Chapter 4 - The Ghost
Mark had been dead to me for three years.
He abandoned us when Lily was two, leaving nothing behind but gambling debts and empty bottles.
Hearing his name in Dominic's penthouse made the room spin.
"Mark is working with Detective Reynolds?" I asked, my voice trembling with disgust.
Dominic nodded slowly.
"Your ex-husband owes a lot of money to very dangerous people."
"Reynolds likely offered to wipe his debts clean in exchange for your location."
I slammed my glass down on the table, anger finally replacing my fear.
"He sold his own daughter to a hit squad to save his own pathetic skin."
Dominic stepped closer to me.
"I will have him found, and I will handle him."
"No," I said fiercely, looking up into his dark eyes.
"I refuse to hide in this glass tower while men treat my life like a poker chip."
"If you want me here, you have to let me work."
Dominic studied my face for a long time.
A faint smile touched his lips.
"You have fire in you, Emma."
"Tomorrow, you will start as a VIP hostess at my casino."
"It is the safest building in the state, and you will be surrounded by my security."
The next evening, I wore a sleek black dress provided by Dominic's staff.
I walked onto the glittering casino floor, feeling like an entirely different person.
For three hours, everything was perfect.
Then a man in a rumpled suit sat down at my assigned baccarat table.
He flashed a gold police badge hidden in his palm.
It was Detective Marcus Reynolds.
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"Smile, Emma," Reynolds whispered, grabbing my wrist so hard the bones ground together.
"If you alert your mobster boyfriend, I have a sniper aiming at your daughter's bedroom window right now."
