Chapter 12 - Return to the Nest
"Boss! We’ve secured the perimeter!"
Frank's voice rang out through the darkness as he jogged down the muddy slope, his assault rifle lowered.
Vincent followed closely behind him, panting heavily, his face stained with dirt and sweat.
"Are you okay, Mads?" Vincent gasped, staring down at my ex-wife with wide, horrified eyes.
"My God... what did they do to her?"
"Get her into the Escalade," I commanded, my voice dropping into a tone so cold and devoid of human warmth that even Frank stepped back.
"Wrap her in thermal blankets."
"Give her clean water and a medic."
"And Frank?"
"Sir?"
"Turn the vehicles around."
"We are going back to Preston Hollow."
"For a family dinner."
The ride back to the estate felt like a descent into the deepest circle of an industrial inferno.
Inside the climate-controlled leather cabin, Madison sat wrapped in a thick wool blanket, sipping warm water from a thermos while Frank dressed her dislocated wrist with clinical efficiency.
She kept her hand anchored firmly to my sleeve, as if letting go for a single second would dissolve me back into an illusion.
"You don't have to go back in there, Dominic," she whispered, her voice trembling.
"Elena is a monster."
"She has guards, she has lawyers, she has half the Dallas police department on her payroll."
"Let's just drive away."
"Let's cross the state line."
I looked down at her, tracing the jagged lines cut by four years of starvation and survival, and pressed a soft kiss against her bruised forehead.
"I spent four years believing you abandoned me," I whispered fiercely.
"I spent four years letting a monster sit at my table and break bread with me."
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"This empire was built on blood, Madison."
"Tonight, the foundation is getting cleaned."
