Chapter 4 – THE GRAND AZURE AMBUSH

Dominic took the valet ticket from Leo’s hand.

“The Grand Azure,” Dominic read aloud. “It’s a Romano-owned hotel on the South Side. Vincent is hiding in plain sight.”

Dominic immediately reached for his coat.

“I’m going with you,” I said, stepping in front of the door.

“Absolutely not, Olivia. It’s too dangerous.”

“My mother’s church is at the center of this. Madeline humiliated me, forged my name, and put my family in danger. I’m not sitting on a couch while you fix it.”

Dominic stared at me. He saw the sheer, stubborn determination in my eyes.

He let out a heavy breath. “You stay behind me. You do exactly what I say.”

“Deal.”

I kissed my mother on the cheek and told her to keep the doors locked. Leo hugged my leg before we left.

We took a different car this time—a discrete, armored sedan.

The Grand Azure hotel was a towering structure of glass and steel. At 2:00 AM, the lobby was practically empty.

Dominic didn’t walk through the front doors. He led me through the underground parking garage, using a cloned access card he kept in his wallet.

“Vincent always books the penthouse suites,” Dominic whispered as we slipped into the service elevator. “He likes to look down on people.”

We rode the elevator in tense silence. I stood close to Dominic, my shoulder brushing against his arm. I could feel the heat radiating from him, steady and protective.

The elevator pinged at the top floor.

The doors slid open to a luxurious, dimly lit hallway.

Dominic drew his weapon. We moved silently down the thick carpet.

At the end of the hall, the double doors to the penthouse were slightly ajar.

Dominic signaled for me to stay back. He pushed the door open with his foot and stepped inside.

I waited for the sound of gunfire.

Instead, I heard Dominic swear loudly.

“Olivia. Come here.”

I hurried into the room.

The penthouse was completely trashed. Furniture was overturned. Glass shattered across the expensive rugs.

And sitting in a chair in the center of the room, tied up with zip-ties and crying hysterically, was Madeline.

She looked up when we walked in, her expensive gown torn, her makeup smeared down her face.

“Dominic!” she sobbed. “Thank God you found me!”

Dominic lowered his gun, but his eyes remained cold.

“Where is Vincent?”

“He left!” Madeline cried. “He betrayed me, Dominic! He took the ledger and left me here to die!”

I stared at her. The arrogant, cruel woman from the ballroom was completely broken.

“You betrayed me first, Madeline,” Dominic said coldly. “You stole my money. You funded my brother’s war.”

“I had to!” Madeline wept. “Vincent said if I didn’t help him, he would tell you the truth about my father!”

“What truth?” I asked.

Madeline looked at me, her eyes filled with shame.

“My father didn’t lose his money in bad investments,” Madeline confessed. “He embezzled it from the Moretti family. Vincent found out. He used it to blackmail me into becoming his inside woman. He forced me to get engaged to you, Dominic.”

A profound silence fell over the room.

Their entire relationship, the engagement, the foundation—it was all a lie orchestrated by Vincent.

“Vincent didn’t just want my money,” Dominic realized, his voice hollow. “He wanted to destroy my life from the inside out.”

Dominic pulled a knife from his pocket and cut the zip-ties around Madeline’s wrists.

“Where did he go, Madeline?”

She rubbed her bruised wrists. “He went to the docks. Pier 42. The Romanos have a freighter leaving for international waters at 4:00 AM. He’s taking the ledger and fleeing the country.”

Dominic checked his watch. It was 3:15 AM.

“He’s leaving the Romanos to fight the war he started,” Dominic said, shaking his head. “Typical Vincent.”

He looked at me. “We’re going to Pier 42.”

Suddenly, the heavy penthouse doors slammed shut behind us.

A chilling, familiar laugh echoed from the balcony shadows.

“You really shouldn’t believe everything a liar tells you, little brother.”

A man stepped out of the darkness. He looked like an older, crueler version of Dominic. A jagged scar ran down his jawline.

Vincent Moretti.

And he wasn’t alone. Six heavily armed Romano thugs stepped out from the adjoining rooms, their weapons trained directly on us.

Madeline didn’t look scared anymore. She stood up and walked over to stand beside Vincent, a wicked smile returning to her face.

“I told you he would come if I played the victim,” Madeline purred, linking her arm through Vincent’s.

We had walked right into a trap.

Vincent smiled, pulling a heavy, silver lighter from his pocket.

“Goodbye, Dominic.”

Share