Adriana's POV
Bullets slammed into the Mercedes. Metal screamed. Glass exploded above our heads.
Dominic's body covered mine, pressing me against the wet pavement. His heart hammered against my back—or maybe that was my own heart, I couldn't tell anymore.
"Stay down!" he yelled.
More gunshots. The van's tires screeched as it circled the parking lot. I could hear Marcus shouting my name, but I couldn't see him.
"We need to move," Dominic said in my ear. "On three, we run for that alley. One—"
"I'm not going anywhere with you!"
"Two—"
A bullet punched through the Mercedes's window, right where my head had been.
"Three!"
Dominic pulled me up and we ran. My legs felt like jello but they moved anyway. The alley was twenty feet away. Fifteen. Ten.
Gunfire erupted behind us. Something hot grazed my arm and I gasped.
"Ana!" Marcus appeared from nowhere, grabbing my other arm. Together, he and Dominic dragged me into the alley as bullets chewed up the brick wall beside us.
We didn't stop running until we hit the next street. Dominic yanked open the back door of another car—a gray sedan I hadn't noticed.
"Get in!"
"I'm not—"
"They're reloading!" Marcus shoved me toward the car. "Just get in!"
I tumbled into the backseat. Marcus jumped in after me. Dominic slid into the driver's seat and the car roared to life.
We flew down the street as the black van burst from the alley behind us.
"Who are these people?" Marcus shouted.
"Elena's cleanup crew." Dominic took a corner so fast I slammed into the door. "They were probably watching Hammond, waiting to see who he talked to."
I pressed my hand against my arm where the bullet had grazed me. It burned but wasn't deep. Just a scratch. I'd had worse.
"Where are you taking us?" I demanded.
"Somewhere safe."
"That's not an answer."
Dominic's eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. "I have a safe house in Queens. Federal property. They can't touch you there."
"Federal?" Marcus leaned forward. "You're FBI?"
"Prosecutor. I switched sides five years ago." Dominic ran a red light, the van still following. "Started building a case against Elena from the inside."
My brain couldn't process this. The Dominic I knew was a defense attorney. Rich family, expensive suits, defended criminals for enormous fees. The idea of him as a prosecutor, working for the government, trying to fight corruption—it didn't make sense.
Nothing tonight made sense.
"You spent five years building a case?" I said. "Five years, and you never once thought to tell me the truth?"
"I thought about it every single day." His voice was rough. "But the moment you knew, you'd be in danger again. Elena has eyes everywhere—cops, judges, lawyers. If she suspected you were involved, even just knowing what I was doing, she'd kill you."
"So you let me hate you instead."
"Yes."
The simple answer hurt worse than anything else. He'd chosen this. Chosen to let me think the worst of him for five years.
Dominic took another sharp turn. The van fell back, losing ground. We were headed toward Queens now, leaving Brooklyn behind.
"Why now?" Marcus asked the question I was thinking. "Why bring Ana into this now if you spent five years keeping her out?"
Dominic's hands tightened on the wheel. "Because I finally have enough evidence to destroy Elena's entire network. But I need someone outside the system. Someone they can't threaten or buy or kill without it being obvious."
"Someone expendable," I said bitterly.
"Someone I trust." Dominic's eyes found mine again in the mirror. "You're the only person in this city I trust completely, Adriana. The only one who can't be corrupted because you've already lost everything they could take."
The words stung because they were true. I had nothing left to lose. No career. No reputation. No life beyond Marcus and our little office.
Which was now a crime scene.
"Hammond had a flash drive," I said. "He told me everything was on it before he died."
Dominic's expression changed. "You have it?"
"Maybe."
"Adriana—"
"Why should I give you anything? How do I know you're not lying right now? How do I know this whole thing isn't another setup?"
The car went quiet except for the engine and the sound of rain starting again.
"You don't," Dominic finally said. "You have no reason to trust me. I destroyed that right five years ago. But Hammond's dead. Those men just tried to kill you. And the conspiracy you tried to expose back then? It's still operating. Still destroying lives. Still getting away with everything."
He pulled into a narrow street lined with old buildings. Stopped in front of one that looked abandoned.
"This is the safe house?" Marcus sounded doubtful.
"It doesn't look like much on the outside. That's the point." Dominic turned to face us. "Inside, it's secure. Food, weapons, communications equipment. You'll be safe while we figure out our next move."
"Our next move?" I laughed. "There is no 'our.' I'm not working with you."
"Then you're dead by morning." Dominic's voice was flat. "Elena knows you have Hammond's information. She knows he talked to you before he died. She will not stop until you're eliminated."
"So I just trust the man who ruined my life?"
"No." Dominic opened his door. "You trust the man who loved you enough to ruin himself to keep you alive."
He got out and walked toward the building.
Marcus touched my arm gently. "Ana, your choice. But those guys are still out there. And I really don't want to die tonight."
I looked at my best friend. At the blood on my sleeve. At the building where Dominic had disappeared inside.
Every instinct screamed not to trust him. But Hammond's dying words echoed in my head: Dominic knows everything.
I grabbed the door handle.
That's when my phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
I opened it and my blood turned to ice.
It was a photo. Recent. Very recent.
Me and Marcus, sitting in the police station an hour ago. And standing in the background, talking to Detective Chen, was someone I recognized.
Judge Elena Vasquez.
The message below the photo said: You can't hide, Ms. Vale. And you can't trust anyone.
"Marcus." My voice came out as a whisper. "We need to get inside. Right now."
Because if Elena had people in the police department—if she'd been there tonight, watching us the whole time—then Dominic was right.
We were already dead unless we disappeared.