Chapter 165
Chapter 165
Dominic’s POV
Since I met Aria, was the time I started to become scared. Scared that one day she would no longer be in my arms.
My world knows no peace–but she was.
She was the only moment of calm in the storm I created. And now here I was, standing at the edge of it all again, knowing full well that if I took one step wrong, I’d lose her for good.
The room was silent.
Too silent.
Across from me, Nico had the barrel of a gun pressed to Aria’s temple. She looked smaller than I remembered, bruised, tired, but her eyes–those beautiful eyes–were still lit with something that always happened when she looked at me.
Hope.
That I’d come.
That I wouldn’t give up.
She didn’t speak until I took a step forward. Just one.
“Don’t do it,” she said, voice shaking. “Please. Don’t give him anything. You can’t.”
I smiled at her–soft. Small. A flicker of something that used to be joy in another life.
“I told you,” I murmured, “I’d always come for you.”
“Dominic-”
“I’m not losing you, cara.” My eyes didn’t leave hers. “Not again.”
I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out the drive. It felt heavier than it should have. Not because of the weight. Because of what it held.
Everything. Bank codes. Wire transfers. Shell companies. The last pieces of my empire that hadn’t already been fractured by Nico and Victoria’s schemes. All tucked neatly inside one slim, black drive.
I lifted it slowly.
“Let her go,” I said. “This is what you want, right? You want me to have nothing, well this drive have everything that you need to bankrupt me.”
Nico’s face was unreadable. But his hands twitched. Greedy. Like he’d been waiting for this.
He didn’t speak at first. Just stared at the drive like it was a crown.
“You’d really do that?” he asked, cocking his head.“After everything?”
“You want the throne?” I asked. “Fine. Take it. Just give me…my girl.”
Aria shook her head violently. “No. Don’t do this. Dominic-”
“Quiet,” Nico snapped, jabbing the gun harder into her skull. She winced, and I felt my pulse thunder in my ears.
One second.
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Chapter 165
Just one.
That was all I needed.
But I couldn’t take the shot. Not without risking her. Not without putting everything by Nico’s feet.
“There,” I said. “You win.”
Silence stretched.
And then Nico smiled.
on
a coin toss. So I tossed the drive across the floor. It slid to a stop
He bent slowly to pick it up, never lowering the gun from Aria’s head.
“You always were the sentimental type, we would have to check if you are right though,” he muttered.
My hands curled into fists.
Aria was crying now, quietly. “You shouldn’t have done that. You shouldn’t have-”
“It’s just money,” I said.
But even I knew it wasn’t. It was legacy. Power. Years of work.
And I’d do it again.
She was worth more.
She always had been.
Nico straightened, turning the drive over in his hands. “This… this is everything, isn’t it?”
“It is,” I said.
“And now it’s mine.”
He lifted the gun, and for a second I thought-
No.
I didn’t get the chance to react.
Because just then, from somewhere behind me-
Bang.
Nico jerked forward, eyes wide in shock.
His grip loosened.
The gun dropped.
Aria gasped.
Blood spread across Nico’s chest.
He turned slowly.
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Chapter 165
Luca stood at the edge of the balcony, gun still smoking in his hand..
“I warned you,” he muttered, low and cold.
Nico stumbled, gasping as blood bloomed down his shirt, soaking through like spilled wine. His knees buckled.
But he didn’t fall.
Instead, with a grunt that came from deep in his chest, Nico spun on his heel and slammed his shoulder into the nearest guard. The man crashed against
the wall with a thud.
“Dominic!” Aria screamed.
I reached for her but I was too slow.
Nico grabbed her, arm locking around her waist as he fired a shot into the air. The chaos snapped everyone out of their stunned silence. Screams erupted. My men scrambled for cover.
Smoke hissed.
“Back off!” Nico bellowed, dragging Aria toward the service exit. “Back the fuck off!”
“Don’t let him leave!” I shouted, charging forward, but another shot rang out–this one dangerously close to my head.
He had backup.
Hidden. I should’ve known.
Bastard planned a second escape route.
“Aria!” I called, but she was fighting him–kicking, hitting, screaming. He shoved her hard and dragged her out the door. Gone.
The moment the door slammed behind them, I snapped.
“MOVE!” I barked.
My men stormed forward, Luca already giving chase, but they were gone. Smoke bombs. Diversion tactics. Nico wasn’t just a snake–he was a venomous one. One that knew how to strike and slip away before you even noticed you were bleeding.
I slammed my fist into the nearest wall. My knuckles cracked against concrete.
“FUCK!”
My empire was gone. My name? Dragged. And Aria… taken.
Again.
By someone I once called family.
By someone I used to protect,
The silence left behind felt like it was mocking me.
You’re losing your grip, old friend.
His words. Still ringing.
Still echoing like a curse I couldn’t shake
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08:06 Tue, 3 Jun –
Chapter 165
I turned to Luca, who was cursing into his earpiece, coordinating the chase. “Find him,” I growled. “I don’t care what it takes, Find. Him
He nodded, already dialing again.
My breath was heavy.
My hands shook.
And then-
“Dominic.”
I turned.
Aria was back.
Somehow, she’d fought him off or slipped from his grip, because she was standing just beyond the smoke, barefoot and bleeding but very much alive. She staggered toward me, eyes glassy.
“Aria,” I breathed, rushing to her.
She threw herself into my arms.
I held her like a man drowning.
“I thought-”
“I’m okay,” she said quickly, like she wasn’t sure how long she had to say it. “I–I got away when he tripped. I ran. I didn’t stop. He did shoot at me though but I am a tought nut.”
I stared down at her, scanning for injuries. “You’re safe now. You’re safe.”
I repeated the last part as if to remind myself that she was okay.
But then her eyes lifted to mine. She was looking at me with tears already at the brim. “Why would you give up everything for me?” she whispered.
And I had no answer.
- 1.
AD
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