Chapter 16: Chapter 16
The knock on his door was soft, and hesitant.
He didn’t turn. "What." He sounded beyond irritated.
His secretary peeked her head in. "Sir... there’s a package. It was left downstairs anonymously."
Dominic raised a brow, finally turning. "Did security scan it?"
"They did. No explosives or anything harmful. Just a USB drive without a label."
Dominic nodded. "Leave it."
Once she was gone, Dominic waited a beat, and then inserted the USB into the secure port on the secondary laptop he only used for dirty work.
The screen flickered, and he hit play.
The footage was grainy, obviously taken from afar. He sat up immediately, when he saw the figure walking through the campus courtyard.
That was unmistakably Celeste. Her long, dark hair bounced as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder, with the books hugged tightly to her chest was definitely her. She was talking to someone beside her.
Then the camera panned, and a small red dot landed on her shoulder.
A sniper’s mark.
Dominic’s blood ran cold, and the video ended.
There were no threats written. Just a silent, effective warning. Grigor’s reach had made its first move.
Dominic gripped the edge of his desk, knuckles whitening. His entire body trembled with fury, instinct, and something dangerously close to fear.
He wasn’t afraid of men like Grigor. However, he was afraid of what men like that did to people like her.
He pulled out his phone and dialed one of his private numbers.
A voice picked up instantly. "Sir."
"I want eyes on Celeste twenty-four-seven. If anyone gets within ten feet of her without my clearance, you take them out. Add other men, and make sure she never knows. Don’t crowd her," he ordered.
"Yes, sir."
He hung up and leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. This won’t be good. The game had changed, and it wasn’t business anymore.
This was personal and he didn’t even know if she’d let him protect her. Not after what he’d done, or what she thought about him.
He’d told himself it was a mistake, kissing her. But he’d lied. He needed her. Raw and absolute.
He wanted her. Entirely and fully. With the kind of madness that had no exit.
.....
Celeste’s laugh was cut short when her phone buzzed. She picked it up, and turned the screen over.
"We said no screens," Amara reminded her with a little grunt. "Leave your phone," she said, with her mouth full of popcorn.
Celeste took the blanket off her legs with a serious expression.
"What?" Amara sat up. She paused the movie, reading Celeste’s expression and body language.
"Dominic texted. He wants me to attend an art auction as a business date tomorrow night," she said in shock.
"We’re not doing that. We’re going out tomorrow night to get laid," Amara said absent mindedly, and then, she screamed. "WAIT, WHAT?! Dominic texted you? Why?"
Celeste shrugged as she reread the message. Her heart hammered against her ribs like it was trapped.
The message held just a business date. 8PM. Be ready. That was all he’d written. No greeting. No explanation. Not even a question mark.
Just an order.
"I don’t know why," she whispered, but her fingers clutched the phone too tightly. "I thought he was done with me after the kiss."
Amara threw a pillow at her. "Done with you? Girl, you kissed him like a woman unhinged and he let you. He even kissed you back, and came to the book shop for more,"
Celeste’s lips tightened, remembering too clearly the way Dominic had held her face like she might disappear. The press of his mouth against hers had been rough, desperate, like something inside him broke loose.
"I was just being reckless," she muttered.
"Please," Amara scoffed. "That man doesn’t do ’business date.’ He owns empires. He destroys people. If he wants to be seen with you in public, it’s not business. It’s a claim."
Celeste flinched.
"A claim?" she repeated.
"Yeah. You know, that thing cavemen do when they drag the girl into their cave by the hair?" she giggled. "That’s what he’s doing right now,"
Celeste bit her lip, anxiety spiraling inside her. "But... What if it’s Landon’s idea? What if he wants Dominic to parade me around so I look less... disposable?"
Amara leaned forward, eyes sharpening. "You don’t look disposable, Cel. Allow yourself to live."
A silence fell between them.
Celeste finally whispered, "I can’t fall for him."
"Too late, isn’t it?" Amara said softly, before throwing popcorn at her again to lighten the mood. "But don’t forget our plan. You’re getting your revenge first. Landon doesn’t walk away untouched."
Celeste nodded.
......
The next evening...
The gallery was already buzzing when Dominic arrived, cutting a sharp figure in his black tuxedo, without a tie. He didn’t smile.
He looked around waiting, until the moment Celeste entered in a black satin dress that curved and clung like it was made for her alone.
A ghost smile appeared on the corner of his lips when he saw her. She looked.... Breathtaking. Beautifully his.
His gaze trailed from her delicate neckline, past the small slit in her thigh, and stopped at her eyes.
Those defiant, furious, beautiful eyes.
"You’re late," he said simply.
"I didn’t realize I was being timed," she said, her chin tilted upward. "You should have fixed an hour more."
He leaned close, breathing her in like a drug. "Everything with me is timed, Celeste."
She turned her face away. "Why am I here?"
He handed her a sleek black envelope. "You’re bidding on that."
She blinked. "An artwork?"
He didn’t answer immediately. "The piece is named Eros and Thanatos—Love and Death. It’s not about art. The artist is Grigor’s cousin." His eyes rested on a man across the room.
Celeste stared at him. "The Russian?" she questioned, staring at a scary looking man.
Dominic’s jaw ticked. "This auction is more than it seems. Every bidder here is either a threat or an ally. You are my distraction."
"Your what?" she snapped.
Dominic didn’t reply. He looked away from her, and scanned the room.
Celeste’s heart kicked painfully. Her lips parted to respond, but someone interrupted them.
"Well, well. Isn’t this a scandalous pair?" came Grigor ’s voice from behind.