Chapter 4 - The Double Agent
Mara stared at the banking documents, her mind struggling to process the massive conspiracy.
"You knew she was a Russian spy this entire time?" Mara asked in disbelief.
Dominic poured himself a glass of expensive bourbon, his hand completely steady despite the recent violence.
"Keep your friends close, and your traitorous estate managers closer," Dominic replied smoothly.
He explained that Evelyn had been funnelling his money to a rival cartel led by a man named Volkov.
Dominic had allowed the theft to continue so he could secretly track the money directly to Volkov's hidden accounts.
"Then why did you make me your personal assistant?" Mara questioned, feeling entirely used.
Dominic set his glass down and walked slowly toward her, his gaze softening considerably.
"Because I needed someone I could trust to audit my private ledgers without raising Evelyn's suspicions," he admitted.
He knew about her family's bakery, and he knew she possessed exceptional accounting skills.
He had purposely left his office door unlocked that morning, hoping the puppy would lure her inside.
Mara felt a strange mixture of intense anger and undeniable flattery bubbling in her chest.
"You manipulated me," she stated, crossing her arms defensively.
"I recruited you," Dominic corrected gently, stepping incredibly close to her.
He gently grabbed her chin, forcing her to look directly into his dark, dangerous eyes.
"And now I need you to help me completely destroy Evelyn's entire operation," he whispered.
Mara knew she should run far away from this terrifying world of blood and betrayal.
But the way he looked at her made her feel truly seen for the first time in her life.
She nodded slowly, agreeing to help him dismantle the Russian conspiracy from the inside.
Dominic handed her a highly encrypted laptop containing all of the estate's financial records.
"Find the shell company she uses to launder the cash, and I can freeze Volkov's entire empire," Dominic instructed.
Mara spent the next six hours locked in the private office, furiously typing and crunching numbers.
She used every single trick she had learned from managing her family's struggling business.
Just before midnight, she finally cracked the complex routing algorithm hidden in the payroll accounts.
"I found it," Mara smiled, turning the laptop screen toward Dominic.
Before Dominic could celebrate, the heavy oak doors of the office violently burst open.
May you like
Evelyn stood in the doorway, holding a suppressed submachine gun aimed directly at Mara's chest.
"Step away from the computer, you pathetic little maid," Evelyn sneered viciously.
