Chapter 6 - The Family ProblemDominic called Liv at 1:23 in the morning.
She answered on the second ring.
“If this is about tomorrow’s schedule, I’m resigning.”
“It’s not.”
She sat up immediately.
Something in his voice was wrong.
“Dominic?”
“My father contacted Serena.”
Liv became completely awake.
“What?”
“He asked her to meet with him.”
“Why?”
Dominic was silent.
“Come downstairs.”
“What?”
“I’m outside.”
Liv looked toward the window.
“You’re at my apartment?”
“Yes.”
“At one in the morning?”
“Yes.”
“Are you stalking me now?”
“Only professionally.”
“That sentence made no sense.”
“I know.”
She rubbed her face.
“Give me five minutes.”
“Take ten.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll complain later that I rushed you.”
“I’m going to complain anyway.”
“I know.”
Liv dressed quickly and went downstairs.
Dominic’s car was parked beneath a streetlamp.
He stood beside it wearing the same clothes from dinner, tie gone, hair disordered.
For once, he looked less like a multimillionaire CEO and more like a man whose life had abruptly become inconvenient.
“What happened?”
He handed her his phone.
Liv read Serena’s message.
Then the follow-up.
He knows about Olivia. He said the board will never support a CEO involved with his employee. He wants me to give them information about your past. I refused. But you should know he’s planning something.
Liv read it twice.
“Your father knows?”
“Apparently everyone does.”
“What does he want?”
“Control.”
“That’s vague.”
“It’s accurate.”
Dominic opened the passenger door.
“Get in. It’s cold.”
Liv stared at him.
“Are you kidnapping me?”
“Yes. Very respectfully.”
“Where are we going?”
“My place.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“For strategy.”
“Sure.”
“Liv.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You thought several things.”
She got into the car.
Dominic lived in a penthouse overlooking the river, which Liv had visited exactly twice for work emergencies.
She had expected it to feel different now.
More intimate.
Instead, the first thing she noticed was how empty it seemed.
Beautiful furniture.
Expensive art.
Perfect lighting.
Almost no personal objects.
“You live like a luxury hotel,” she said.
“I’ve been told.”
“By women?”
“Mostly decorators.”
“That answer saved you.”
He poured water for both of them.
Liv sat at the kitchen island.
“So explain.”
Dominic remained standing.
“My father owns eleven percent of Cain Technologies.”
“I thought you owned controlling interest.”
“I do. But he still has influence with three board members.”
“And he doesn’t approve of me.”
“He doesn’t approve of anything I choose that he didn’t choose first.”
Liv studied him.
“You never talk about him.”
“There isn’t much worth discussing.”
“That sounds healthy.”
“I learned from the best.”
She waited.
Dominic sighed.
“My father wanted me to join his investment firm after college. I refused. Cain Technologies was originally supposed to fail.”
“Supportive.”
“He gave me six months before I came crawling back.”
“You built the company anyway.”
“Yes.”
“And now?”
“Now he enjoys telling people my independence was funded by his genes.”
Liv snorted.
“That’s terrible.”
“He’s terrible.”
“Why would our relationship matter to the board?”
Dominic leaned against the counter.
“Because we’re negotiating the largest acquisition in company history next week.”
Liv knew the deal.
Mercury Systems.
A seven-hundred-million-dollar acquisition that would nearly double Cain Technologies’ enterprise division.
“If my father convinces the board I’m distracted, reckless, or exposing the company to legal risk, he can push for additional oversight.”
“Remove you?”
“Not easily.”
“But make your life miserable.”
“Extremely.”
Liv looked at Serena’s message again.
“What information does she have?”
Dominic’s expression closed slightly.
“Probably the engagement. My behavior afterward. There were some… unpleasant years.”
“Meaning?”
“Parties. Women. A few public incidents.”
“You were twenty-two.”
“The board won’t care.”
“Were any laws broken?”
“No.”
“Anyone hurt?”
“No.”
“Then what exactly is your father trying to prove?”
“That I’m emotionally unstable.”
Liv almost laughed.
“You run a company with three thousand employees.”
“Apparently dating my assistant has finally pushed me over the edge.”
“Executive assistant.”
“Future strategic operations director, if Margaret’s review confirms what everyone with functioning eyes already knows.”
Liv pointed at him.
“No discussing my promotion while we’re dating.”
“I’m not making the decision.”
“You’re still annoying.”
“Completely separate issue.”
She became serious again.
“Why Serena?”
“Because my father knew her family.”
“Did he like her?”
“He loved her.”
Liv felt something twist.
“Of course he did.”
Dominic noticed.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Compare yourself.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
She stood.
“Maybe because your father apparently thinks she was appropriate and I’m some career-destroying mistake.”
“I don’t care what my father thinks.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
“No, Liv.”
He stepped closer.
“It is not easy.”
Something in his face made her stop.
“I spent half my life caring what he thought,” Dominic said. “Every achievement became an argument. Every success was either not enough or somehow because of him. The company. My relationships. My decisions.”
“And Serena?”
“He approved of her before I did.”
That startled her.
“What?”
“Our families knew each other. He encouraged the relationship.”
“So she was…”
“Perfect on paper.”
Liv understood.
Of course.
The appropriate daughter of the appropriate family.
The acceptable future wife.
“And me?”
Dominic’s expression softened.
“You terrify him.”
Liv blinked.
“I’ve met your father once.”
“Yes.”
“He asked me to find his coat.”
“And you told him he was standing next to it.”
“He was.”
Dominic almost smiled.
“You didn’t know who he was.”
“I still would’ve told him.”
“Exactly.”
Liv laughed despite herself.
Dominic moved closer.
“My father understands people who want something from him. Money. Access. Approval. Status. You don’t want any of those things.”
“I want your coffee machine.”
“You cannot have it.”
“Then our relationship is doomed.”
“Apparently.”
He touched her hand.
“My father knows he can’t control you.”
“Why would he need to?”
“Because he thinks whoever I marry will become another way to control me.”
Liv stared.
The word hung there.
Marry.
Dominic realized it too.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Don’t panic.”
“I’m not.”
“You look terrified.”
“I’m discussing marriage in your presence after dating you for twenty-four hours.”
“You’re not proposing.”
“Correct.”
“Then breathe.”
He exhaled.
Liv smiled faintly.
“You are spectacularly bad at relationships.”
“I warned you.”
Silence settled.
Then Liv’s expression hardened.
“So what do we do about your father?”
Dominic’s mouth curved.
“That sounded threatening.”
“It was.”
“I’ve never been more attracted to you.”
“Focus.”
“Trying.”
They spent the next two hours reviewing possibilities.
Dominic showed her the board structure.
The Mercury deal.
Voting blocs.
Historical tensions.
Liv saw immediately what he had missed.
“Your father doesn’t actually need to remove you.”
“No.”
“He just needs the acquisition to fail.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Explain.”
“If Mercury collapses, the board questions your judgment. The stock drops. Your father gets leverage. Our relationship is just ammunition.”
Dominic became very still.
Liv pulled the board documents toward herself.
“Who benefits if the deal fails?”
“Several competitors.”
“Internally.”
Dominic thought.
“Marcus Hale.”
The chief financial officer.
Liv knew Marcus.
Quiet.
Efficient.
Ambitious.
“What does he want?”
“My job eventually.”
“Eventually?”
Dominic looked grim.
“Maybe sooner.”
They exchanged a look.
Liv opened her laptop.
“Your father isn’t the real threat.”
“No.”
“He’s the distraction.”
Dominic watched her work.
“What?”
She looked up.
“You’re smiling.”
“I’m having a relationship crisis at two thirty in the morning, and you’ve turned it into corporate warfare.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I love you.”
The words slipped out casually.
Naturally.
Completely without preparation.
Both froze.
Dominic looked shocked by himself.
Liv’s fingers stopped above the keyboard.
They had said it before.
In his office.
He had confessed he was catastrophically in love with her.
But this was different.
This was quiet.
Unplanned.
Domestic.
Real.
Dominic swallowed.
“Apparently that’s something I say now.”
Liv’s heart felt too large for her chest.
“You’re doing great.”
“Am I?”
“No.”
He laughed.
She reached for his hand.
“I love you too.”
The transformation in his face was almost painful to witness.
Relief.
Fear.
Wonder.
Then his phone rang.
The screen displayed:
Richard Cain.
Dominic looked at it.
Liv knew immediately.
“Your father.”
“Yes.”
“At almost three in the morning?”
“My family has never respected normal human boundaries.”
“Answer.”
Dominic hesitated.
Then accepted the call and activated speaker.
“Father.”
Richard Cain’s voice arrived cold and controlled.
“You received Serena’s message.”
Not a question.
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes.”
“Then she betrayed my confidence.”
“You tried to recruit my ex-fiancée into a board campaign against me.”
“I tried to protect the company from your recklessness.”
Liv’s jaw tightened.
Dominic’s voice became colder.
“My personal relationship is none of your concern.”
“When that relationship is with an employee directly beneath you, it becomes everyone’s concern.”
Liv stood.
Dominic looked at her.
She shook her head, silently asking him not to react.
Richard continued.
“The board meeting is Monday. End this embarrassment before then.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
Liv knew that expression.
Dangerously calm.
“No.”
A pause.
“What?”
“I said no.”
“You’re willing to risk seven hundred million dollars over a secretary?”
Liv saw Dominic’s anger ignite.
Before he could speak, she touched his arm.
Then she leaned toward the phone.
“Executive assistant, actually.”
Silence.
Dominic stared at her.
Richard spoke slowly.
“Olivia.”
“Good evening, Mr. Cain.”
“It’s nearly three in the morning.”
“You called.”
Dominic covered his mouth to hide a smile.
Richard’s tone sharpened.
“This is a family discussion.”
“You made me part of it when you called me an embarrassment.”
“I did no such—”
“You implied it.”
“I implied my son has displayed exceptionally poor judgment.”
Liv looked at Dominic.
“Your son once tried to heat aluminum foil in an office microwave, so on that point we agree.”
Dominic looked personally betrayed.
Richard went silent.
Liv continued.
“But dating me is not the problem with the Mercury acquisition, and I think you know that.”
Dominic’s smile disappeared.
Richard’s voice became quieter.
“What do you mean?”
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Liv looked at Dominic.
“Marcus Hale.”
A long pause.
Too long.
Dominic straightened.
“Father?”
Richard finally answered.
“You should be more careful about whom you trust.”
The call disconnected.
Dominic stared at the phone.
Liv stared at him.
“That sounded guilty,” she said.
“Very.”
“So your father knows something.”
“Yes.”
“About Marcus.”
“Yes.”
Dominic reached for his jacket.
Liv frowned.
“Where are you going?”
“To find out what.”
“At three in the morning?”
“My father’s awake.”
“Absolutely not.”
He stopped.
“No?”
“You’re emotionally compromised.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re furious.”
“I can be furious productively.”
“Dominic.”
He sighed.
“What do you suggest?”
“We sleep.”
“Sleep?”
“Yes.”
“My father may be involved in corporate sabotage.”
“And he will still be involved after breakfast.”
“You’re surprisingly rational for someone who threatened him with microwave stories.”
“I contain multitudes.”
Dominic stared at her.
Then smiled.
“That’s my line.”
“I stole it.”
“Unethical.”
“Call HR.”
He laughed.
They went upstairs.
Dominic showed her the guest room.
Liv looked at him.
Then at the enormous master bedroom across the hall.
“Seriously?”
“What?”
“You’re giving me the guest room?”
“I’m respecting boundaries.”
“You confessed love ten minutes ago.”
“I am exceptionally respectful.”
Liv walked past him into the master bedroom.
He stared.
“Liv.”
“There’s a perfectly good bed.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He followed slowly.
“Because I need to be very clear that I can continue sleeping somewhere else.”
She looked back.
“Dominic.”
“Yes?”
“Stop talking.”
For the first time since the storm, there was no floor between them.
They lay side by side in the darkness.
Not touching at first.
Then Dominic’s hand found hers beneath the blanket.
Nothing else happened.
They simply held on.
And Liv realized intimacy could be quiet.
No grand confession.
No dramatic kiss.
No storm.
Just two frightened people choosing not to leave.
At 7:04 the next morning, Dominic woke to twenty-three missed calls.
May you like
Mercury Systems had suspended the acquisition.
Someone had leaked confidential financial documents overnight.
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