His to Love, Not to Claim

Third Person POV

Dominic Voss didn't sleep much anymore.

The night dragged long across the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse, city lights flickering like warning signals in the dark. In front of him, six monitors displayed a network of codes, transaction reports, surveillance feeds, and one camera trained permanently on the elevator of Aria's private floor.

Security had been compromised.

Three hours earlier, Ricardo had burst into his office, eyes hard and jaw locked.

"There was an unauthorized data pull from our internal vault. Encrypted files were accessed using a temporary login created from inside the system."

Dominic didn't speak. Just looked at the screen.

"Who had the access?" he finally asked.

Ricardo hesitated. "You, me... and Luca."

Dominic's expression turned to stone.

The files weren't public. They included asset routing, a list of off-shore accounts tied to the Innocente Pharma deal, and most disturbing  floor plans of all Voss safe houses, including the one Aria had been secretly registered to if things ever went wrong.

Someone had pulled the blueprints.

"Lock down everything," Dominic snapped. "I want firewalls rebuilt. Every secure line rerouted."

Ricardo nodded. "And Luca?"

"Watch him. Closely."

⸻

The next morning, Luca strolled into the main Voss office in Tribeca, all sharp suits and charming smiles, as if betrayal didn't sit beneath his skin.

"Morning, D," he said casually, throwing himself into one of the leather chairs in Dominic's office. "Something's off? You look like hell."

Dominic's gaze didn't waver.

He said nothing.

Luca chuckled. "Ah, one of those mornings."

Dominic kept his tone calm. "You met with Ivan last year. Milan, right? Business conference."

Luca blinked once, then nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure. Networking event. We shared a drink."

"Funny," Dominic replied, voice smooth as polished ice. "I pulled the security logs from the villa. You weren't just sharing a drink. You were in a private room with him for an hour. No cameras. No transcript."

The air shifted.

Luca's expression faltered just slightly but enough to register.

Dominic stood.

"You working with him?"

Luca scoffed. "You serious?"

"You accessed my files."

"I have clearance," Luca snapped, eyes narrowing. "I've had it for years, You trusted me."

"I did." Dominic said calmly

There was a beat of tense silence.

Then Dominic walked to the window, voice low. "You're either lying or someone's using you."

"I'd never sell you out."

Dominic turned to face him. "Then prove it. Bring me Ivan."

⸻

While Dominic set his suspicions in motion, Aria was at a follow up appointment with Dr. Kline. The baby was healthy, Strong heartbeat and Growing fast.

But the anxiety that threaded her spine refused to fade.

As she stepped into the elevator of the clinic, a figure stood in the lobby half lit by shadows, his face obscured.

A shape too familiar.

Ezra?

She turned to look again.

Gone.

⸻

Ricardo's Warning

Back at Voss HQ, Ricardo handed Dominic a slim dossier.

"We ran a trace on the file breach," he said. "Encrypted tunnels led us to an old satellite node in Vienna. It's connected to Ivan But the encryption was familiar."

"Whose?"

Ricardo hesitated. "Luca's old credentials something he used back in 2021 on your offshore clean up team."

Dominic's jaw locked.

He sat down, cold rage simmering.

"You think he's feeding Ivan information piece by piece?"

Ricardo nodded. "Or he's being blackmailed into doing it."

Either way, the damage had started. And now the cracks were visible.

⸻

That night, Dominic returned to the penthouse early He didn't go straight to Aria.

He stood outside her door, listening.

The sound of her soft laugh drifted through she was on a call. Probably with one of her old friends Normal, Peaceful.

He ached for it. For her.

But his world didn't allow peace.

His phone buzzed.

UNKNOWN NUMBER. "We know where she sleeps and what you'd do to keep her safe".

He stared at the message, pulse ticking slow and deadly.

This wasn't a bluff.

The war was starting.