Chapter 28

Dominick

Another morning next to Chloe comes, but this one feels different. As I stare over at her, waiting the few minutes it will take for her to join me in the land of consciousness, I smile.

She's peaceful when she sleeps, which is obviously not the case when she's awake.

Life has been a steady cycle, with no progress but no regression, for a while, but with this last stunt from Ethan, I can feel something's changed.

He's escalated again.

Between the framing and Yasmin's attack, I know he's planning more. There's another shoe waiting to drop somewhere in the wings, and I don't like it.

"Hmm."

Choe stretches next to me, and I look over. As her arms raise above her head, the full curves of her breasts shift beneath the sheet.

I'm hard all over again, but the sobering look she gives me stops me in my tracks. Our eyes hold, and I watch as reality comes crashing back around her as Chloe remembers everything going on in our lives.

"Hey." I smooth my hand over her cheek.

Chloe closes her eyes, letting herself enjoy the sensation. "Hi."

"You sleep okay?"

Asking has become a part of our typical morning routine, and after her stint in jail, no matter how short, I know it's even more important to ask.

"All right." She nods, but her eyes move to the space between us. "Lot on my mind."

"I can imagine."

There's a moment of stillness, and I hate the silence. It's too heavy and cold.

"You wanted to say something last night." I lift her chin. "What was it?"

Her eyes well ever so slightly, and I swallow hard.

"I don't really want to tell you." She laughs in an attempt to defuse the tension. "If you haven't noticed, I don't really like confrontation."

"I've noticed."

Another hard chuckle emanates from her, and I suck in a deep breath, trying to keep myself level.

"You aren't going to like this."

"Yeah, I had a feeling. Just come out with it."

Chloe sighs, sitting up in the bed and pulling the sheet up under her arms.

"Ethan's been sending things."

I mirror Chloe's position, sitting against the headboard, and fold my arms over my chest.

"I'm aware. That's why I upped security."

She shakes her head. "No, I mean, he's still doing it. I've gotten more things. I've…hid them."

An intense shot of adrenaline arrows through me as hard-hitting as a bullet. My mouth falls open, and I narrow my eyes at Chloe.

"What?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to freak out." She sighs, scoffing at herself. "Trust me, I know now that I can't handle this on my own. I shouldn't have kept?—"

"Damn right, you shouldn't. Chloe, I…" I am so over this secrecy bullshit, and I need to move.

Pulling on my boxers, I get up from the bed and start pacing.

"I'm sorry, Dom. You were right. I know I should have told you. That's why I'm telling you now."

Frustration burns through my veins like acid. "Didn't you trust me? Do you even trust me now?"

I know my tone is short, but I don't fucking care at the moment.

Chloe shoots up, sitting forward on the bed as she holds the sheet to herself.

"I do! That's why I'm telling you. This was everything about last night. I know you're right. I've been running. Damn, I've been running for so long, I didn't know it was possible to stop. That's why I want to completely clear the air. Give you all the details about everything."

I shake my head, crossing my arms again. "I'm listening."

With a sigh and the hanging of her head, Chloe nods. "They're mostly letters. I'll show all of them to you. To Cameron, if you think that would help. Ethan wants me back under his thumb. Everything he said in them was about me running out of time. That he's coming."

" Mostly letters?"

"There were a few physical things. A box of dead roses with bugs, our wedding cake topper. Trash from our relationship that I thought I threw away." Chloe's eyes go glassy. "You're already aware that he's got a connection to drugs. I'm sure it was him that planted them. With the photos and everything…."

Her words drift off, and I return to the bed to sit in front of her. "Can you think of anything else? Any details about them that you didn't share?"

Chloe shakes her head, and I sigh hard before she stops me with a hand on my arm. "It's not that I didn't share. I only just remembered. The night in jail gave me a lot of time to think."

Renewed excitement funnels through me. I don't want to get my hopes up, but damn, we need more to go on if we're going to stop this asshole.

"The men I'd seen with him. The man that went after Yasmin. They all had a patch or crest or something on their jackets."

The frenzy around Yasmin had been too fast-paced for me to focus on something that small, especially with no previous connection to go off.

I couldn't help but be impressed that Chloe had made one, even if it took her a little while.

"What was it?"

Chloe's eyes close as she conjures up the image from her memory. "It was a red snake. Big and mean-looking. It was coming out from the eye socket of a skull with flames or swirls behind it."

My stomach drops, and nausea crawls through my gut like I've been kicked in the balls.

My usually perfect poker face must've slipped because Chloe's staring at me with wide eyes like she's worried I might be sick.

"Dom?"

Memories of my own surface in my mind, threatening to pull me back down with them and drown me.

This is not good.

"Dom, you're freaking me out. What is it?"

"The Crimson Cobras."

Her eyes flare. "You know who they are?"

"I do. My, uh, my mother." My eyes move to the ceiling, and then I have to pace again. "I can't fucking believe this. I thought I was finally rid of those assholes."

"She was involved with them?"

Looking over at Chloe, I clench my jaw. I really don't want to relive this. But it seems like we're both being sucked into their bullshit.

"Not exactly them . One of her boyfriends ran with them. Piece of shit nearly got her killed a few times."

Hope and fear war within her eyes, and Chloe stands up, walking over to me.

"So, does that mean we have more to go on? Is that helpful?"

I shrug. "Yeah. And maybe not. They're a pretty big organization, but Cameron knows more about it than me. He helped with my mom's ex."

"Then we should tell him about this connection. Right?"

"Yes. I'll call him. Why don't you get dressed? I have a feeling Cam's going to want to make this an in-person conversation."

Sure enough, Cam swings by the penthouse to discuss everything. I know he wants to refresh our memories on what went down with Chloe's drug charges, too.

I clap him on the shoulder when we both go in for a quick hug, and then Chloe comes out from the bedroom, having showered and changed into a black T-shirt and jeans.

"So what's the scoop, Dom?" Chloe stands next to me as Cam nods. "Chloe."

"Hi, Cameron. Thank you again for everything you did."

She offers him a tight smile.

Cam eyes her for a second, looking between us, and I know he's silently asking what this really is between us.

It's not the first time, either.

"Well—" he clears his throat, appearing to shake the overprotectiveness he feels on my behalf "—anything for Dom."

I smirk at him slightly. I've been doing my damndest not to discuss Chloe and me with everyone, and I plan on keeping up with that.

"But part of the reason I wanted to swing by is to let you both know you're on thin ice with the authorities."

Quirking a brow, I fold my arms. "Thin ice?"

Cam nods. "Thankfully, it wasn't too hard to convince them of the setup with all the obvious evidence to support it. Still, you might not be as lucky next time. I had to call in a lot of favors, and the cops still think you're involved somehow. So maybe consider laying low for a while. Avoiding the club."

Chloe's eyes flare wide for a moment, but I jump in before she can shut the idea down immediately.

"There's enough reason to be avoiding the club, anyway." I hold up my hand and raise my brows before turning back to Cam. "Which actually makes for a great segue."

"To what?" Cam furrows his brow at me.

"There have been more letters and shit sent to the club. Chloe's just mentioned them." I look over, and she flinches. "He's clearly been working on this escalation for a while. I'm definitely good with laying low."

"Dom!" Chloe steps forward. "You can't just hide me away. I won't do it. The entire point of asking for help was so I didn't have to keep running. Remember?"

"Of course, but part of keeping you safe until this is over is being smart, and right now, the best thing for us to do is lay low."

Chloe scoffs, rolling her eyes. But before I can interject again, Cam approaches her.

"Chloe—" he lays a hand on her shoulder, and if it were anyone else, I'd get real twitchy about that "—living cooped up is awful. I understand that, but in this case, Dom is right. Your stalker has been too unpredictable, and with connections to drug runners, it makes him all the more dangerous. Risking your safety for a few moments out and about isn't worth it."

Flickering her gaze to mine, I nod as Chloe glares at me. "What he said."

She slumps down on the couch, and I sit on the arm next to her.

"I never really thought of him as a stalker before. But—" she sighs "—I guess that's what he is, huh? Great."

Taking Chloe's chin, I meet her eyes. "Look, I know this sucks. I can't say I'm familiar with the experience but having to keep silent while you're on the run from an attacker is something I've done. It always feels like you should run, should be doing something, but sometimes the best you can do is wait and better assess the threat."

It's a moment of us staring each other down before Chloe hangs her head. "Tell him about the other thing."

I look to Cam, who's got his eyebrows raised. "What thing?"

"It's the Cobras. Chloe remembered the patch Yasmin's attacker wore."

Cam's eyes go wide. "He wasn't wearing a jacket when he was picked up. Probably ditched it so we couldn't make the connection. Shit. Well, this just got a hell of a lot more interesting."

"Yeah."

Cam starts up a pace in front of the couch. "Well, I've got more information about them from separate incidents, so I'll compile what we know. See if there's any crossover."

I rake a hand through my hair as the stress of the situation ticks higher.

"I thought they didn't do business in the city? Why would they be connected to Ethan there?"

Cam shakes his head. "The Crimson Cobras do business everywhere. They're just not usually caught. Or tied to that name. They have dozens of branches that spawn their own little rings wherever they happen to crop up."

"Great." Chloe looks up from between her hands. "Just great."

"I know it's not what you want to hear, Chloe. But at least this explains why someone who's not well-known for their crimes has had such an easy time finding you and threatening you. He's got a big network behind him helping."

I can see Chloe's eyes well, and there's a profound level of disappointment dragging down her shoulders and expression.

"Something else—" we both look up at Cam "—the Cobras don't like us. We put quite the dent in their daily operations when we got Dom's mother out. Dealing with one vengeful asshole is one thing. Dealing with several?"

I clench my jaw. Fan-fucking-tastic. Could this day get any worse?