Chapter 2 - The Woman Dominic Mercer Refused to Abandon
Clara woke sometime after midnight.
For several seconds she did not know where she was.
The mattress beneath her was too soft.
The sheets smelled faintly of lavender instead of industrial detergent.
A lamp glowed beside the bed.
Then pain returned.
Her cheek throbbed.
Her collarbone ached.
Both forearms had been cleaned and bandaged.
Dr. Brennan had removed three tiny pieces of glass from her skin and assured Dominic that none of her injuries were life-threatening.
Still, Dominic had refused to let her return to the servants’ quarters.
Clara turned her head.
She was in one of the Mercer estate’s upstairs guest rooms.
And Dominic Mercer was sitting in a chair beside the window.
Still awake.
His suit jacket was gone.
His sleeves were rolled to his elbows.
A glass of whiskey rested untouched on the small table beside him.
“You should sleep,” Clara murmured.
Dominic looked over.
“So should you.”
“I did.”
“For forty-three minutes.”
Despite herself, Clara almost smiled.
“You timed it?”
“I was working.”
She looked toward the papers spread across the table.
“You work beside all your injured employees?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Clara looked back at him.
Dominic did not elaborate.
Silence settled between them.
It was strange seeing him this way.
For months she had known Dominic as a distant figure.
A man behind closed doors.
A voice issuing instructions.
A shadow moving through hallways at impossible hours.
People feared him.
Employees obeyed him.
Men twice his age lowered their voices when he entered a room.
Yet tonight he looked less like an untouchable crime boss and more like an exhausted man who had forgotten how to leave his work behind.
Clara touched the bandage on her cheek.
“I caused trouble.”
“No.”
“The Hastings family—”
“Caused trouble.”
“Caroline is your fiancée.”
“For now.”
Clara froze.
Dominic stared through the dark window.
“The engagement was an agreement between families.”
“You’re canceling it?”
“I haven’t decided.”
She gave him a disbelieving look.
He noticed.
“What?”
“She hit me with a belt.”
“Yes.”
“And you haven’t decided?”
Dominic leaned back.
“The world I live in is not built around what people deserve, Clara.”
It was the first time she remembered him using her first name.
“It’s built around consequences.”
She studied him.
“And what are the consequences if you break the engagement?”
“A war.”
The answer chilled the room.
“The Hastings family controls most of the eastern docks. My organization controls the trucking routes and inland distribution. The engagement was meant to prevent both sides from destroying one another.”
Clara looked down at her hands.
“So if you leave Caroline because of me—”
“I would not be leaving her because of you.”
“But everyone will say you did.”
“Yes.”
She closed her eyes.
That was worse.
“Then send me away.”
Dominic became very still.
“What?”
“Let me go.”
“You still owe money.”
“I know.”
“I meant leave the city.”
Clara stared.
Dominic continued.
“I’ll erase Tommy’s debt.”
She almost laughed because the offer sounded impossible.
“You don’t erase debts.”
“I can.”
“Why?”
Dominic did not answer immediately.
Clara waited.
Finally he said, “Because Caroline knows your face now.”
A knot formed in Clara’s stomach.
“She would hurt me again?”
“Yes.”
“You sound very sure.”
“I know people like Caroline.”
Clara gave a weak smile.
“You are people like Caroline.”
Something flickered across his expression.
Maybe amusement.
Maybe pain.
“No,” he said. “I’m something worse.”
Before Clara could respond, the door opened.
A guard entered.
“Boss.”
Dominic stood.
“What?”
“Arthur Hastings is downstairs.”
Clara’s heartbeat quickened.
“Now?”
“He brought Leo. Caroline’s with them.”
Dominic checked his watch.
12:47 a.m.
“Of course she is.”
He moved toward the door.
Clara pushed herself upright.
“Dominic.”
He stopped.
“If you go downstairs angry, you’ll make it worse.”
For a moment he simply looked at her.
Then one corner of his mouth moved.
“People usually tell me the opposite.”
“What?”
“They usually tell me I’m not angry enough.”
He left.
Downstairs, Arthur Hastings was waiting in the library.
He was seventy years old and still carried himself like a man accustomed to owning every room he entered.
Caroline stood beside him.
Leo poured whiskey at the bar.
Arthur did not sit.
“You humiliated my daughter.”
Dominic closed the library doors.
“Your daughter assaulted an employee.”
Arthur waved one hand dismissively.
“A servant.”
“A person.”
Caroline laughed bitterly.
“Oh, spare me.”
Dominic looked at her.
A faint red mark crossed her wrist where he had grabbed her.
She held it as though displaying evidence of some grave injustice.
Arthur stepped closer.
“Our families have spent eighteen months arranging this alliance.”
“I remember.”
“Then act like it.”
Dominic poured himself coffee instead of whiskey.
Arthur watched with growing irritation.
“The engagement continues.”
“That’s not your decision.”
“The docks belong to me.”
“For now.”
Leo lowered his drink.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Dominic turned.
“It means I finished reviewing the transit agreements tonight.”
Arthur’s face tightened.
“And?”
“You’ve been stealing.”
The room changed.
Caroline stopped breathing.
Leo stared at his father.
Arthur smiled slowly.
“Careful.”
“I found twelve shell companies collecting fees from Mercer shipments.”
“You’re mistaken.”
“No.”
Dominic placed a folder on the table.
“I rarely am.”
Arthur opened it.
His smile vanished.
Dominic continued.
“You demanded an alliance while siphoning money from me.”
Arthur closed the folder.
“Business.”
“Then what happens next is also business.”
Caroline stepped between them.
“Dominic, stop.”
He looked at her.
“I think our engagement has served its purpose.”
Her face drained of color.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do.”
“Because of her?”
“No.”
Caroline laughed.
“You carried her out of our engagement party in your arms.”
“She was bleeding.”
“She is a maid!”
Dominic’s expression changed.
Cold.
Final.
“And that sentence is why you’ll never be my wife.”
Caroline stared at him.
For the first time that evening, genuine hurt broke through the rage.
But it lasted only a moment.
Then pride returned.
“You’ll regret this.”
“Probably.”
“My family will destroy you.”
“Get in line.”
Arthur slammed the folder onto the table.
“The deal is over.”
“Yes.”
“The port agreement dies tonight.”
“Yes.”
“And when your trucks have nowhere to unload?”
Dominic took a sip of coffee.
“We’ll improvise.”
Arthur moved toward the door.
Leo followed.
Caroline remained behind.
She looked at Dominic.
Then toward the staircase.
Toward the room where Clara was recovering.
Her eyes narrowed.
“You think she’s innocent?”
Dominic said nothing.
Caroline smiled.
“You don’t even know who she really is.”
That got his attention.
Caroline walked closer.
“Maybe ask your little maid why Tommy Hayes borrowed that money in the first place.”
Dominic’s expression remained controlled.
But Caroline saw the question in his eyes.
She smiled wider.
Then walked away.
Minutes later, Dominic returned upstairs.
Clara was still awake.
He entered quietly.
She looked at him.
“What happened?”
“The engagement is over.”
Clara stared.
He closed the door.
“And Caroline said something before she left.”
Clara’s breathing changed.
Dominic noticed.
“She said I should ask why Tommy borrowed the money.”
Clara looked away.
That was all Dominic needed.
He walked closer.
“What happened, Clara?”
She did not answer.
“Tommy told me he lost it gambling.”
“He lied.”
Dominic stopped.
Clara’s eyes filled—not with fear this time, but shame.
“He borrowed the money because someone told him to.”
“Who?”
She swallowed.
“Leo Hastings.”
And in that instant, Dominic understood that the broken champagne glass had not started this war.
May you like
It had merely revealed one that had already begun.
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