Chapter 2 - The Safehouse Fortress
The ride away from North Shore Memorial was executed with a level of military precision that reminded me instantly of who my husband really was. Instead of two security SUVs, there were now four. Caleb and Noah were on high alert, speaking in low, clipped radio codes while Dorian sat beside me in the back seat, holding my hand with a grip so fierce it almost hurt.
I tried to pull my hand away as the car merged onto the expressway, but Dorian tightened his fingers, refusing to let go.
"Dorian, let go of me," I said, my voice shaking with emotional exhaustion. "Finding out I'm pregnant doesn't erase the last six months. It doesn't erase the fact that you threw me away."
"I never threw you away, Alina," he said, his tone dark and raspy.
"You stopped coming home! You stopped talking to me! You had your lawyer hand me divorce papers!" I shouted, the tears threatening to spill over again. "What else was I supposed to call it?"
"I was protecting you!" he roared back, the sudden burst of volume startling even the security guards in the front seat.
Dorian closed his eyes, taking a deep, shuddering breath to regain his composure. When he opened them, the raw agony inside them made my heart ache despite my anger.
"Six months ago, a syndicate from Detroit tried to take over our shipping routes through the Great Lakes," Dorian explained in a low, gravelly voice. "They didn't just want the territory, Alina. They wanted to tear down everything I built. And their leader, a lunatic named Viktor Vance, made it very clear how he intended to win."
Dorian reached up with his free hand, gently tracing the line of my jawline with his thumb. "He sent me a photograph of you sitting in a cafe in Lincoln Park, with a red dot from a laser sight trained on your chest. He told me that if I didn't step down, he would murder you and send you back to me in pieces."
I went completely rigid. "What?"
"I couldn't kill him immediately without putting you in the crossfire," Dorian whispered, his eyes filling with dark remorse. "He had eyes on my house, my office, my cars. The only way to keep you alive was to make him believe that I no longer cared about you. I created a fake rift between us. I stopped coming home. I hired hidden teams to guard you twenty-four hours a day. And finally, I filed for divorce so Vance would think you were completely worthless as leverage against me."
I stared at him in utter disbelief. "You... you staged our entire separation?"
"Every cruel word, every missed dinner, every cold look—it was all a lie to keep Vance's crosshairs off your back while I systematically destroyed his network," Dorian confessed, leaning his forehead against mine. "I was three days away from finishing Vance's crew permanently. The divorce papers were never supposed to be finalized, Alina. My lawyer had orders to drag the process out for months until the threat was eliminated. But then you threw up in that office today..."
He pulled back slightly, his eyes dropping to my belly. "And now everything has changed. You aren't just his potential target anymore. If Vance finds out you are carrying my heir, he will burn Chicago to the ground to take you from me."
Before I could fully digest the terrifying reality of his confession, the SUV veered sharply off the main highway, taking a secluded, tree-lined road toward the dense woods outside Lake Forest.
The gates to a massive, stone-walled estate opened automatically. The compound looked like a modern medieval fortress, complete with bulletproof glass, reinforced steel perimeter fences, and heavily armed security personnel stationed at every entrance.
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"Where are we?" I asked, looking out the tinted window.
"This is my private safehouse," Dorian said, unbuckling his seatbelt as the car came to a stop in the subterranean garage. "No one knows this place exists except Caleb, Noah, and my most trusted lieutenants. You and our child are staying here until Viktor Vance is dead."
