Chapter 6 - The Night Chicago Came for Us
Luca raised his gun.
Maya's heart sank.
Then he turned it toward Catherine.
“No,” he said.
Catherine's smile vanished.
The two armed men moved.
Luca fired once into the ceiling.
The lights went out.
Dominic entered through the secondary door with federal agents behind him.
Everything happened quickly.
Catherine's men surrendered.
Catherine didn't.
She grabbed Maya and pressed a small blade against her throat.
Dominic froze.
“Let her go.”
Catherine laughed.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“Your weakness.”
Maya felt Dominic's fear from across the room.
Catherine saw it too.
“You built your reputation convincing everyone you couldn't be touched,” she said. “Then she sat on your lap in a bar.”
Dominic's gaze stayed on Maya.
“She has nothing to do with this.”
“She has everything to do with it.”
Maya remained still.
Catherine underestimated her.
Again.
Maya drove her heel backward onto Catherine's foot and dropped.
Luca moved.
Agents rushed forward.
Seconds later Catherine was on the floor in handcuffs.
Maya looked up.
Dominic crossed the room.
“You okay?”
“I think this dress is cursed.”
He stared at the royal-blue fabric.
“You wore it deliberately?”
“I needed luck.”
“You were nearly killed.”
“Bad luck, apparently.”
Dominic pulled her into his arms.
Catherine was arrested.
So was Salvatore.
The recovered accounts documented eighteen years of fraud, bribery, extortion, and laundering.
Charles Mercer's death was eventually tied to one of Catherine's contractors.
Dominic's father had indeed been poisoned.
Claire's evidence proved it.
And Maya's name was cleared.
But freedom created a new problem.
Maya no longer knew what came next.
Three weeks later, she returned to her apartment.
It had been repaired.
Cleaned.
Safe.
Vanessa came over with pizza and an apology.
“I was cruel that night.”
Maya looked at her.
“You were.”
“I thought I was teasing.”
“You weren't.”
Vanessa nodded.
“I know.”
Maya appreciated that she didn't make excuses.
“I’m sorry,” Vanessa said. “You were never the safe fat friend. I made you feel like your body determined what kind of life you were allowed to have.”
Maya's eyes burned.
“Thank you.”
Vanessa hugged her.
Then she smiled.
“Still, statistically, kissing Dominic Romano may have been an overcorrection.”
Maya laughed.
The laughter felt good.
Her career changed too.
Bennett & Cross collapsed after Catherine's arrest.
Maya received offers from six firms.
She rejected all of them.
Instead she founded Bennett Forensic Compliance.
Her first client arrived one Monday morning.
Dominic Romano.
Maya stared at the contract.
“You don't need my company.”
“I do.”
“You have an internal compliance department.”
“They're terrified of me.”
“Understandable.”
“You aren't.”
Maya looked at him.
“I have moments.”
He smiled.
Their relationship had existed in an uncomfortable space since Catherine's arrest.
Dominic called.
Maya answered.
They had dinner.
Sometimes they kissed.
Neither named it.
Maya suspected why.
Dominic had spent his life surrounded by people who wanted something from him.
Maya had spent hers surrounded by people who assumed she should be grateful for whatever attention she received.
Neither wanted uncertainty.
So Maya finally asked.
“What are we doing?”
Dominic became still.
“Having lunch.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
He looked at her.
“I don't know how to do this casually.”
“Good.”
His eyebrows rose.
“I don't want casual.”
Dominic said nothing.
Maya's confidence wavered.
Then he stood and walked around the desk.
“You understand what being with me means?”
“Expensive restaurants?”
“Threats.”
“I've noticed.”
“Attention.”
“Already happened.”
“My family.”
“Claire likes me more than she likes you.”
“Everyone likes you more than they like me.”
“Also noticed.”
Dominic smiled.
Then became serious.
“I don't claim people, Maya.”
She remembered the bar.
His arm around her waist.
The rumors.
The way strangers described powerful men like Dominic as if affection were possession.
“Good,” she said. “Because I don't belong to anyone.”
“I know.”
He touched her cheek.
“But I can choose you.”
Maya's breath caught.
“And I can choose you,” she whispered.
He kissed her.
This kiss was nothing like the first.
No dare.
No audience.
No need to prove anything.
Just choice.
Then Dominic's phone rang.
Claire.
He answered.
His expression changed immediately.
“What happened?”
Maya watched.
Dominic put the call on speaker.
Claire's voice came through.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“Catherine made one final transfer before she was arrested.”
Maya opened her laptop.
“How much?”
“It's not money.”
Claire sent a document.
Maya opened it.
Her blood went cold.
It was a contract.
A contract transferring ownership of a private warehouse on the Chicago River.
Signed by Catherine.
Witnessed by Charles Mercer.
And registered to a company that supposedly didn't exist.
Dominic stared at the company name.
“What is it?”
Maya asked.
He didn't answer.
Claire did.
“That company belonged to Dominic's father.”
Maya scrolled down.
A handwritten note appeared beneath the signature.
IF CATHERINE FALLS, OPEN WAREHOUSE 17.
Dominic looked at Maya.
“That's my father's handwriting.”
That night they reached Warehouse 17.
Dominic unlocked the steel entrance.
The door moved inward.
A light was already burning inside.
Someone had arrived before them.
May you like
And from somewhere beyond the darkness, a man's voice said:
“Dominic, I've been waiting for you.”
