Vows of vengeance

Chapter Two

No Way Out

Sienna’s POV

The knock came again, harder.

My body didn’t move, but my heart did. It slammed against my ribs like it was trying to break out.

I backed away from the door, with my eyes locked on the chain like it was the only thing keeping me alive, then another knock.

Then a voice.

Low. Calm. Familiar.

“Sienna.”

I didn’t answer, my throat wouldn’t work.

“Sienna,” he said again, like he had all the time in the world. “Open the door.”

I shook my head even though he couldn’t see me. “No.”

A pause followed.

Then, “Don’t make me do this the hard way.”

My stomach flipped.

I grabbed my phone with shaking hands and called the only person I trusted.

Lena picked up on the first ring.

“Girl, I was about to call you…”

“He’s here,” I whispered.

Silence.

Then Lena’s voice dropped. “Who?”

My eyes burned. “Dominic.”

“What?” Her voice rose instantly. “At your apartment?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure it’s him?”

“He called me. He said he’s coming tonight. And now he’s literally outside my door.”

The knob jiggled, not aggressively but just enough to tell me he could.

Lena swore. “Okay. Okay. Don’t open that door.”

“I’m not.”

“Call the police.” She said.

I swallowed hard. “And say what? My billionaire ex-husband is knocking?”

“Sienna, he can’t just break into your house.”

Another knock.

Slow and controlled, like he was enjoying this.

Lena’s voice sharpened. “Where are you right now?”

“In my living room. I locked everything.”

“Get something. Anything… Knife, scissors, pepper spray….” She hesitated

“I don’t have pepper spray.”

“Okay, okay, fine. Kitchen…. Now.”

I moved fast, barefoot on the cold floor. My hands grabbed the biggest knife in my kitchen drawer. It shook in my grip.

I wasn’t a fighter.

But I wasn’t dying here either.

The knock came again.

Then Dominic’s voice cut through the door like it owned the air in my apartment.

“I can hear you moving.”

My blood went cold, he knew, he heard me and he was close enough to listen to my footsteps.

I pressed my hand over my mouth to stop myself from breathing too loud.

Lena was still on the phone. “Sienna? Talk to me.”

“He can hear me,” I whispered.

“What?”

“He said he can hear me moving.”

Lena cursed again. “Okay, listen. Do you have a back exit?”

I glanced toward the small kitchen window. Fire escape.

“I have a window.”

“Use it.”

My pulse jumped. “Lena….”

“Use it, Sienna! Now! I’m calling the police and I’m coming to you. Don’t stay there!”

The doorknob turned, the chain held.

But it pulled tight.

I didn’t wait for the next move.

I ran to the window, shoved it open, and climbed onto the fire escape with the knife still in my hand.

Cold air hit my face.

The city noise was louder out here, but it didn’t calm me. It made everything feel more exposed.

I looked down, it was too high and too many floors.

My legs shook, but I forced them to move anyway.

Behind me, inside the apartment…

A loud snap, the chain..it broke.

My stomach dropped.

I didn’t look back. I just climbed down as fast as I could, with my hands burning on the metal bars.

I heard my door slam open.

Then footsteps, heavy ones.

Not rushing and not panicking.

Just walking like he already knew I wouldn’t get far.

Dominic’s voice floated out through the window. “Sienna.”

My name sounded like a threat in his mouth.

I climbed faster, with my heart punching my ribs.

One floor down and then two.

My fingers slipped for a second and I almost fell. My breath came out sharp, and wild.

I kept going.

Then my phone buzzed in my hand.

Lena again.

I pressed it to my ear. “I’m on the fire escape.”

“Good! Keep moving! I’m five minutes away.”

“I think he broke in.”

“Of course he did,” Lena snapped. “Sienna, don’t stop!”

I reached the bottom and jumped off the last rung, stumbling into the alley behind my building.

Trash bins. Damp concrete. A flickering light above a back door.

I ran.

I didn’t care where.

I just needed space between me and him.

I reached the street and blended into pedestrians like I was normal. Like I wasn’t holding a knife in my sleeve and shaking like my bones were loose.

My phone buzzed again, it was an unknown number

.

I didn’t answer, it buzzed again.

I turned it off.

My eyes scanned the road…I saw cars, people, lights.

But then…

A black car rolled slowly past me with tinted windows, it was smooth and too clean.

My stomach tightened.

It stopped at the curb ahead.

The back door opened.

I froze.

A man stepped out.

Not Dominic.

But one of Dominic’s men.

He was tall, putting on a black suit. Earpiece and no expression.

He looked right at me.

Like he’d been told exactly what I was wearing.

Exactly what I looked like and exactly where I’d run.

I turned and ran the other direction.

My lungs burned instantly.

My legs moved faster than my mind.

I heard footsteps behind me.

Not just one person but more.

I shoved through a group of people, ignoring the annoyed shouts, and ignoring everything.

I turned a corner.

Then another.

Then I slammed into someone’s chest, he felt srong and solid.

I looked up…

And saw Dominic.

Right there.

Like he’d been waiting for me to hit him. He didn’t look angry, he didn’t look surprised…he looked calm.

Too calm.

His eyes locked on mine and my entire body froze like it remembered every rule I’d ever broken.

He grabbed my wrist.

Not rough enough to bruise.

Just tight enough that I couldn’t pull away.

“You’re making this difficult,” he said.

I tried to jerk free. “Let go of me!”

“You ran.”

“I’m allowed to run!”

His jaw flexed. “Not from me.”

I lifted the knife.

Dominic didn’t even blink.

He glanced at it once, then looked back into my eyes like it was nothing.

“You’re shaking,” he said quietly.

“Because you’re insane,” I hissed.

His grip tightened. “Put it down.”

“No.”

His voice dropped. “Sienna.”

That tone…that warning.

My breath hitched.

I hated that my body reacted before my brain did. Like my nerves still recognized him as something dangerous and familiar.

I tried to pull away again.

Dominic stepped closer, blocking me from the street. “You can scream if you want.”

I swallowed. “I will.”

“Go ahead.”

I opened my mouth. No sound came out.

Because I knew it wouldn’t matter, because he was Dominic Vale.

And Dominic Vale didn’t lose.

My phone rang in my pocket.

Lena.

Dominic heard it too.

His eyes flicked down. “Answer it.”

I stared at him.

He nodded once, like he was giving permission.

I hit accept with shaking fingers. “Lena…”

“Where are you?” she demanded. “Are you okay?”

I looked at Dominic, still holding my wrist like a cuff.

“I…”

Dominic leaned in, with his mouth near my ear.

“Tell her you’re fine.”

My throat tightened.

Lena’s voice got sharper. “Sienna? Who’s there?”

I tried to breathe. “I’m fine.”

Lena went silent for half a second. “You’re lying.”

Dominic’s grip didn’t change.

His face didn’t change. But his eyes did.

They went colder.

Lena spoke again, slower now. “Sienna… blink twice if you’re in trouble.”

My stomach flipped.

Dominic’s gaze stayed on mine, daring me and warning me.

I blinked once.

Then again.

Dominic’s jaw clenched.

Lena’s voice exploded through the phone. “OH MY GOD. OKAY. DON’T MOVE. I’M CALLING….”

Dominic snatched the phone from my hand and ended the call.

Just like that.

He slid it into his pocket.

I lunged for it. “Give me my phone!”

He caught me easily and shoved me back against the wall of a building.

Not hard.

But enough to trap me.

His body blocked mine, tall and solid, cutting off the world.

“You don’t get to call for help,” he said.

I glared at him, my chest heaving. “You don’t get to do this to me!”

“I do,” he said calmly.

I laughed, bitter and shaking. “Because you’re rich?”

His eyes narrowed. “Because you’re mine.”

I pushed at his chest. “Stop saying that!”

Dominic caught my hands and pinned them above my head with one hand.

My breath caught.

My whole body went tight.

His face was inches from mine.

“You signed papers,” he murmured. “You walked out like it meant something.”

“It does mean something!” I snapped.

His mouth twitched like he almost smiled, but it wasn’t warm.

“Not to me.”

I tried to kick him, but he shifted his leg and blocked it.

“You’re hurting me,” I snapped.

“I’m holding you,” he corrected.

My voice shook. “You’re not protecting me. You’re controlling me.”

His eyes darkened. “You don’t understand what’s coming.”

“What’s coming?” I spat. “You?”

Dominic’s gaze flicked over my face like he was memorizing it again.

Then he said, “They found you.”

My stomach dropped. “Who?”

Dominic didn’t answer.

Instead, he lifted his head slightly, his eyes scanning the street behind me.

Like he’d heard something and like he’d smelled something.

His grip tightened.

“Get in the car,” he said.

“No.”

His voice went colder. “Sienna.”

“I said no!”

Dominic leaned in, his mouth brushing my ear.

“Then I’ll carry you.”

I shoved at him again, panic rising. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”

Dominic’s eyes flashed. “You are.”

He released one of my hands and grabbed my waist like he was about to lift me…

Then a sound cut through the air.

A sharp c***k.

Like something hitting concrete.

Dominic’s head snapped up, his body went instantly still.

Then another sound, it was closer.

A gunshot.

My blood turned to ice.

Dominic moved fast….too fast. He yanked me off the wall and shoved me behind him.

His hand went to his jacket.

And when he pulled it back, he wasn’t holding a phone.

He was holding a gun.

My breath stopped.

Dominic’s voice was low and deadly.

“Stay behind me.”

I couldn’t speak, i couldn’t move.

Because across the street, between two parked cars….

A man stepped out.

His face hidden under a cap, his gun raised.

Aimed right at us.

And Dominic Vale didn’t flinch.