Chapter 1

I am Dominic Vane's Dona.

He took me from his underboss Killian. A man who stole another man's woman doesn't sleep easy.

He watched every man who came near me.

Once I fed a stray on our block. He had someone confirm the dog was female and its owner wasn't a man in disguise.

Then the family promoted a young guard. Twenty-two, still carrying that fresh-out-of-training look. One morning he opened my car door at the estate gate and I smiled at him out of politeness.

Dominic said he didn't care.

That night he had the kid handled. He didn't break out in hives or throw a fit like some jealous boy. He just sat by the fireplace, cleaning his Beretta with slow, deliberate strokes, his eyes cold and flat.

"Kid's muscles were all needles. Couldn't even handle the recoil on a .45. Pathetic."

He flicked something onto the table. A bloody strip of cloth. The guard's tie.

"And that height he reported? Six-one. Maybe if you count the bones they stuffed under his feet after."

His private physician came by later to bandage the cuts on his hands. In the hallway, the doctor pulled me aside.

"Mrs. Vane, your husband has been taking that new male contraceptive. The one that just hit the market. The side effects are severe—extreme paranoia, mood instability. He's taken triple the dose in one week. He seems... obsessed with making sure you never have to bear the risk of pregnancy."

I stopped walking.

I was three months pregnant.

…

He was asleep when I picked up his phone.

The passcode was my birthday.

His photo gallery was all me. Candid shots, screenshots of my texts, surveillance stills of him watching me sleep.

His search history:

*"How to install covert GPS tracker on spouse's car"*

*"Best undetectable phone cloning software"*

*"How to make a grieving wife emotionally dependent"*

His notes app:

*"March 20. She dreamed about the old man again. Cried hard. I need to cut off all contact with her father's people."*

*"March 21. Morning sickness getting worse. Made her dinner myself. She ate a little. She can only eat what I give her."*

My eyes burned.

Then a notification from the navigation app:

*"Based on your frequent routes, we've planned your trip to 812 Sutton Place. Estimated arrival: 15 minutes."*

Our safe house was at 814.

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