Rex’s stomach twisted.That was the criminal Dominic Drake.Always the predator, never the prey.The one pulling the strings, never the one caught in the trap.
“He was always closest to you, Rex,” Jax mused.“Did you two keep in touch after college?”
“I tried, but it didn’t last,” Rex said flatly.“We had nothing left to say, so I eventually stopped trying.”
Axel leaned his elbows on his knees.“Jealousy.That’s what this is.He always wanted what you had, even back then.Your success, your reputation, and fuck, the way you embraced life.And now?Now he’s written the perfect playbook to take it all from you.”
Max nodded.“The hack was just the beginning.If you’d played along, he would’ve pinned everything on you.It looks like he wants to ruin you in every way possible.You’d end up in jail after a complete financial collapse.Worse, you’d be a public disgrace.”
“And Xia?”Dexter’s voice was quiet, but it cut through the room like a knife.
Rex’s chest constricted.“Like a fucking fool, I placed a red target on her back and handed her to him on a silver platter.”
The words hung in the air, heavy with implication.He had claimed her in front of the entire club, in front of Dominic.And Dominic, being the calculating bastard he was, would have seen it for what it was—a weakness, a chink in Rex’s armor.
“She’s not yours, though,” Max pressed.“It’s just a temporary thing, right?”
Rex’s gaze flickered.The lie tasted like ash on his tongue.“Yeah, you’re right.She’s not mine.”
But that didn’t matter.Dominic wouldn’t care about the semantics.He would see Xia as a tool, a way to hurt Rex where it mattered most.And that was the problem.Because even if Rex walked away, even if he pretended she meant nothing, he would never stop protecting her.
“By the time we land...”His voice droned lower as he continued, “Everyone on this plane will know she’s nothing to me.That whatever we had is over.”
Axel studied him.“You think that’ll stop him?”
Rex sighed.“Camden’s cleanup operation is ready to roll out.They’re going to hit all four of the hubs at the same time.This entire shit show will be over soon.”His smile was a blade unsheathed.“And Dominic?He won’t stop, but he’ll have to work harder.One way or the other, he’s going to fuck up...make a mistake, and I’ll be there.”
It wasn’t even a question that when Dominic came for her—and he would come—Rex would be ready.
Because the one thing Dominic Drake had never understood was that Rex Oliver didn’t just win his battles.
He erased them.
Rex
The Entertainment Cabin, GoldenEye IV...
The cabin was alive with the hum of conversation, the clink of glasses, and the low, sultry pulse of music.But for Rex, the world had narrowed to a single point—Xia.
She sat perched on a barstool with the tense curve of her spine a silent rebellion against his presence.The martini in her hand acted as a shield, a barrier between them.He didn’t need to see her face to know she was avoiding his gaze.The way her fingers tightened around the stem of the glass and her shoulders tensing—every line of her body screamed defiance.
Fuck.
He had done this.He had taken something sacred between them and shattered it in his haste, in his arrogance.And now, she was paying the price.
“Come.”
The word was a sharp and unyielding command, barked out as he strode past her.He didn’t wait to see if she followed.He didn’t need to.She would.Because no matter how much she hated him right now, she was still his...for now.
The silent vow settled like a stone in his gut.
The leather creaking beneath him sounded like a beratement as he sank onto the sofa in the corner.The seconds stretched and became thick with tension as he waited for her to join him.She took her time.Each step was deliberate and each movement a silentfuck youto his authority.
When she finally sat, it was on the farthest edge of the sofa, putting as much distance between them as possible.The silence between them was a living, suffocating entity.
“You seem to be in a mood, Master R,” she finally purred.The words dripped with false sweetness.“Not very conducive to seducing your potentials to be Mrs.Right.”
His jaw tightened.“If I have to seduce her to be that, she’s the wrong one.So why bother?”
