Chapter 91

Dominic POV

Dominic stirred awake to the faintest weight shifting against his side.

For a moment, his instincts kept him still, eyes half-lidded and body heavy with sleep. Then his senses caught up, a familiar perfume and the soft brush of hair against his bare arm. There was a subtle chill of the morning air drifting through the cracked window close by.

He breathed in again.

Aurora.

He turned his head just enough to see her. She was curled up beside him, knees drawn up slightly with her hands folded near her chest. She wasn’t asleep, her eyes were open and fixed on some distant point beyond the wall behind him, far away from this bed.

From him.

“Aurora.”

Her lashes fluttered, but she didn’t turn to look at him.

“You’re up early,” he tried again, moving onto his side to face her fully. “Couldn’t sleep?”

She refused to speak for a long while. “I didn’t want to wake you. Or bother you.”

Her tone was quiet, polite. The kind of careful, measured politeness that didn’t belong between them after what they both had been through. Sure, he still carried suspicions around her motives for fleeing to Mexico but that didn’t mean she needed to act like a stranger.

“You wouldn’t have.” He reached for her hand, surprised when she didn’t offer it in return. Instead, she tucked them both beneath her chin, her gaze still a thousand miles away.

What was happening?

He studied her face in the pale morning light. Physically, she seemed fine other than the faint mark of bruising inflicted on her from Alek and his men. But there was a tightness around her eyes, a tension in the line of her jaw, that he couldn’t ignore.

“What’s the matter?” he said carefully.

“I’m tired.” Was all the explanation she cared to give him.

He didn’t believe her for a second.

Dominic shifted closer, the mattress dipping with his weight. “You’ve been through hell. I know that. But you’re here now. With me. It’s over. You’ve got me to protect you.”

She gave a faint nod.

He didn’t know why he was trying so hard. He should be cautious with bringing her back into his inner circle and allowing her access to everything he considered vulnerable. Not just his plans with taking down Alek but his heart, too.

Romero had warned him that Aurora’s motives were still unknown. Her reasoning for running away and potentially getting involved with Alek was too great of a risk to ignore. Yet here he was, feeling the urge to throw all of those worries away in order to break down those walls she was slowly forming around herself.

Where was the woman who had been excitedly planning their wedding? Where did the woman who cried as he slipped his mother’s ring over her finger go?

He wanted that person back.

Not… whoever this shell was.

“I want us to talk,” he pressed gently. “About the wedding. About… us and what comes next.”

At that, her shoulders stiffened almost imperceptibly.

“There’s nothing to talk about yet,” she said, her voice soft but flat. “I think you’ve got bigger things to handle.”

“You’re not one of them?” The words slipped out sharper than he intended, but he couldn’t help it. The distance in her eyes was like watching something he couldn’t reach slipping further away.

Aurora finally turned her head toward him. Her eyes were guarded and completely unreadable. “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”

He searched her face for some crack in her calm mask, something to reassure him that the woman he’d fought to bring back wasn’t lost to him already. But there was nothing. Before he could push further, a knock sounded at the door.

Dominic swore under his breath.

“What?” he barked.

“It’s Romero,” came the muffled reply. “We’ve got a situation.”

Aurora’s gaze flicked toward the door.

“Go,” she murmured.

He wanted to stay and break through whatever heaviness had settled between them overnight but Romero’s tone wasn’t leaving much room for negotiation.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

She nodded once and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders as he slid out of bed and tugged on a shirt.

Romero was waiting just outside, his expression grim. “We’ve got movement.”

Dominic followed him down the hallway, pulling the door to his and Aurora’s temporary quarters closed behind him. “Alek’s men?”

Romero nodded. “Two SUVs loaded with luggage. One of our guys at the airport says a private jet is being fueled as we speak. Looks like they’re heading for Moscow.”

Dominic swore again, raking a hand through his hair. “How long?”

“Jet’s set to take off in six hours.”

“With Gianna, no doubt.”

Romero’s jaw flexed. “I didn’t see her on the CCTV footage, but it’s highly likely. If he gets her out of the country—”

“There’s no getting her back.” He finished.

“Exactly.”

Dominic paced the length of the living room, tension coiled tight in his chest.

They’d waited too long. He’d thought Alek could be pressured, cornered, maybe even reasoned with but clearly he wasn’t the type to be done in that easily. He was the type to vanish across borders, take his prize with him despite it being second best, and dare Dominic to follow.

With Gianna still in his hands, Dominic was running out of leverage.

“Marco,” Dominic ordered. “What’s the ETA on them leaving for the jet hanger? We’ll need double the men as they have if we’re going to storm this place.”

“They are packing now. It is safe to say they are getting the hell out of here sooner than later. I’d estimate them being fully gone within three to four hours.” His cousin replied.

Shit.

“What’s the play?” Romero asked.

Dominic didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through a list of numbers he hadn’t touched in years. His father’s old contacts. Men who owed the Guerrero family favors dating back decades. Men with the kind of reach and discretion he needed right now. He stopped on one name. Mikhail Barinov. Former KGB. Now a private contractor with enough strings all over the world, including Russia, to pull off what Dominic needed.

The line rang twice before a gruff voice answered in Russian-accented English. “Dominic Guerrero.”

He didn’t bother with the pleasantries. “I need a favor.”

There was a long pause. “Your father’s son calling at last. What is it you need?”

“A former ally has someone I need out of his grasp. I need her out before he takes off for Moscow in a few hours.”

“And where is this job located?”

“Mexico city. At a temporary Bratva stronghold.”

“You’re asking for an extraction from a Bratva compound?” A chuckle. “Bold.”

“Can you do it or not?”

He hummed softly. “I can. But you’ll owe me.”

“I know.”

“Send me the location and details. My team will handle the rest. I have a few in Mexico that can get to you quickly.”

Perfect.

Dominic gave a clipped nod. “You’ll have them within the hour.”

The call ended. Dominic exhaled slowly, tucking the phone back into his pocket. He felt eyes on him before he turned.

Aurora stood at the end of the hall, wrapped in a silk robe, her arms folded loosely over her chest. Her expression was unreadable, but there was something sharp in her gaze.

“You’re really going to get her out?” she asked softly.

Dominic straightened. “Yes.”

“Tonight?”

“Yes.”

Aurora’s lips parted like she wanted to say something else, but at the last minute decided against it. He took a step toward her, noticing how she didn’t move or pull away. Her eyes flickered, something like sadness or maybe fear, he couldn’t tell, reflecting back at him.

Would they ever go back to the way things were?

Or would this be their new normal from now on?

As soon as he was close enough to reach out and touch her, she opened her mouth again. “I think you should wait.”

He blinked.

What?