Chapter 5 #2
"The security concern is precautionary and being handled by professionals." I keep my voice level. "It doesn't impact my ability to run this company or close critical deals. Now, unless there are other questions about Q2 projections, let's move to operational updates. Patricia?"
Patricia takes the cue and launches into her report. But I can feel the shift among them. The questions they're not asking. The speculation about what kind of security concern would require their CEO to work remotely.
Armand's smile makes me wonder if he knows exactly what kind of questions they're asking themselves.
The meeting continues for nearly an hour. Operational updates, strategic initiatives, risk assessments. I field questions, make decisions, and maintain the illusion that everything is perfectly normal. That I'm in complete control.
When the call ends, I close the laptop and let my shoulders drop. The act is exhausting.
"He's trying to undermine you." Luc's voice comes from the corner. I'd almost forgotten he was there. "Angola project. Making success look like failure."
"That's Armand's specialty. Subtle sabotage wrapped in concerned questions." I rub my temples and feel the beginning of a tension headache building. "He's been doing it for years. The board's used to it."
"Does he know about the stalker?"
The question makes my stomach drop. "No. I haven't told anyone except Margot."
"He's fishing." Luc stands, moves closer.
"He'll speculate. Probably guess it's personal rather than professional. But he won't have details." I hope. "Unless someone at Dominion talked."
"Margot runs a tight operation. NDAs. Vetted staff." He studies me with that searching look that sees too much. "Your uncle doesn't need details. Just doubt."
His assessment cuts too close to fears I've been trying to ignore. "You think he's involved?"
"He wants you destroyed professionally. Whether he's involved with the stalking or opportunistic—we'll find out." Luc pulls out his phone, makes a note. "We're checking everyone with motive. Family included."
The idea of Armand being behind the stalking feels both horrifying and implausible. "He's vindictive, but surveillance cameras in private club rooms? Sexually explicit photographs? That's not his style."
"He could be using someone else's obsession. Amplifying a threat he didn't create." Luc pockets his phone. "We'll know more when forensics comes back. Tell me about everyone who's fought your leadership. Everyone who wanted your position. Everyone with reason to want you discredited."
I laugh, but there's no humor in it. "That's half the executive team and most of the board."
"Start with the ones who had the most to gain." He moves to the window and does that constant perimeter check I'm starting to recognize. "Your next meeting is legal review?"
"In about an hour. Contract terms for the Gulf acquisition." I glance at my laptop. "Straightforward. No drama expected."
"And a board member at one?"
"Henry Castellanos. He's been on the board since my grandfather's time.
He mentored my father. Supported my appointment as CEO when others wanted Armand.
" I stand, needing to move after sitting through an hour of the facade.
"He'll want to know what's really going on.
He's not going to accept vague references to security concerns. "
"Tell him the truth."
I stare at Luc. "You want me to tell Henry that I'm being stalked?"
"Tell someone you trust. Someone with authority to protect your position while I handle the threat." He turns from the window, meets my gaze. "You can't fight this alone. You need allies."
He's right. Henry would understand. He'd help me manage the board's perception, counter Armand's subtle sabotage. But telling him means showing weakness. It means acknowledging that the unshakeable CEO facade is cracking.
"I'll think about it." The words come out automatic. Corporate speak for 'I'll avoid this decision as long as possible.'
"Don't think. Decide." Luc's voice carries that command I'm learning not to argue with. "You have until one o'clock. If you trust him, tell him. If not, we find someone else."
My first instinct is to push back. Tell him that my business decisions aren't his to command. But I remember last night's dinner. The way following his commands gave me structure when panic threatened to overwhelm me.
The ones who survive follow protocols.
"Yes, Sir." The words slip out automatically, even though we're technically discussing business rather than personal protocols.
His expression doesn't change, but something shifts in his eyes. Recognition that I just submitted to his authority in a professional context. Chose to trust his judgment instead of fighting for control.
"Good girl." The praise is quiet, but it hits me harder than it should. "The executives who opposed you. Start with the ones who had the most to lose."
I sink into the chair and try to organize years of corporate warfare into coherent threat assessment.
"Patricia Moreau wanted my job. The board seriously considered her—she had a decade of operational experience to my handful of years.
But she wasn't family, and tradition runs deep at LaCroix Petroleum.
" I shrug. “Besides which, at the end of the day, I own 51 percent of the company.”
"Technical skills?"
"Operations management, process optimization, supply chain logistics.
Nothing that screams surveillance installation.
" I pull up her personnel file on my laptop and turn the screen toward him.
"She stayed on as COO. She's excellent at her job, professional in every interaction.
But there's always been tension beneath the surface. "
Luc studies the file. "Your CTO?"
"Mateo Santos. He's brilliant but awkward.
Doesn't care about politics or power, just wants to solve technical problems." I close Patricia's file and navigate to Mateo's.
"He absolutely has the knowledge to plant cameras.
But motive? He's more interested in refining algorithms than destroying me.
And he's been instrumental in implementing security upgrades across our facilities. "
"Obsession changes people." Luc makes a note on his phone.
"Sally Bene might be the better bet." I hesitate. "She's Head of Exploration. Geology background, not IT, but field ops require sophisticated monitoring equipment. And she's been the most openly skeptical of my leadership. She questions my decisions regularly, pushes back on strategic direction."
"Enough to want you gone?"
The question hangs between us. "I don't know. She's aggressive, ambitious. She probably resents that I leapfrogged over her. But stalking? It doesn't fit what I know about her."
"Or working with someone." Luc sets down his phone. "Two angles. Corporate. Personal. Might be separate. Might not. What about personal?"
The idea that multiple people might be trying to destroy me makes my stomach turn.
"Julien LaSalle. Former Dom. Got possessive. Started stalking your sessions at Dominion. Comments about how no one else could give you what you needed."
I remember Julien. He was intense, controlling, too invested in my submission. I cut ties with him months ago when his behavior crossed from dominant to disturbing. "Margot banned him from the club after he tried to force a scene I didn't consent to. I haven't seen him since."
"Banning him from the club doesn't stop him from watching you.
" Luc pulls up something on his phone, shows me a photograph.
Dark-haired, sharp features, the kind of intensity that had felt compelling before it turned threatening.
"He's on our list. Other former partners who showed boundary issues.
Club members present during multiple sessions where you booked private rooms."
My throat tightens. "You think someone I scened with is behind this?"
"Someone watched you submit. Wanted more. Couldn't accept it ending." He pockets his phone. "Corporate angle's just as strong. Your uncle wants you destroyed. So do executives who lost out when you became CEO. Andy's pulling financial records. Margot's reviewing club access logs."
The investigation feels overwhelmingly complex. Too many suspects. Too many connections I can't see yet. "How do you even begin to narrow it down?"
"Watch how people react when we apply pressure. Follow evidence when forensics come back. See if anyone escalates at Dominion." His expression hardens. "Keep you alive long enough to figure out who wants you dead."
The bluntness lands like a physical blow. Not who's threatening you. Who wants you dead.
"I need everyone who benefits from your destruction.
" He sits across from me, close enough that I can see the intensity in his eyes.
"Everyone positioned to take your role. Everyone working with Armand.
And the personal side. Every Dom who pushed boundaries.
Every scene partner who wanted more. Every interaction that felt wrong. Names. Motivations. Everything."
The request breaks through every defense I've built.
He's not asking me to choose between corporate sabotage and personal obsession.
He's asking me to admit that both are threats.
That I'm being attacked from multiple directions by people who want different things but might achieve the same result: my complete destruction.
"I'm so tired of being strong. Of fighting everyone who thinks I don't deserve this position.
Of proving myself every single day like the company my family built for generations isn't mine by right.
" My hands are shaking. "And now I can't even trust that the parts of my life I kept separate are actually separate.
Someone's been watching me. Recording me.
And I don't know if they want to destroy my company or destroy me personally or if those are even different things anymore. "
Luc reaches across the table, covers my hands with his. The touch steadies me the way his commands do. Certain. Safe.
"You're not losing your company." His voice carries absolute conviction. "We find them. We stop them. Then you walk back into that boardroom with proof someone tried to destroy you and failed. That's power, not weakness."
I want to believe him. But believing requires trust I'm not sure I know how to give.
"How?" The question comes out small. Vulnerable. Everything a CEO should never sound like.
"Let me do my job. Trust I can keep you safe. Admit you can't fight every battle alone." He squeezes my hands gently. "And go to Dominion tonight."
I stare at him. "You want me to go back to the club? Where the cameras were planted? Where someone's been watching me for weeks?"
"Draw them out. They're escalating. Building toward something. I control when and where it happens."
"By giving them what they want to see." I understand what he's planning. "You want me to book a private room. Let them think I'm vulnerable. Make them believe they can get to me."
"I want them to try." His expression hardens into something dangerous. Something that reminds me he's not just a Dom. He's an operative trained to neutralize threats. "Because when they do, I'll be waiting."
The words should terrify me. Instead, they feel like the first solid ground I've stood on in days.
"And if they don't take the bait? If they're smart enough to recognize a trap?"
"Then we learn how smart they are. Either way, we're done waiting." He releases my hands, sits back. "I need you to trust me. Follow my commands without hesitation. Can you do that?"
The question hangs between us. He's asking me to submit in the space where I've spent years faking it. Asking me to surrender control where I've maintained it most carefully. Asking me to trust him with my safety in the exact location where someone's been documenting my vulnerability.
It terrifies me, and… it feels inevitable.
"Yes, Sir." The words come out steadier than I expect. "When do we go?"
"Tonight. After your meetings." He stands, moves toward the door. "Handle your legal review. Your conversation with Henry. Tell him the truth if you trust him. Maintain the act if you don't. Either way, we move forward."
He leaves me sitting at the desk, hands still trembling from admitting how exhausted I am. How scared. How close to breaking under the weight of maintaining control in every aspect of my life.
Tonight I'm going back to Dominion. Back to the private rooms where someone planted cameras. Where someone's been watching me surrender, except this time, the only eyes that matter are Luc's.