Chapter 5 - Shadows over Brooklyn
The rain began falling around midnight, slicking the cobblestone streets of DUMBO in silver and gold reflections from the Manhattan Bridge.
The private ambulance had moved us under the cover of darkness. Dominic had arranged for a private discharge from Bellevue, bypassing the public exit where a small crowd of paparazzi had already begun to gather following rumors of Grant's mid-wedding breakdown.
Now, I was lying in a plush velvet armchair inside a restored three-story brownstone overlooking the East River. A warm fire crackled in the hearth, throwing soft orange light across the hardwood floors.
In my arms, my daughter—whom I had named Eleanor, after my mother—was sound asleep, wrapped in a cashmere blanket.
Dominic stood near the floor-to-ceiling windows, holding a glass of dark amber liquid. He hadn't changed out of his suit, though his tie was gone, revealing the sharp line of his collarbone.
"Grant’s legal team filed an emergency motion at ten o'clock tonight," Dominic said, his eyes scanning the rainy street below.
I looked up, my hands tightening around Eleanor. "What kind of motion?"
"An application for a court-ordered paternity mandate and an immediate ex parte order for emergency physical custody, claiming you are mentally unfit and posing a flight risk."
A cold spike of dread shot through my stomach. "Can they do that? Can a judge sign that without a hearing?"
"Normally, no," Dominic said, turning to face me. "But Grant owns three judges on the Southern District bench. One of them, Judge Harrison, was more than happy to draft an initial order before he went to sleep."
"So they're coming for her?" My voice cracked.
"No," Dominic said calmly. "Because Judge Harrison forgot one tiny detail."
"What detail?"
Dominic pulled a folded document from his coat pocket and tossed it onto the coffee table in front of me. "I filed an injunction at 8:00 PM with the Appellate Division, citing conflict of interest. Judge Harrison’s wife holds two million dollars in stock in Kingsley Real Estate Development. The moment he signed Grant’s emergency order, he committed an unethical violation of judicial procedure. I had him recused before the ink was dry."
I stared at the paper on the table, then looked up at Dominic in disbelief. "You knew he would go to Harrison?"
"Grant is an arrogant man, Claire. Arrogant men always go to the people they think they own," Dominic said, taking a sip of his drink. "By the time Grant finds a judge who isn't compromised, it will be Monday morning. That gives us forty-eight hours."
"Forty-eight hours to do what?"
"To destroy him," Dominic said plainly.
I swallowed hard. "Dominic, I don't want a war. I just want my daughter. I want to raise her where he can never hurt her."
Dominic walked over and knelt beside my chair. The dark, terrifying aura he carried seemed to soften, replaced by a deep, grounded stillness. He looked down at Eleanor, his face softening into something almost gentle.
"Claire," he said softly, his voice low and resonant. "Your father was a good man. When Grant Kingsley forced him out of his seat and pushed him into bankruptcy, your father didn't fight back because he thought he was protecting you. He thought if he submitted, Grant would leave his family alone. Look where that got him."
Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. "My father died thinking he lost everything."
"He didn't lose everything," Dominic said, reaching out to gently touch the edge of Eleanor's blanket. "He left you. And now, you have her. If you run now, Grant will spend the next twenty years using his billions to hunt you down, drag you into court, and poison this child's mind. You cannot run from a man like Grant. You have to remove his ability to bite."
"How?" I whispered. "He has billions, Dominic. He controls the media, the courts, the city council."
"He controls them through money and leverage," Dominic said, standing back up. "And on Monday morning, I am going to strip him of both."
He pulled a thick black folder from his leather briefcase on the table and laid it beside the injunction.
"What is that?" I asked.
"The real financial audit of Kingsley Enterprises," Dominic said, a sharp, cold smile gracing his lips. "The one Sienna Vale helped him hide during your divorce. She kept a duplicate set of books as insurance in case Grant ever tried to replace her."
May you like
I looked at him, astonished. "Sienna gave you this?"
"Sienna didn't give it to me," Dominic replied, his eyes flashing in the firelight. "Sienna sold it to me three hours ago, right after Grant abandoned her at the Plaza."
