Page 3 of Claimed By the Enemy
“Not happening.”
I try to jerk away, but his grip tightens. “This is insane. You can’t just—”
The rest of my protest dies as Dom bends down, hooks an arm around my waist, and lifts me clean off my feet. My world tilts as he tosses me over his shoulder like I weigh nothing.
“Put me down!” I pound my fists against his back, kicking my legs. “Put me down right now!”
He ignores my struggles, walking back toward the car with steady, determined steps. A couple across the street stops to stare. A jogger slows down, clearly debating whether to intervene.
“This is kidnapping!” I shout, mortified but too angry to stop fighting.
“This is a necessity,” Dom says calmly, as if carrying a woman over his shoulder in public is perfectly normal behavior.
Vincent has the car door open by the time we reach it. Dom deposits me in the backseat with surprising gentleness, then slides in beside me before I can scramble for the opposite door.
“Drive,” he tells Vincent.
“You’re coming home with me, Sophie. And you’re going to tell me everything you know.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Absolutely yes.” His smile has sharp edges. “Because despite the lies, the deception, and the fact that you just tried to destroy everything I’ve built, someone wants both of us dead. Until I figure out who, you stay where I can protect you.”
The words punch through my defenses. My mouth goes dry. “What are you talking about?”
“The threats that have been coming in.” His gaze stays locked on mine. “You didn’t think I’d noticed the pattern?”
My blood chills. If he’s right, if someone really has been targeting both of us, then this situation just became infinitely more complicated than my simple revenge mission.
“I don’t need protection from you.”
“You need protection from someone. And right now, I’m the only one offering it.”
The car slows, then turns onto a tree-lined street I recognize. Dom’s neighborhood. His house sits ahead, all clean lines and expensive taste. Part fortress, part sanctuary.
Vincent brings the car to a smooth stop in the driveway. Through the window, I can see the warm lights of Dom’s house, and suddenly I feel like I’m standing at the edge of a cliff.
“This conversation isn’t finished,” I tell him, trying to inject some steel into my voice.
“I know.”
“I’ll find a way to make you pay for all of this.”
“I’m sure you’ll try.”
Dom gets out first and waits while I follow on unsteady legs. The evening air feels cool against my skin, but it doesn’t clear the fog in my head.
As we walk toward the front door, I realize everything has fundamentally changed. The mission I thought I understood, the enemy I thought I knew, the life I’ve built around revenge—none of it makes sense anymore.
The rules just changed completely, and I have no idea how to play this new game.
Chapter Two
Dom
“I’m not telling you anything.”
Sophie’s standing in the center of my living room, arms crossed, chin tilted at that defiant angle I’ve come to recognize as her default setting when she’s cornered.
