Adriana's POV
"Don't hang up."
Dominic's voice on the phone made my whole body go cold and hot at the same time. Five years. Five years of silence, and now he called like no time had passed at all.
"How did you get this number?" My voice shook with anger.
"Adriana, listen to me. You're in danger. Hammond's death—"
I ended the call and threw my phone on Marcus's desk like it had burned me.
"Was that him?" Marcus stared at me. "Was that Dominic Cross?"
I couldn't answer. My hands were still covered in Hammond's blood. A dead man lay three feet away. And the person who destroyed my entire life had just called me.
The phone rang again. Same unknown number.
"Don't answer it," Marcus said.
I grabbed the phone. "What do you want?"
"To keep you alive." Dominic's voice was rough, urgent. "Hammond came to you because I sent him. The people who just killed him will come for you next. You need to leave that office right now."
"You sent him?" I couldn't breathe right. "You sent the man whose case ruined my career to my office, and now he's dead on my floor?"
"I know how this sounds—"
"You know nothing!" I was shouting now. "You destroyed everything I had, disappeared for five years, and now you think you can just call and—"
Sirens wailed in the distance. Getting closer.
"The police are coming," Dominic said, like he could hear them through the phone. "Don't mention the flash drive. Don't mention my name. And Adriana? Don't trust anyone in uniform. Elena has people everywhere."
"Elena? You mean Judge Vasquez?"
"So Hammond did talk to you." Something that sounded like relief entered his voice. "Good. That means you understand how deep this goes."
The sirens were right outside now. Red and blue lights flashed through the broken window.
"I have to go," I said.
"Meet me. Tonight. I'll explain everything."
"Go to hell, Dominic."
I hung up and shoved the phone in my pocket. Marcus was already hiding the flash drive in his computer tower—a secret compartment he'd built for situations exactly like this.
The police burst through the door thirty seconds later.
Four hours of questions. Four hours of telling the same story over and over while detectives looked at me like I was lying. Four hours of sitting in Hammond's blood while they took photos and measurements and treated my office like a crime scene.
Which, I guess, it was now.
Detective Sarah Chen finally let us leave at midnight. "Don't go far," she warned. "We'll have more questions."
I didn't trust her. Didn't trust any of them. Not after what Hammond and Dominic had said about corruption.
Marcus and I walked to the parking lot in silence. Rain had stopped, but the streets were still wet and shiny under the streetlights.
"You okay?" Marcus asked quietly.
"A man died in front of me. My ex-fiancé called. And apparently there's a massive conspiracy trying to kill me." I laughed, but it came out wrong. "So no, I'm not okay."
"We should leave town. Tonight. Just disappear for a while."
"And go where? They found Hammond. They'll find us."
Marcus opened his mouth to argue, then froze. "Ana. That car."
I followed his gaze. A black Mercedes sat at the far end of the parking lot. Alone. Engine running.
My heart stopped.
I knew that car.
The driver's door opened. A man stepped out, and even in the dim light, I would've recognized him anywhere.
Dominic Cross.
He looked different. Older. His jaw was harder, his shoulders broader. But his eyes—those dark eyes that used to look at me like I was his whole world—they were the same.
"I'll call the police," Marcus said, reaching for his phone.
"No." The word came out automatically. "I need to hear what he has to say."
"Ana, he destroyed you—"
"I know what he did." I started walking toward Dominic. "Stay here. If anything happens, run."
"I'm not leaving you."
"Marcus. Please."
He didn't look happy, but he stayed put.
I crossed the parking lot slowly. Each step brought back memories I'd buried deep. Dominic proposing on a beach at sunset. Dominic making me breakfast after late nights reviewing cases. Dominic standing in court, ripping apart my evidence piece by piece while I watched my career die.
Dominic leaving me with a three-word text: It's over, Adriana.
We stopped five feet apart.
"You look good," he said quietly.
"Don't." My voice was ice. "Don't you dare do that. You don't get to comment on how I look. You don't get to act like we're old friends catching up."
He flinched. "You're right. I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" The word tasted bitter. "You're sorry? You destroyed my career, my reputation, my life. You made me look like a fool in front of everyone. And then you vanished without a single explanation. Sorry doesn't even begin to cover what you did."
"I know."
"Then why are you here?"
Dominic stepped closer. I forced myself not to back away.
"Because five years ago, I made a choice," he said. "A terrible choice that cost you everything. But I made it to save your life. And now I need you to trust me one more time, because the same people who forced me to betray you are trying to kill you tonight."
I stared at him. "What are you talking about?"
"Judge Elena Vasquez runs a criminal network. Five years ago, when you were building the Hammond case, you got too close to exposing her. So she came after me. She showed me photos of you—leaving your apartment, buying coffee, jogging in the park. She told me if I didn't destroy your case, you'd have a fatal accident within twenty-four hours."
The world tilted sideways.
"You're lying."
"I wish I was." Dominic's voice cracked. "I spent five years hating myself for what I did. Five years trying to build a case against Elena from the inside. And now Hammond's dead because I wasn't fast enough to protect him. I won't let the same thing happen to you."
Behind me, Marcus shouted: "Ana, get down!"
I turned. A black van screeched into the parking lot, side door already sliding open.
The barrel of a gun caught the streetlight.
Dominic grabbed my arm and yanked me behind the Mercedes as bullets tore through the air where I'd been standing one second before.
And the only thought in my head was: He's telling the truth.