Chapter 5 - The Night She Became His WeaknessDominic wanted Alora nowhere near the gallery.
Alora refused.
At midnight, rain began falling over Boston.
The abandoned gallery stood against the darkness like an empty cathedral.
Dominic entered carrying the ledger inside a black leather case.
Alora walked beside him.
Jax and Dominic's men remained hidden nearby.
Marcus stood beneath the broken mural.
Elena was tied to a chair.
Alive.
“Release her,” Dominic said.
Marcus smiled.
“The ledger first.”
Dominic lifted the case.
“Let her walk.”
Marcus nodded.
One of his men cut Elena loose.
She hurried toward Dominic.
Halfway across the room, gunfire erupted.
Not from Dominic's side.
Cross's men opened fire from the upper level.
Marcus shouted in surprise.
He had been betrayed.
Dominic pulled Alora behind a stone pillar.
“Stay down!”
Chaos exploded around them.
Jax's men entered.
Marcus tried escaping toward the staircase.
Adrian Cross appeared above.
“You should have given me Wolfe when I asked!”
Marcus fired upward.
Cross disappeared behind cover.
Alora crouched beside Dominic.
“This wasn't the plan.”
“Criminals are notoriously unreliable.”
She stared at him.
“Was that a joke?”
“Bad timing?”
“Extremely.”
Another shot shattered stone above them.
Dominic shielded her with his body.
A bullet grazed his shoulder.
He grunted.
“Dominic!”
“I'm fine.”
Blood began spreading through his shirt.
“You are not fine.”
“Relative term.”
He pushed her toward Jax.
“Get her out.”
“No.”
“Alora.”
“I am not leaving you.”
Something raw flashed in his eyes.
“Please.”
It was the first time she had ever heard him use the word.
That frightened her enough to obey.
Jax took her toward the rear exit.
Then Marcus appeared.
He seized Alora from behind.
A gun pressed against her side.
Dominic saw them.
Everything stopped.
Marcus smiled.
“There she is.”
Dominic's face became completely blank.
“Let her go.”
“You know, your father made that exact expression when Isabella died.”
Dominic raised his gun.
Marcus placed his weapon against Alora.
“Drop it.”
Dominic did.
Alora stared.
A man feared across Boston surrendered instantly.
For her.
Marcus laughed.
“This is what love does.”
Dominic's voice was quiet.
“No.”
Marcus frowned.
“It gives a man something worth choosing.”
Alora understood before Marcus did.
Dominic had dropped the gun near Jax.
Jax kicked it across the floor.
Dominic caught it.
One shot.
Marcus's weapon flew from his hand.
Alora dropped.
Jax restrained Marcus.
Within minutes, Cross's remaining men retreated.
Marcus was alive.
Dominic could have killed him.
Everyone expected him to.
Instead, he looked toward Alora.
She slowly shook her head.
Dominic lowered the gun.
“Police,” he told Jax.
Jax stared.
“You're serious?”
“Yes.”
“With the ledger?”
“All of it.”
Marcus began laughing.
“You'll destroy yourself.”
Dominic looked down at him.
“Maybe.”
“You think the authorities will overlook everything you've done?”
“No.”
Marcus stopped smiling.
Dominic continued.
“But they won't overlook you either.”
By sunrise, federal investigators possessed evidence of Marcus Vale's operations.
Dominic's lawyers negotiated his cooperation.
He provided information about businesses, money laundering, corrupt officials, and criminal associates.
Not everything he had done could be erased.
But Dominic made a decision no Wolfe had made before.
He dismantled his own empire.
The process took months.
Threats arrived.
Businesses collapsed.
Several associates abandoned him.
Others testified.
Dominic sold properties connected to illegal operations.
He created legitimate companies from what remained.
Through all of it, Alora stayed.
One evening, Dominic found her asleep on the couch beside dozens of legal documents.
He covered her with a blanket.
Her eyes opened.
“You're home.”
“For now.”
“How bad?”
He sat beside her.
“Three years of supervised federal cooperation. Financial penalties. No prison if I comply.”
Alora exhaled.
“That sounds good.”
“It means I spend the next several years giving prosecutors people who want me dead.”
“Less good.”
Dominic smiled tiredly.
He looked different now.
Not softer.
Lighter.
As though invisible armor had begun coming off.
Alora touched his injured shoulder.
“Does it hurt?”
“Sometimes.”
“I meant all of it.”
He understood.
“Yes.”
She took his hand.
Dominic looked at their fingers.
“I don't know how to do this.”
“What?”
“Normal.”
Alora smiled.
“Neither does anyone.”
“That's not reassuring.”
“We'll improvise.”
Their relationship changed slowly.
There were no dramatic declarations.
No promises neither understood.
Dominic learned Alora drank coffee with too much cinnamon.
Alora learned Dominic woke from nightmares but pretended he had simply wanted water.
He discovered she sang badly while cooking.
She discovered he could actually play piano.
Months after the gallery shooting, he finally played for her.
The song had no name.
His mother had taught it to him.
When he finished, Alora was crying.
Dominic frowned.
“That bad?”
She laughed through tears.
“Terrible.”
He kissed her forehead.
Life began becoming something neither had expected.
Then Alora disappeared.
It happened on a Tuesday.
She left the library at 5:12.
Her security driver waited outside.
She never reached the car.
At 5:20, Dominic received a photograph.
Alora sat tied to a chair.
A bruise marked her cheek.
Her eyes remained defiant.
The message beneath it contained five words.
CROSS WANTS WHAT YOU OWE.
Dominic stared at the screen.
Jax watched him.
“We can find her.”
Dominic did not speak.
“We'll find her.”
Dominic's phone rang.
Cross.
“Dominic Wolfe.”
“Where is she?”
Cross laughed.
“You know, Marcus was right. She really did ruin you.”
“What do you want?”
“The information you gave the government.”
“I can't retrieve it.”
“You can give me the names of protected witnesses.”
“No.”
Cross paused.
“Then she dies.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
Old instincts surged.
Violence.
Retaliation.
Burn everything.
His father's answer.
Then he remembered his mother's letter.
Strength is choosing what kind of man you become when fear would be easier.
Dominic opened his eyes.
“I want proof she is alive.”
Cross put the phone near Alora.
“Dominic?”
Her voice shook.
“I’m here.”
“I’m okay.”
Cross laughed.
“She won't be for long.”
Dominic ignored him.
“Alora, listen to me.”
“I’m listening.”
“I will come for you.”
She inhaled.
“I know.”
That simple trust nearly broke him.
Cross returned.
“Midnight. Harbor warehouse seventeen.”
The call ended.
Jax reached for weapons.
Dominic stopped him.
“No.”
“What?”
“We're not starting a war.”
“Then what?”
Dominic picked up his phone.
“We call the federal task force.”
Jax stared.
“Old you would hate that.”
Dominic looked at Alora's photograph.
“Old me almost got her killed.”
He began dialing.
At midnight, Dominic entered warehouse seventeen alone.
Or appeared to.
Cross stood near the water.
Alora sat several feet away.
Dominic raised his hands.
“I'm here.”
Cross smiled.
“For love.”
“For her.”
“How disappointing.”
Dominic walked forward.
Cross lifted his gun.
“Any final words?”
Dominic looked toward Alora.
She stared back.
He smiled.
“Yes.”
Cross frowned.
Dominic said, “Duck.”
Alora dropped instantly.
Windows exploded.
Federal agents entered from three sides.
Cross fired wildly.
Dominic ran toward Alora.
A bullet struck him.
He fell.
“DOMINIC!”
Alora screamed.
Agents tackled Cross.
Jax reached Dominic first.
Blood spread beneath his body.
Alora crawled toward him.
His eyes struggled to focus.
“Hey,” she whispered.
Dominic tried smiling.
“Told you I'd come.”
“Don't talk.”
“I have something to tell you.”
“You can tell me at the hospital.”
“Alora.”
Her tears fell onto his face.
“What?”
His voice became barely audible.
May you like
“I love you.”
Then Dominic Wolfe closed his eyes.
