Chapter 5 - The Carter Farm
The gravel driveway of the Carter family farm crunched loudly beneath the tires of the rented black SUV Dominic had arranged to have waiting on the tarmac.
As they pulled up to the weathered, white-painted farmhouse, Sophia felt her stomach tie itself into a triple knot.
The property hadn't changed in ten years. The red barn with its peeling paint, the old rusted tractor sitting near the machine shed, the clothesline strung between two sturdy oak trees—it was a postcard of rural American endurance, and it felt like a trap closing in around her.
As the car doors opened, the front screen door of the house banged shut.
A tall, broad-shouldered man in his late fifties stepped out onto the wooden porch. Henry Carter wore faded denim overalls over a plaid flannel shirt, heavy work boots caked in mud, and a scowl that looked like it had been carved into his face with a chisel. His graying hair was cut short, and his hands were calloused and thick from decades of handling livestock and heavy timber.
He didn't look at the expensive SUV. He looked directly at Sophia as she stepped out of the passenger side, his steely eyes narrowing.
"Sophie," Henry barked, his voice carrying across the yard like a gunshot. "Took you long enough. Your mother’s been asking for you since dawn."
"I'm sorry, Dad. Traffic out of the city was—" Sophia started, hurrying toward the porch.
She stopped dead in her tracks as the driver’s side door opened and Dominic Moretti stepped out of the vehicle.
Henry froze.
His eyes traveled up from Dominic’s leather shoes, past the tailored charcoal coat, to the sharp, aristocratic lines of his face and the expensive, cold gleam in his dark eyes. Henry’s hand automatically dropped to his beltline, gripping a worn leather pouch as if he were sizing up an intruder who had wandered onto his land by mistake.
"Who the hell is this?" Henry demanded, his voice dropping an octave into a low, rumbling threat.
Sophia swallowed hard, feeling the floor drop out from under her. She looked back at Dominic.
May you like
Dominic didn't flinch. He didn't blink. He adjusted his coat cuffs with absolute, terrifying calm, walked around the front of the SUV, and extended his hand toward the older man with the easy grace of an apex predator entering a new territory.
"Henry," Dominic said smoothly, his voice carrying across the yard with chilling confidence. "I’m Dominic. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you."
