A Fatal Attraction

Dark Ties

Chapter 1: The First Encounter

The city at night was a different beast. The neon haze blurred the lines between what was real and what was merely reflection. Blackridge’s skyline loomed over Lena Carter’s patrol route, its glass towers standing like silent sentinels over streets that never truly slept.

Her shift was supposed to end soon—one more hour, one last drive through the industrial district. Then she could go home to Mark, curl up beside him, and pretend she was just another normal woman living a normal life.

But the radio crackled.

“Suspicious activity reported at the Ridgeway warehouse. No backup available. Proceed with caution.”

Lena sighed, gripping the wheel. Just check it out. Call it in. No hero shit.

She pulled up to the warehouse, stepping out into the cool night air. The structure loomed before her—gray concrete, rusted metal doors, no signs of forced entry. But something was off. The silence was too thick, too deliberate.

Hand resting on her holster, she pushed the door open.

Inside, the air was heavy with the scent of oil and something faintly metallic. Dim, flickering lights barely cut through the darkness. She stepped forward cautiously, boots echoing on the concrete floor.

Then—

“Officer Carter.”

The voice came from the shadows. Smooth. Amused. Expecting her.

Lena’s pulse spiked as a figure emerged from the dim glow of a hanging bulb. Tall. Composed. Dangerous.

Dominic Vale.

She knew his face from the precinct’s most-wanted files, but photos didn’t capture the way he carried himself—like he owned the very air in the room. He wore a dark suit, crisp despite the grime of the warehouse. The top button of his shirt was undone, as if violence was beneath him, as if he never had to raise a hand to get what he wanted.

She raised her gun, steady despite the unease curling in her stomach. “Hands where I can see them.”

He didn’t move. Instead, he smiled. “You’re new to this, aren’t you?”

Lena stiffened. “New to what?”

“To me.”

A chill slid down her spine, but she forced herself to hold his gaze. “You’re under investigation. Step forward.”

He took one step—slow, deliberate—but nothing about him said compliant. He was studying her, peeling back her layers, reading her before she even knew what she was revealing.

“I have a question, Officer Carter,” he said, voice soft. “Did you call this in before stepping inside?”

Lena’s fingers twitched on the trigger. Shit.

That smile again. Knowing. Pleased. “Didn’t think so.”

Before she could react, movement flickered behind him. Shadows shifted—men she hadn’t noticed before, their presence hidden until now. She was surrounded.

Her heart pounded. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Dominic took another step, now close enough that she could smell the faint trace of expensive cologne—smoky, rich, intoxicating.

“Tell me, Officer,” he murmured, tilting his head. “What do you think happens now?”

Lena forced steel into her spine. “I think I’m walking out of here with you in cuffs.”

His gaze flickered over her—assessing, amused. Then he leaned in, just enough to make it clear this was a game to him.

“You’ll leave,” he said, voice low. “But not with me.”

And for reasons she didn’t yet understand, she didn’t fight him on it.

Chapter 2: Unraveled

A Silent Call for Help

Lena found Eric in the break room, his feet kicked up on the table, scrolling through his phone with the dead-eyed exhaustion of someone who had worked too many night shifts. A half-empty coffee sat beside him, steam long since faded.

He glanced up when she entered. “You look like shit.”

She ignored the comment, leaning against the counter. “I need you to keep your radio open tonight.”

Eric frowned, lowering his phone. “For what?”

She hesitated. She could tell him the truth—say she was heading to Vesper alone, say she was about to put herself in the orbit of the most dangerous man in the city. But the moment she spoke it out loud, it would become real.

So she lied.

“Just a feeling,” she said, keeping her voice even. “Something about a shipment coming in tonight. I don’t think it’s anything big, but I’d rather have backup ready.”

Eric studied her. “Lena.”

The way he said her name—cautious, concerned—made her grip the counter a little tighter.

“You don’t chase leads without telling me everything,” he said. “What’s really going on?”

She forced a smirk, covering the tightness in her chest. “Since when do I tell you everything?”

Eric didn’t smile back. “Since you started acting weird.”

For a moment, guilt clawed at her. Eric had been her partner for years. If there was anyone she should trust, it was him. But if she told him the truth, he’d stop her.

And she needed to go.

She needed to see Dominic again.

“It’s nothing,” she said, pushing off the counter. “Just… keep the radio on.”

She didn’t wait for him to answer before she left.

⸻

The Hunt

The music from Vesper pulsed through the pavement as Lena approached, the bass rattling the air, wrapping around her like a heartbeat she wasn’t sure was her own.

It was the kind of place built for men like Dominic—dark, expensive, drowning in wealth and indulgence. The bouncers barely glanced at her as she stepped inside, the scent of smoke and whiskey thick in the air.

She wasn’t on duty. No badge, no gun—nothing that made her a cop except the weight of what she came here to do.

She moved through the crowd, searching for signs of the shipment, for anything that could give her a reason to pull him out of the shadows and into the light.

But she didn’t have to look for him.

He found her.

A hand brushed lightly against her wrist—not grabbing, just enough to stop her, to let her know.

She turned.

Dominic Vale stood before her, dressed in black, eyes gleaming under the dim golden glow of the chandeliers. The music pulsed between them, but he didn’t speak. He only smiled, tilting his head slightly, as if he had been waiting.

“Officer Carter.”

Her pulse jumped, but she kept her expression neutral. “Mr. Vale.”

His smile deepened at the formality.

“Strange place for you to be.” His voice was smooth, low enough that it forced her to lean in slightly to hear him.

She kept her stance firm. “I could say the same about you.”

A quiet chuckle. “But you wouldn’t. Because we both know I belong here.”

Her stomach twisted. Because he was right.

She swallowed. “I’m looking into a shipment.”

“Of course you are.” He reached for the bar behind him, pouring himself a drink with a practiced ease, as if this were just a conversation between old friends. “And what exactly do you think you’re going to find?”

Lena knew what he was doing. He was testing her again. Seeing how much she was willing to push, how far she would go before she backed down.

So she didn’t.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “That’s why I came to see you.”

That answer earned her a glint of something unreadable in his eyes.

“You’re learning,” he murmured, sipping his drink.

Her throat felt tight.

She should leave. She should walk out, call in the search, and end this here.

But she didn’t move.

Because for the second time, she wasn’t sure she wanted to.