Chapter 3 - Flight Risk
Dominic moved with military precision. He grabbed Clara’s hand, pulling her down the hallway to Leo’s bedroom. The little boy was curled under the bed, crying silently.
When Dominic crouched down, Leo looked into the face of the man who shared his eyes.
"Hey, buddy," Dominic said, his voice impossibly gentle despite the gunfire outside. "I’m a friend of your mom’s. We’re going to play a game, okay? We have to run to my car very fast."
Dominic scooped the four-year-old into his arms, shielding Leo’s small body with his own broad chest. He looked at Clara. "Do you trust me?"
"I don't have a choice," she sobbed.
"Boss, the perimeter is compromised!" Dominic's head of security, a giant of a man named Marcus, yelled from the kitchen. "They have long rifles in the woods. We have an armored Suburban idling at the back door."
"Move!" Dominic barked.
They sprinted through the kitchen, bursting out the back door. Bullets pinged off the armored plating of the black SUV. Clara dove into the backseat, and Dominic threw Leo in beside her before diving in himself.
The tires spun in the mud, kicking up dirt as the massive vehicle tore through Clara’s backyard, smashing through a wooden fence and hitting the coastal highway at eighty miles an hour.
Inside the SUV, Clara pulled Leo tightly to her chest, burying her face in his hair. Dominic sat opposite them, reloading his weapon, his face an impenetrable mask of fury.
"Who is shooting at us?" Clara demanded.
"Julian," Dominic stated flatly. "Four years ago, my father’s will dictated that if I had no heir, control of Thorne Industries would split evenly between Julian and me. When you disappeared, I spiraled. I stepped back from the company. Julian took over as acting CEO."
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Clara’s blood ran cold. "He staged the affair to make me leave."
"And now that he knows I’ve found you," Dominic said, looking at the little boy who was the undisputed heir to a fifty-billion-dollar empire. "He’s trying to finish the job."
