Chapter 9 - The Debt Paid
The bullet never reached me.
Dominic moved with impossible speed, stepping directly in front of me and taking the impact of the round in the heavy kevlar lining of his bespoke tuxedo jacket. The force threw him back a step, but he didn't fall.
Before Vance could cock the hammer a second time, Dominic drew his weapon and fired a single round through Vance's right shoulder. The gun flew from the senator's hand, spinning across the floor.
Vance collapsed against the podium, screaming in agony as blood gushed from the wound.
"In accordance with syndicate law," Dominic said, his breathing heavy, his eyes burning with lethal judgment as he looked down at the bleeding politician, "treason against the High Council is punishable by forfeiture of all assets, territory, and bloodline standing."
Don Cavallo stood, raising his cane to signal the council’s unanimous decree. "The Vance family is erased. Their assets are returned to the Moretti trust, under the stewardship of Elena Moretti and the Sterling Syndicate."
Guards dragged the weeping, broken senator away, his shoes squeaking against the wet marble.
Dominic turned back to me. His suit jacket was singed, and his sling was torn, but his eyes were filled with an intensity that made the entire crowded room disappear into nothingness.
"Are you hurt?" he asked, his hands instantly checking my arms, my face, my shoulders.
"You took a bullet for me, Dominic," I breathed, resting my palms against his chest, feeling the wild, furious beat of his heart through the ruined fabric. "Are *you* hurt?"
"I told you," he whispered, cupping my cheek with one warm, calloused palm, leaning down until his lips hovered barely an inch from mine in front of three hundred stunned mafia lords. "I honor my debts. But this... this isn't a debt anymore, Elena."
"What is it, then?"
"It’s everything," he murmured.
May you like
And right there, in the center of the High Council amphitheater, with blood on the floor and diamonds catching the light, Dominic Sterling pulled me against his body and kissed me. It was fierce, possessive, and filled with ten years of unspoken yearning, binding our empires together not by politics, but by choice.
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