Chapter 191
Whether he wanted it or not.
I turned to the security team, pasting on an easy smile despite the thrumming of my pulse in my ears. “I could really use a cup of coffee,” I lied lightly.” Mind taking me to the nearest café?”
One of the guards, tall and stiff–set with sharp eyes, nodded at me and murmured something into his earpiece. “She wants to go get a cup of coffee. We’ll
take her.”
I played it cool, like I hadn’t caught the coded words they used to keep Dominic abreast of my every move.
The café was small, tucked in the corner of a quiet street, with fragrant coffee beans and vanilla hanging heavily in the air as I stepped inside. The place should have felt warm and cozy, but my chest felt tight.
I slid toward the counter, pretending to consider the menu even though I already knew what I was going to order. “I’ll have a cappuccino,” I said, my voice casual, like this was just another normal day.
The barista nodded, punching in my order. “Name for the order?”
I hesitated. “Faith.”
The name felt heavier than usual.
As I stepped aside, waiting for my drink, my gaze went to the door, and my heart sped up at the sight of him. My lawyer.
He didn’t look at me. Didn’t nod. Didn’t slow down. He walked in like any other customer, his face expressionless, as he slid past my table and let a manila envelope fall from his fingers, dropping beside my hand, with hardly a whisper, before he kept walking and disappeared just as fast as he arrived.
I swallowed hard, crumpling the envelope in my fist as my breath quickened. This was it. The papers. Proof that I wasn’t bluffing.
I could feel the security team watching, assessing, waiting. But not intervening. They couldn’t. Though I knew, at this very moment, one of them was updating Dominic.
I reached for my coffee as the barista called my name, forcing my fingers to steady as I grabbed the cup. Bringing it to my lips, I took a slow sip, allowing the heat to burn down my throat.
Well. Let them tell him, then.
It didn’t matter anymore.
I slowly let the air escape my lungs, clenching the manila envelope even tighter. This was it–the last nail in the coffin of a marriage that just died.
Turning toward the security team, my voice came out smooth, though firm: “It’s time to head home.” I couldn’t wait to hand it over to Dominic. I slipped the envelope into my coat pocket.
The two men looked at each other, then nodded curtly at one another. “Let’s go,” one of them muttered, already striding forward to clear a path.
I trailed behind them, my heart beating a beat or two faster now. Not with fear. No, not fear. It was anticipation, rising in my chest, knowing Dominic would have no choice but to finally face reality.
But the second I stepped out that door, it all changed.
A loud crack split the air.
Then another.
Before I could even process what was going on, both security men dropped in front of me, their bodies hitting the pavement with sickening thuds. Blood pooled beneath them, seeping into the cracks of the sidewalk.
I couldn’t breathe.
They were dead. Shot. Both of them.
My limbs locked up, shock paralyzing me. My ears rang, the world tilting around me as I stared at their lifeless bodies. A sniper. It had to be. Someone had taken them out with terrifying precision.
Run. Run, Faith.
I spun on my heel, desperate to get back inside the café, to find cover, to call Dominic-
Tires screeched.
A black van swerved around the corner, speeding toward me.
Before I could stir, doors crashed open and masked men sprang out.
I gasped, stumbling backward, but it was no use.
Rough hands seized me. I struggled, kicked, tried to scream, but someone clamped a hand over my mouth. A sharp, pungent smell filled my nostrils as a cloth was rammed over my face.
No–no, no, no-
Darkness closed in fast, swallowing me whole.
The last thing I heard before I lost consciousness was a low, cold voice.
“Boss, we have her.”
