiveled slowly, and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. Dominic was the one sitting there.I exhaled sharply and placed a hand on my chest. “Dominic, you scared me! Why were you sitting there like some kind of movie villain?”He smil
Ruby's POVAt that moment, my mind blanked with delirium and pleasure. My nails dug into his shoulders and I slammed myself down on his dick.His hips rocked in rhythm with mine, as he grinded against my panties and the fishnet stockings. Our lips crashed against each other in a kiss that was the most violent I'd ever had. Dominic wasn't gentle this time; his fingers clawed at my skirt, as my own yanked at his shirt.Somehow, I knew that he couldn't hold it back in anymore.Finally, Dominic tore his lips away from mine. His eyes were dark and stormy, and his chest shook with each gasp of breath.Slowly, my hand snaked down his body, coming to settle on the hard bump bump of his dick. With a sharp motion, I squeezed, and Dominic flinched."You want me to fuck you like a whore, is that it?" His eyes darkened even further as they narrowed on me while I swallowed hard. I realised that while kissing, Dominic had moved me from the wall. I was now backed up against the edge of the long table
Ambrose’s POVI walked out of the store room and typed out the message. Short. Precise. The kind of thing that would drive a blade straight into Dominic’s chest.“I wonder how it feels to know your daughter is slipping through your fingers as we speak. Tick tock, tick tock. Time is running out. If you ever want to see your daughter again, you will do exactly as I say. Instructions will be relayed to you very soon. I don't want any cops or dumb tricks. You know what to do.”I read it over once, then sent it. A moment later, the screen blinked. The message had been delivered.I stared at Ariel's name glowing at the top of the message. The irony of it almost made me laugh. There was something delicious about making a father’s worst nightmare come true.I slid the phone back into my pocket and sighed, walking to the rusty elevator and taking It back up. When I got up, I walked past the smoking men and stepped out into the cool night air. Chicago was quieter than usual, even though I knew
Ambrose's POVThe building smelled of dead animals. It was an old hotel, now reduced to nothing but dust and silence. I stepped over a broken floorboard, my polished shoe grinding against the dirt under me. The place was barely standing. The ceiling sagged in places and the corners darkened with mold, but it would serve me for now, at least.Some of my old and loyal men were sitting on a wooden slab in the middle of the room, smoking and drinking. When they saw me, they gave me deferent bows. A few of them waved, and I waved back. I had called them together at such short notice, but they still came. It was good to know that they were still loyal to me. I would pay them handsomely once this was over.I walked toward the rusted iron elevator, its metal cage rattling as I stepped inside. The doors groaned as they slid shut and with a shudder, the elevator descended. Dominic Rutherford had taken everything I worked for away from me. Rachael was meant to be mine, but he stole her. And wh
Dominic’s POV“Oh, my God!” Ruby screamed.She sprang to her feet and started pacing her hotel room. Her hands tangled in her hair, her pants legs flapping against each other as she walked about. I'd told her about everything, from the news of the prison break that I got during the meeting, to Ariel being kidnapped at home, to her boyfriend who was in the house when it happened.“You’re telling me some random guy just waltzed into your house and claimed to be Ariel’s boyfriend?" She roared. "And you let him go? What If he was behind it all?”I squeezed my eyes shut. “He said he was in a long-distance relationship with her. That they met when she was in Switzerland.”Ruby spun on her heel, eyes burning into me. “And you believed him? Dominic, I thought you were smarter than this.”I scoffed. “Hell yes, I am. But he didn’t seem like a threat. If he was dangerous, I’d have known. Trust me, Ruby, I have been around a lot of dangerous people, and that Brandon boy is not one of them."Her a
Ruby's POVJust like that, five years disappeared between us.Five long years, and now I was standing here, face to face with the man I had once given my entire heart to.There was a whole myriad of emotions within me. But more than anything, I felt love. Because despite everything that had happened, despite the distance and the silence and the longing, despite every reason I had given myself to move on… I never really moved on from him.I let my eyes roam over him, drinking in every change that time had carved into him. Five years had really done him good.He was broader now, his body was solid with muscle like he had spent every day training, pushing himself harder. His hair which used to be in a ponytail was now styled into neat, sharp cornrows that framed his face perfectly. A well-trimmed beard lined his jaw, making him look even more powerful and more manly.And God help me, he looked so... fucking.... good!I felt my heart stutter, and for the first time in a long time I was br
Dominic's POVThe Basement was filled with voices but none were louder than mine."Spread out!" I roared, slamming a fist against the table. "I don’t want excuses! I want results! Do you hear me?"The metal rattled under my hand, but I didn’t care. My men scrambled around, some on their phones, others poring over maps and documents. None of them moved fast enough for me. Ariel was missing, and the more time we wasted, the more danger she was in.I knew it was Ambrose. There was no doubt in my mind. That bastard had taken her, and I had let it happen.I balled my fists so tight that they hurt. I kept running last night over in my head, every single mistake, every moment I should have done something differently.I should have never told the men that guarded my house to go home. The house had been unprotected because I thought for one damn second that we could let our guard down. I should have gone home after that call with Ariel, not go to the bar with Damien. I should have..."Sir."I
Ruby's POV"I understand what you’re saying, Martin, but we are not doing another take of that scene."I held my phone between my shoulder and ear, flipping through a thick script with one hand while signing a document with the other. My assistant stood beside me, watching with nervous eyes as I scrawled my signature across the last page."I don't care if the lighting was slightly off," I continued, shifting the phone back into my hand as I turned to grab a bottle of water. "The emotion was perfect. The moment was perfect. If you ask me to reshoot it again, I swear I’ll throw something at you."Martin the director laughed on the other end of the line. "Fine, fine. You win, DanCliffe. You always do.""Exactly."The assistant took the signed document from me and scurried off. Another person approached with a clipboard, but I raised a hand. "Not now. Give me a second to breathe."She hesitated before nodding and stepping back. I squeezed my eyes shut, rubbing my temples. My head was poun
Dominic's POVThe Chief’s words played over and over in my head. Eight inmates had escaped, and not a single one had been found. It didn’t make sense. How could a group that large vanish without a trace? Someone had helped them. Someone with power and enough resources.I gripped my whiskey glass and set it down hard. The sound made Damien glance at me. He could see the frustration in my face."Dominic," he murmured in warning.I shook my head. "He’s the Chief of Police. How does he not have a single lead? Not even one?"Damien leaned back, stretching his arm across the booth. "Agitating yourself isn’t going to change anything.""So what do you suggest?"He looked at me for a long moment. "We need to get some sleep. We regroup in the morning and think about our next step then."I opened my mouth to argue, but he raised a hand. "No arguments. You know I’m right."I ran a hand over my face. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."We finished our drinks in silence. Damien paid the bill, and we walked out
Dominic's POVThe world around me blurred the moment I saw the news. Only three words rang in my head. Ambrose was free. Ambrose was free!And if he was free, I knew without a doubt that there was only one thing he would want.Revenge.“Dominic!” Damien yelled, and I gave a small start.I looked up in horror. “Ambrose escaped.”His entire expression changed immediately. The chatter in the room faded as the other men picked up on the shift in atmosphere.“What the hell do you mean he escaped?” Damien took my phone from my hand and skimmed the article. The longer he read, the thinner his lips turned. “Son of a bitch!”I ran a hand down my face, trying to tell myself to stay calm. “They set fire to the penitentiary and used the chaos as cover. The authorities haven’t been able to track him down.”“Of course they haven’t.” Damien groaned and closed his eyes. “Ambrose was never the kind of man to just sit and rot in a cell. He planned this, I know he did.”I nodded, already running through
Dominic's POVFive years later..."I don't see why this meeting can't be handled over a conference call, Damien."I pushed open my office door with my shoulder, my phone propped between my ear and my collarbone. With one hand, I shrugged on my jacket while the other gripped my briefcase. "It’s not like we haven’t done this a hundred times before."Damien’s sigh came through the line. "Dom, you know how these high-rollers are. They like to see who they’re dealing with, shake hands and size up the competition. You want to lock this deal down, we do it my way.""Your way? Why the fuck? My way is better.""Because," Damien said on the other end, "when you're dealing with potential buyers for a deal this big, you look them in the eye. You gauge their reactions. You see if they're hiding anything."I sighed. "We have people for that.""And people can be wrong," Damien countered. "Come on, Dom. I already set this up. Look, the least you can do is to just show up and listen."I reached the fr