Chapter 10 - The Phantom’s Reign
The heavy metal door at the top of the stairs was blown completely off its hinges with a deafening boom!
Dominic Ashford stepped into the smoke-filled basement. His face was covered in dried blood, his suit torn, his chest bandages stained crimson, but in his eyes burned a cold, apocalyptic fury that struck terror into the hearts of every man in the room. Behind him stood Carter and forty heavily armed Ashford enforcers.
“Dominic!” Isla gasped, her heart surging with overwhelming relief.
Moretti scrambled backward, pulling a sidearm, but Dominic moved with terrifying speed. Before Moretti could raise his gun, Dominic fired a single shot, shattering Moretti’s knee and sending the old man screaming to the floor.
Within seconds, the room was cleared, Moretti’s men disarmed and forced to their knees.
Dominic paid no attention to the fallen enemy leader. He dropped his weapon, sprinting over to Isla’s chair. His hands trembled—hands that had never shaken in the face of death—as he cut her bonds with a tactical blade.
“Isla... God, Isla, I’m sorry...” Dominic choked out, pulling her battered body into his arms, burying his face in her hair. “I came as fast as I could...”
Isla wrapped her sore, free arms around his neck, holding him tightly. “I didn’t tell them anything, Dominic. Not a single word.”
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Dominic pulled back, looking at her bruised face with a reverence bordering on worship. “I know,” he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. “They thought you were weak because you were gentle. They didn’t know you were stronger than all of us.”
He lifted her gently into his arms, carrying her out of the dark dungeon and into the crisp morning air. The six-week contract was over, but as Dominic held her close against his beating heart, both of them knew that their real story was just beginning. The nurse had walked into the shadows, and in doing so, she had become the undisputed queen of the Phantom King’s heart.
