“I can pay you back,” she whispered, pulling away.“I can get a loan from the bank.”
“Your credit history won’t allow it,” I replied calmly.“Your past impacts your score. No bank will touch you.”
Her gaze flicked to her father.
He was almost certainly the reason. She was too meticulous. It was hard to believe they were related at all—let alone father and daughter.
“I’ll spare your father’s neck,” I murmured, my voice low and even.“If you choose to replace Sophie. She was good on her knees—and as you can see, her position just opened up.”
Her gaze slid back to Sophie.
The gag was still lodged in her mouth. Her face was slick with blood, the pooling red spilling over the edge of the plastic and dripping onto the floor beneath.
She didn’t vomit.
Didn’t faint.
Didn’t cry.
Ella stood there, utterly still, processing.
I glanced at Alec. He sat perched on the edge of the chair, elbows on his knees, watching her with quiet intensity.
Nick wiped the scalpel clean, slow and methodical—yet his eyes never left her.
We were all waiting.
“For how long?”
The question irritated me. She should have conceded already—but perhaps it was the two years she’d spent in medicine that kept her upright. Trained composure. Controlled breathing. Delayed shock.
“For as long as I say,” I replied lightly.“You’ll hand in your notice at work. Your apartment will be vacated. You’ll divide your time between Dominion and my home.”
Her mouth opened.
I raised a hand.
“You’ll be given time to settle into your new role,” I continued.“This is not a negotiation.”
We waited.
The plastic beneath her slippers rustled as she stepped toward her father. Alec rose from his chair to observe, but she didn’t touch him. She simply stood there for a moment longer than necessary.
“Okay,” she said at last—flat, hollow.
The first rupture.
“Your father will be returned to where he was found,” I said, passing the credit notes to Nick.
He flicked his lighter. The corner of the paper caught, curling black as it burned.
“Come with me, Ella,” I said, turning to unlock the door.“I’ll show you your new home.”
Alec and Nick would follow once they finished with Sophie and James Constantine.
Thank God for useless parents.
Chapter 9
