Chapter 3 - The Price on Her Head
Dominic’s penthouse had seventeen rooms.
Sadi hated all of them.
“You live like a Bond villain.”
Dominic poured whiskey.
“Thank you.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“I accepted it as one.”
She stood at the windows overlooking the city.
“You shouldn’t have brought me here.”
“Three armed men tried to reach you before midnight.”
“Exactly.”
“And you expect me to send you home?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Sadi turned.
“You don’t own me.”
Dominic took a drink.
“I’m beginning to understand that.”
“Then act like it.”
He placed the glass down.
“Tell me about the Black Crown.”
She was silent.
Dominic waited.
Finally, Sadi spoke.
“My real name is Sadie Jenkins.”
“Sadie.”
“No one has called me that in four years.”
“Why?”
“I disappeared.”
“Because they wanted you dead?”
“Because I made a mistake.”
Dominic sat.
“What mistake?”
“I believed I could change people from the inside.”
She paced slowly.
“The Black Crown recruited former soldiers, athletes, private contractors. They paid me to teach defensive tactics and close-quarter combat.”
“You didn’t know what they were?”
“Not at first.”
“And when you found out?”
“I copied their financial records.”
Dominic’s eyebrows lifted.
“That was brave.”
“That was stupid.”
“What happened?”
“My partner was killed.”
The humor left Dominic’s face.
Sadi looked away.
“I barely got out. I gave evidence to someone I trusted. Two days later, that man disappeared too.”
“Police?”
“Federal investigator.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“And the evidence?”
“Gone.”
“Except?”
Sadi looked at him.
“Except for what I kept.”
Silence.
Dominic stood.
“You still have it.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Sadie—”
“Sadi.”
He paused.
“All right. Sadi.”
She looked surprised.
Dominic continued.
“If the Black Crown believes you still have evidence, they’ll keep coming.”
“They already are.”
“Then give it to me.”
She laughed.
“Absolutely not.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re a crime boss.”
“An extremely successful one.”
“That doesn’t improve your argument.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“I know their businesses. Their brokers. Their routes. You have evidence. I have infrastructure.”
“You want to use me to destroy your competition.”
His face hardened.
“They’re not competition.”
“No?”
“They traffic people.”
Sadi went still.
Dominic’s voice turned cold.
“I sell illegal gambling. I move untaxed liquor. I loan money to men stupid enough to borrow it. I have done things I will never pretend are clean.”
He stepped closer.
“But children have never been merchandise in my city.”
Sadi studied him.
“You expect that to make you a good man?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“A useful one.”
That answer surprised her.
A knock came at the door.
Dominic’s lieutenant Marco entered.
“Boss, we have a problem.”
“How large?”
Marco looked at Sadi.
“Leo’s gone.”
Dominic frowned.
“What do you mean gone?”
“He cleaned out one of the cash rooms. Took forty thousand. Security footage shows him leaving twenty minutes after you did.”
Sadi immediately asked, “Did he know where Dominic was tonight?”
Marco looked at her.
“He schedules the cars.”
Sadi and Dominic exchanged a glance.
Marco swore.
“He sold the location.”
Dominic’s face became stone.
“Find him.”
“He’s already calling.”
Marco held out a phone.
Dominic answered.
“Leo.”
Leo’s voice came through the speaker.
“You should’ve let me shoot her.”
Sadi folded her arms.
Dominic said, “You’re making poor career choices.”
“You’re finished, Dominic.”
“People have been saying that for years.”
“This time they have something you don’t.”
“What?”
Leo laughed.
“Fear.”
Dominic looked at Sadi.
“You misunderstand me.”
“No. You misunderstand them. They know who the waitress is.”
Sadi stepped toward the phone.
“Leo.”
Silence.
Then:
“Hello, Sadie.”
Her face tightened.
Dominic saw it.
Leo continued.
“They’ve been looking for you for a long time.”
“You sold me.”
“I bought myself a future.”
“No,” Sadi said. “You rented one.”
Dominic smiled faintly.
Leo’s voice hardened.
“Cute.”
Sadi leaned closer to the phone.
“Tell the Black Crown something for me.”
“What?”
“I still have everything.”
Dominic’s eyes sharpened.
“All the accounts. All the names. All the shell companies.”
Leo went silent.
“And now,” Sadi continued, “Dominic knows.”
Dominic nearly smiled.
Leo shouted, “You stupid—”
Sadi hung up.
Dominic stared at her.
“That was reckless.”
“You liked it.”
“A little.”
“You’re impossible.”
“I keep hearing that.”
Marco looked between them.
“Should I leave?”
“Yes,” they both said.
Marco turned around immediately.
At the door, he stopped.
“One more thing.”
Dominic sighed.
“What?”
“Nox wants to speak with Sadi.”
“Why?”
“He says he knows the tattoo on the man we caught.”
Sadi’s expression changed.
“Nox knows the Black Crown?”
Marco nodded.
May you like
“He says they used to own him.”
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