Chapter Twelve
Sharon’s wrists burned from the zip ties cutting into her skin as the jet began its descent into Chicago.
The whole trip had been a nightmare, despite the luxury private jet Cooper had sent.
It had been hours since Lennox and his goons captured her in the abandoned barn outside San Antonio, where she and Dusty had been stranded after the truck broke down.
The city lights blurred beneath her, a constellation of electric stars marking the place she’d fought so desperately to escape.
She shifted on the leather seat, willing herself to think clearly despite the throbbing at her temple where Lennox had struck her.
Things had changed from how he’d treated her weeks prior, before she’d discovered all the despicable acts Cooper was capable of.
Lennox wouldn’t have dared touch her; being Cooper’s fiancée had come with some privileges, and Cooper protected what he considered his property.
She knew now that was how Cooper felt about her—she belonged to him.
And he never lost anything he believed was his.
“Enjoying the view?” Lennox lounged across from her, his bulk taking up most of the facing seat. “I wouldn’t get too comfortable. Boss isn’t exactly planning a welcome home party.”
She turned away from him, fixing her gaze out the window. The interior of Cooper’s private jet reflected in the plexiglass, all cream leather and polished wood. Luxury that concealed rot, just like everything else in Madison’s stolen empire.
“He’s been in quite a state since you disappeared with those files,” Lennox continued, his voice carrying an edge of amusement. “Never seen the boss so…unhinged.”
Sharon’s stomach clenched. The files and flash drive hidden beneath the wooden crates in that abandoned barn were her only insurance policy now. Unless Dusty managed to get them to the FBI. If Dusty was still alive.
The image of him crumpling to the ground, blood spreading across his temple where Lennox had struck him, the bullet slamming into his thigh played on repeat in her mind. She’d screamed his name as they dragged her away, but he hadn’t stirred. Not even a twitch.
Please be alive. Please don’t leave me…I need you.
The jet touched down with a gentle bump, but nothing else about this homecoming was gentle.
Chicago had once been her home, the city where she’d built her career at Kerrigan Enterprises, rising to become its most talented financial analyst, even though Cooper had never allowed her to continue in that position.
Instead, he’d made her take the position of his executive administrative assistant.
Kerrigan had seemed like a second home. Now she doubted she’d be allowed through its exalted halls, unless it was for the scene of her execution.
“You know,” Lennox said casually as the engines wound down, “I’m surprised you ran with the evidence instead of going straight to the Feds. Not very smart.”
Sharon met his gaze, a flash of defiance breaking through her fear. “I needed to understand exactly what I had first. Insurance.” She allowed a smirk to grow on her lips. “I’ve got everything I need to bring down Cooper, and I’ll take you and the rest of your crew with you.”
Lennox chuckled, though she thought she noted a touch of fear in his gaze. “Fat lot of good running did you. We still managed to find you and your new lover, didn’t we?”
The truth was more complicated than she’d admit to Lennox.
She’d panicked after Cooper had killed Vincent Frame and forced her to pick up the gun, planting her fingerprints.
She could still see Cooper standing over him with the gun in his gloved hand.
The blood. The look in Cooper’s eyes that told her she was next if she tried to cross him.
That same night, she’d grabbed what she could from her apartment, leaving behind everything she didn’t need, couldn’t carry in one suitcase, except for the files she’d copied from Cooper’s computer, the flash drive, and fled.
Meeting Dusty had been pure chance—her car breaking down outside that small Texas town.
Shiloh Springs felt like arriving at a miracle.
The place was like something out of a 50s TV show in so many ways.
The people were friendly and giving. People like the Boudreaus, especially Ms. Patti, who’d taken her under her wing without knowing a single thing about her, except she needed help.
Didn’t matter that Sharon might be a fugitive, Ms. Patti had rallied her family, brought in the big guns in the form of her son, Antonio, and made her feel like she was something more than a stranger passing through.
She’d become a part of the community, a part of the little town, and she liked it.
A lot. She wanted to go back—and if there was any way it was possible, she would.
She thought about Dusty, his offer of help, no questions asked.
Those kind eyes that saw right through her lies about her car breaking down.
She knew he was instrumental in sending Ms. Patti her way.
It was not an accident the town’s matriarch plopped herself down on a bench beside a total stranger and offered her a place to stay, a refuge from everything without asking anything in return.
Dusty…the man who’d gone from reluctant protector to something much more.
“Maybe when this is all over, we could see where this goes,” he’d said just hours ago, his calloused fingers gentle against her cheek. “No pressure. Just…a chance.”
Now he might be dead in the abandoned barn, lying in the dirt. She remembered screaming his name as Lennox dragged her from the barn and bundled her into the back of the black SUV.
Lennox stood and mockingly motioned for her to precede him to the now open door of the jet.
Stopping at the top of the steps, she paused, feeling the cold hit her in the face like a physical slap.
Before she could say a word, she was marching down the steps of Madison’s jet into the chilly Chicago night, Lennox right on her heels.
She knew there was no chance to escape, nowhere she could run.
Lennox’s hand clamped around her upper arm as he guided her toward the waiting limousine, its black surface reflecting the runway lights like an oil slick. Two more security men flanked them—Cooper wasn’t taking chances.
“Get in,” Lennox ordered, pushing her toward the open door.
The leather seats of the limo felt cold against her skin.
Sharon tried to control her breathing, the panic threatening to overwhelm her.
She needed to think. To plan. But her mind kept returning to Dusty’s still form on the ground, the way his eyes had met hers just before Lennox struck him.
The unspoken promise lingering between them.
I love you. She desperately wished she’d said it when she had the chance. Three simple words she’d been too cautious to voice. Will I ever get the chance to tell you?
The city passed by in a blur of lights and shadows. Places she recognized from her former life—the lake, the skyscrapers, the neighborhoods she’d once navigated with confident familiarity. Now they felt like markers on a final journey.
“He’s got quite a reception planned,” Lennox commented, scrolling through his phone. “Been waiting months to get his hands on you again.”
Sharon fought to keep her expression neutral despite the creeping dread settling in her chest. Cooper hadn’t built his empire—legitimate and otherwise—by being merciful to those who crossed him.
His handsome face hid the soul of the devil.
The files she’d stolen documented everything: the money laundering for Vincent Frame’s mob connections, the offshore accounts, the bribes to city officials.
And worse, evidence of the murders she’d discovered.
One had been the whistleblower from accounting who’d uncovered evidence of money laundering for the mob.
Vincent was the tie between Cooper and the Chicago mob, which explained Cooper wanting him out of the picture.
He’d outlived his usefulness, and tried to double-cross Cooper, which meant he needed to be discredited and eliminated.
It was simply a lucky break that Cooper could kill two birds with one stone—get Vincent out of the picture and frame her for his murder.
The limousine turned onto the familiar tree-lined avenue leading to Cooper’s estate.
The large trees were now winter-bare skeletons, reaching into the night sky like grasping fingers.
Sharon had been here for company parties, back when she was a rising star at Kerrigan, and many times since she’d become engaged to Cooper.
She gave an ugly laugh. What a joke that had been before she discovered what lurked beneath his polished surface.
She thanked her lucky stars that she’d refused to move into the mansion, despite Cooper’s many overtures to have her join him in his luxurious home. Now it felt like she’d dodged a bullet.
“Almost home,” Lennox said with a smirk.
The estate came into view—a sprawling stone mansion set back from the road, security lights illuminating manicured grounds. The car rolled through the open gates, up the curved driveway. Sharon’s heart hammered against her ribs as the mansion grew larger in the windshield.
And then she saw him.
Cooper stood in the open doorway, his tall figure backlit by the warm glow from inside. Even at a distance, she could feel the cold calculation in his stare. The man who’d once been her mentor and lover. The man who’d framed her for murder when she’d discovered too much.
As the car rolled to a stop, Sharon closed her eyes briefly, summoning Dusty’s face in her mind—his slow, careful smile, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners, how his voice softened when he said her name. Oh, how she loved the sound of her name on his lips.
If I get out of this alive, I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything I should have said.