Page 49 of Their Domme

A gunshot cut through the tension.

It echoed between us, and I knew what that meant.

Maeve was dead.

My enemy, my ex-lover, the woman that had been my everything had given me her everything to protect my children, my family, and myself at the ultimate cost—her life.

Fresh tears slid down my cheeks, and Conrad lightly touched my arm. I looked up at his grim-faced expression, shaking, while a distant part of me registered Roderick moving around us, packing up the paperwork. He handed the file to Conrad, then more words floated around me—Conrad saying we should go. But I couldn’t move. My body just wasn’t willing to leave just yet.

“The police will be coming soon.”

Standing up on shaky legs, I took a few steadying breaths to get my bearings. Something caught my eye on Maeve’s desk. Small jade bobby pins. She had used them whenever she put her hair up, and without hesitating, I grabbed them, needing a piece of her with me. I held them tightly and forced myself to walk out between the two men.

The SUV was sitting where we had left it, though it felt like a lifetime ago. Conrad opened the door, and I slid inside, him following after me as Roderick tipped his chin and continued on his way. The three people inside were quiet, though they looked at us with expectant eyes that spoke loudly enough. The concern on their faces only deepened with every moment of silence.

“What the hell happened in there?” I looked over at Blake, and whatever was on my face made them go very still.

“Maeve is dead. And I got the information we need.”

Deafening silence filled the car, but it was nothing compared to how numb I felt inside.

“Are we going to the compound then?” Ansel asked, looking back at me in the rearview mirror.

“Yes,” I told him softly. “Then we’re going to Millfield. I need answers, and I need them now.”

Unknown

Tuesday

Police cars were all over the place when I drove by. Forensic teams. Crime scene tape. New reporters.

Maeve Cabbot was dead.

Murdered.

Anger made me slam my hand on the steering wheel. That fucking bitch. Who the hell murdered this bitch before I could get my hands on her?

My body trembled as I tried to calm myself down. I needed to figure out what was going on before I lost my temper completely. After a deep breath, I stepped out of my car, determined to get some answers. Blending in with the crowd, I listened in on the detectives and spectators talking about what was going on. The security cameras had been erased, leaving no evidence as to who had been by near the time of the murder. She had been shot, and the house was destroyed. Everything had been wiped down, so they had nothing.

Given Maeve’s status in this city, they were going to turn over every stone to figure out what happened to her. There was talk of forensics finding more, but they weren’t hopeful.

This wasn’t good. Not at all.

But as I turned to leave, something they said piqued my interest.

Her hair was dyed. Cut. Contacts. She was similar to the other bodies they had found throughout the city.

Irrational rage consumed me.

Someone had killed this bitchandthought they could pin it on me? They’d copied my murders as if they had any right to even think of my Nicholette.

Whoever had done this would pay. They thought they could be me. Thought they could try to get my Nic’s attention like I was. Soon enough, they would know differently. Everyone would.

It was time to move up my plans.

First, I just had to find Nicholette.

I was tired of waiting.

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