UNCLAIMED

Power Leaves a Trail

Dominic refused medical attention.

That alone told Lena more about him than the contract ever could.

They were back on the top floor within minutes, the breach sealed, the building scrubbed of evidence with terrifying efficiency. Glass replaced. Data rerouted. Silence restored. It was as if the explosion on Thirty-Seven had never happened.

Except for the blood.

Dominic stood near the windows, shirt discarded, shoulder wrapped in a temporary bandage by a grim-faced medic who’d been dismissed the moment the bleeding slowed. His skin was pale beneath the harsh lights, muscle corded and tense.

“You should go to a hospital,” Lena said.

He didn’t turn. “Hospitals ask questions.”

“You were just nearly assassinated.”

“I’m aware.”

She crossed her arms, irritation sparking despite the lingering adrenaline. “That wasn’t bravery. That was stupidity.”

That got his attention.

He looked at her then, eyes sharp. “Careful.”

“You’re bleeding into your own office,” she shot back. “That’s not control. That’s denial.”

For a moment, she thought he might explode.

Instead, he laughed once, short and humorless. “You don’t know anything about control.”

“I know someone tried to kill you using your own access,” Lena said. “Which means your system is compromised.”

“And you think I don’t know that?”

“I think you don’t like admitting it.”

Silence stretched.

Dominic turned fully now, leaning one hand against the window, the city lights cutting his reflection into sharp angles. “You handled yourself well today.”

“That wasn’t a compliment,” Lena replied.

“No,” he agreed. “It was an evaluation.”

She stiffened. “I’m not your soldier.”

“You stepped into an active threat zone willingly.”

“I stepped in because I didn’t want to die.”

“Same thing.”

She shook her head. “You see people as assets. Tools.”

“I see them as realities,” Dominic said quietly. “Sentiment gets people killed.”

Her jaw tightened. “Tell that to my father.”

The air shifted.

Dominic’s expression closed off, something hard snapping into place. “Your father made his choices.”

“And you punished him for them.”

“I responded,” he corrected. “There’s a difference.”

Lena took a step closer, unable to stop herself. “You took everything from him.”

His eyes darkened. “No. I spared him.”

That landed like a slap.

“Spared him?” she echoed. “You call destroying his life mercy?”

“Yes,” Dominic said. “Because the people coming for me don’t leave survivors.”

The words chilled her.

“Who are they?” she asked.

For a long moment, he didn’t answer. When he did, his voice was low, edged with something dangerously close to honesty.

“The kind of men who don’t need bombs to end you,” he said. “They just turn the world against you until you beg for death.”

Lena thought of the quiet way her father had vanished. No body. No ransom. Just absence.

“You think they have him,” she said.

“I know they want him,” Dominic replied. “He knows something they think I buried.”

Her chest tightened. “What does he know?”

Dominic’s gaze flicked away. “That’s not information you’re ready for.”

“You don’t get to decide that.”

“I do,” he said simply. “In my world.”

She laughed bitterly. “Your world is built on fear.”

“Yes,” Dominic said. “And it’s standing because of it.”

A pause.

Then, more softly, “You don’t survive long enough to build what I have without making enemies.”

Lena looked at him really looked at him and for the first time, she didn’t just see the billionaire tyrant, the ruthless manipulator. She saw the exhaustion etched into his posture, the constant vigilance.

A man who slept with one eye open.

“You live like a hunted animal,” she said.

His jaw tightened. “I live.”

A notification chimed on the main screen. Evelyn’s face appeared, tension barely concealed.

“We traced the internal breach,” she said. “It wasn’t just one person.”

Dominic’s eyes sharpened. “How many?”

“At least three. Different departments. All activated within a five-minute window.”

Lena felt a chill. “A network.”

“Yes,” Evelyn confirmed. “And they wiped themselves clean. No digital fingerprints.”

Dominic exhaled slowly. “Then they wanted us to know.”

“To what end?” Lena asked.

Evelyn hesitated. “There’s more.”

She brought up a still image grainy security footage from an underground garage. A man stepping into the shadows. Tall. Familiar.

Lena’s breath caught.

“That’s my father,” she whispered.

Dominic moved instantly, eyes locked on the screen. “When was this taken?”

“Four hours ago,” Evelyn said. “Before the explosion.”

Lena’s heart pounded. “They let him walk through your building.”

“They let him be seen,” Dominic corrected grimly.

A message.

Lena rounded on him, fury blazing. “This is because of you.”

“Yes,” he said without flinching. “And now it’s because of you too.”

She stared at him, shaking. “You used him as leverage.”

“I kept him alive,” Dominic snapped. “And now they’re using him to get to me.”

“You promised he’d be safe.”

“I promised I wouldn’t touch him,” Dominic said. “I never said no one else would.”

The cruelty of the words sliced deep.

Lena turned away, pressing her hands against the desk to steady herself. Her voice trembled despite her effort. “You should’ve told me how bad this was.”

“And you should’ve walked away,” Dominic replied. “But you didn’t.”

She looked back at him slowly. “Because you didn’t give me a choice.”

“No,” he said quietly. “Because you’re more like me than you want to admit.”

Silence fell again, heavy and loaded.

Outside, thunder rolled in the distance, a storm gathering over the city.

Lena straightened, resolve hardening in her chest. “I want access. Real access.”

Dominic raised an eyebrow. “To what?”

“To everything,” she said. “Your files. Your enemies. Your secrets.”

He studied her, weighing the risk.

“And if I say no?”

“Then you’re on your own,” Lena replied. “And I take my chances finding my father without you.”

For the first time since they met, Dominic hesitated.

Then he nodded once.

“Fine,” he said. “But understand this once you see what I see, there’s no going back.”

Lena met his gaze, fear and determination burning bright.

“I already crossed that line,” she said.

Outside, lightning split the sky.

And somewhere in the dark, the people pulling the strings were tightening their grip.