Chapter 5 - The Chemistry of Betrayal
The next morning, sunlight streamed through the tall windows of the mansion's sunroom, illuminating a breakfast spread fit for royalty. Fresh pastries, sliced fruit, smoked salmon, and steaming pots of artisan coffee covered the mahogany dining table.
Sadie sat at the edge of a velvet chair, wearing a borrowed cashmere sweater that swallowed her hands, staring blankly at a plate of scrambled eggs.
"You didn't sleep," a deep voice said from the doorway.
She looked up to see Dominic striding into the room. He was dressed in a tailored charcoal suit, his tie neatly knotted, looking every bit the ruthless corporate titan. But beneath the polished exterior, the dark circles under his eyes remained.
"Adrenaline is a hell of a drug," Sadie replied dryly, pushing her eggs around her plate. "Hard to catch forty winks when you spend the night eavesdropping on your host discussing corporate embezzlement and mafia hits."
Dominic stopped, pouring himself a cup of black coffee. A faint, knowing smirk touched his lips. "So you heard."
"Word of advice: heavy mahogany doors don't block sound as well as you think they do," she said, looking him dead in the eye. "Also, your lawyer—Julian—thinks I'm a spy sent to assassinate you with a breakfast tray."
"Julian is paid to be paranoid," Dominic replied, pulling out the chair opposite her and sitting down. "It's why he still has all his teeth."
"And you?" Sadie asked, leaning forward, resting her elbows on the table despite Mrs. Gable’s disapproving glare from across the room. "Do you think I'm a spy?"
Dominic took a slow sip of his coffee, studying her with those piercing brown eyes. "If you were a spy, you wouldn't have nearly cried when I mentioned your mother's medical bills. Good liars don't have telltale micro-expressions when their family history is brought up."
"You really are thorough, aren't you?" Sadie murmured, a bitter edge creeping into her voice. "Every detail cataloged. Every person vetted. It must be exhausting."
"It's the only way to survive," Dominic said flatly.
"Is that why you do it?" Sadie asked, her voice softening slightly as she looked around the cavernous, empty dining room. "Build all this? Run a criminal empire? Is it about power, or is it just because you're terrified of being alone?"
The silence that followed was absolute.
For a second, the formidable crime boss looked stripped of his armor—just a man standing among ruins of his own making. But before Dominic could answer, the heavy double doors of the dining room flew open, and Marcus strode in, looking grim.
"Boss," Marcus said, ignoring Sadie entirely. "We just got word from the docks. The warehouse holding the imported electronics was broken into last night. Security systems were disabled from the inside using Julian's administrative override code."
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Dominic’s expression hardened instantly, every trace of vulnerability vanishing like smoke. He stood up so fast his chair scraped loudly against the hardwood floor.
"Julian," Dominic whispered, the name tasting like poison.
