Chapter 8 - FIRE AT THE COTTAGE
Dominic drove himself.
Marcus sat beside him.
Two security SUVs followed.
Rain streaked the windshield.
“Police are six minutes out,” Marcus said.
“Too long.”
They reached the east cottage in three.
Smoke was already rising.
Brooke stood near the front porch.
A lighter in her hand.
“Brooke!”
She turned.
For a moment, she looked like the woman Dominic had loved.
Terrified.
Beautiful.
Lost.
Then she flicked the lighter.
Dominic ran.
She dropped it.
Marcus kicked it away before it touched the gasoline.
Brooke screamed.
“You ruined everything!”
Dominic grabbed the fuel can and threw it into the wet grass.
“You did that yourself.”
“You don’t understand!”
“Then explain.”
“My father left us nothing!”
Dominic stared.
“What?”
“Debt. Lawsuits. Shame. Martin and I spent our whole lives pretending we were still Harringtons.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Old money. Old family. Old name.”
Her eyes filled.
“There was no money.”
“So you decided to steal my nephew’s?”
“I was trying to survive!”
“You were marrying me.”
“You would have controlled everything!”
Dominic stopped.
There it was.
The truth.
Brooke saw his face and realized she had gone too far.
“I didn’t mean—”
“You were afraid I’d control the money.”
“You control everyone.”
“I never told you what to buy.”
“That’s not the point.”
“I gave you access to accounts.”
“Your accounts.”
She hit her chest.
“Your house. Your staff. Your cars. Your name. Everything was yours.”
“So you wanted something that was mine without me knowing.”
“I wanted security!”
“You wanted leverage.”
She looked away.
Smoke drifted from the porch.
Marcus ran to check it.
“No active fire. Just burned fabric.”
Dominic stared at Brooke.
“You could’ve asked me for help.”
She laughed.
“You don’t marry women like me because we need help.”
“What does that mean?”
“You marry women who look perfect.”
He flinched.
She saw it.
“You wanted a woman who could walk into a room and make people think Dominic Mercer had finally become respectable.”
He said nothing.
Because part of it was true.
Brooke wiped rain from her face.
“And I wanted a man powerful enough that I’d never be afraid again.”
“For a while, I thought that was love.”
“Maybe it was.”
Dominic looked at her.
“No. Love doesn’t need forged signatures.”
Police lights flashed at the end of the drive.
Brooke backed away.
“Don’t let them take me.”
“You broke into my mother’s study.”
“Dominic.”
“You tried to steal from a child.”
“Please.”
“You threatened my sister.”
She grabbed his coat.
“I love you.”
Dominic looked down at her hand.
Then removed it.
“No.”
Brooke’s face collapsed.
Behind them, officers approached.
Then Marcus shouted.
“Dominic!”
Everyone turned.
Smoke was suddenly pouring from the back window.
Real smoke.
Marcus ran toward the cottage.
“We’ve got fire inside!”
Dominic stared at Brooke.
Her face changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
“You did more than burn the porch.”
She whispered, “I didn’t.”
“Brooke.”
“I swear.”
An explosion blew out the east window.
May you like
And Dominic remembered something horrifying.
The cottage had an old propane heating tank beneath the kitchen.
