Chapter 6: The Kovac Threat
Thursday morning, the world intrudes.
Allie is reviewing contracts when Dom bursts into her office. He is pale, furious, terrified in a way she has never seen.
"The Kovacs," he says. "They know about you. About the twins. Someone talked."
Allie stands up, cold with fear. "What do they know?"
"Everything. Names, school, the apartment. They sent a message." He holds out his phone. A photo of Leo and Luna, walking to school yesterday, circled in red. "They are threatening my family to get to me."
"Your family," Allie repeats. The words sound strange. "We are your family?"
"You are everything," Dom says. "You and the twins. I will not let them hurt you. I will not"
"You will not do anything stupid," Allie interrupts. She takes his hands, forces him to look at her. "We will handle this together. Smart. Careful. Not with violence, unless there is no other choice."
"There is no other choice with the Kovacs. They understand only strength."
"Then we show them strength. The new kind. The kind that does not blink, does not back down, but does not start wars either."
Dom stares at her. "How?"
Allie thinks. Fast, desperate, drawing on every lesson she learned surviving alone. "We move the twins. Today. Not to my apartment, somewhere they do not know. We increase security, visible and invisible. And we send a message back. Not a threat. A warning. That we are protected, that we are united, that attacking us would be a mistake."
"We?"
"You and me. Together. As you said." Allie squeezes his hands. "I am not running, Dom. I am standing with you. But we do this my way first. Your way only if mine fails."
Dom studies her face. The fear is still there, but something else too. Respect. Trust. Love, maybe, growing in real time.
"Okay," he says. "Your way. Tell me what to do."
They spend the day in motion. Allie collects the twins from school early, does not tell them why, makes it an adventure. Dom arranges a safe house, a penthouse across town that the Kovacs do not know about, security already in place.
Leo knows something is wrong. He watches everything, says little, stays close to Luna.
"Mom?" he asks as they settle into the new place, a luxury Allie cannot afford and Dom insists on. "Are we in danger?"
Allie kneels to his level. "There are some bad people who want to hurt your... who want to hurt our family. But we are safe here. Protected. And we are going to handle it. Together."
"Our family," Leo repeats. He looks at Dom, who is unpacking Luna's dinosaurs with more care than they probably deserve. "Is he our family now?"
"He wants to be," Allie says. "If we let him. If we want him."
Leo considers this. "He is trying," he says finally. "I can see that. He is not good at dinosaurs, but he is trying."
Allie laughs, surprised, and hugs her son tight. "That is all we can ask for. Trying. And we will try too. To give him a chance."
Dom looks up, catches her eye, smiles. It is a beginning. A fragile, dangerous, beautiful beginning.
That night, after the twins are asleep, they plan. The message to the Kovacs, carefully worded, delivered through intermediaries. The security protocols, the emergency plans, the alliances Dom will call in.
And they talk about the future. If they survive this. If they build this.
"I want to tell them," Dom says. "Leo and Luna. That I am their father. Officially. Not just... not just a man who visits."
"Not yet," Allie says. "They need time. I need time. We are still... we are still becoming."
"Becoming," Dom repeats. "I like that. We are becoming. Together."
He kisses her. Gently, carefully, like she is fragile and precious and his to protect. She kisses him back, hungry and scared and so full of feeling she cannot name it.
They do not make love. They are not there yet. But they sleep together on the couch, tangled together, holding each other through the night.
In the morning, the message comes back from the Kovacs. Not a threat. A request. A meeting. Neutral ground.
Dom wants to refuse. Allie convinces him otherwise.
"We show them we are not afraid," she says. "We show them we are strong enough to talk. That is the new way. Your way."
Dom agrees. Reluctantly. He is learning to trust her judgment, even when it goes against every instinct he has.
They prepare. They dress carefully, professionally, powerfully. They leave the twins with guards they trust, with instructions to run if anything goes wrong.
And they go to meet the enemy.
The restaurant is public, busy, safe from open violence. Marko Kovac is waiting, handsome and cruel and young.
"Ms. Bennett," he says, standing. "I have heard so much about you."
"Nothing good, I hope," Allie replies, sitting without waiting for permission.
Marko laughs. "I like her," he says to Dom. "Where did you find her?"
"She found me," Dom says, sitting beside Allie, close enough to protect, far enough to show confidence. "And she is not part of this. Leave her out of it."
"Too late for that. She is part of you. And you, Dominic, are part of the problem." Marko leans forward. "Your father is dying. You are weak, distracted by love and children. The Volkov empire is ripe for taking. Unless..."
"Unless?"
"Unless you share. Territory, business, influence. We could be partners. Or we can be enemies. Your choice."
Dom's jaw tightens. Allie puts her hand on his knee, calming, grounding.
"We are not sharing," she says before Dom can respond. "But we are not looking for war either. You want legitimacy? We can help with that. You want peace? We can offer that too. But you do not get to threaten our children and then ask for partnership. That is not how this works."
Marko studies her. Surprised, maybe, by her strength. "You speak for him now?"
"We speak for each other," Allie says. "That is what family does."
Marko is silent for a long moment. Then he smiles, sharp and calculating. "I see. Well. Perhaps... perhaps there is another way. A temporary truce. While we... explore options."
"Temporary truce," Dom agrees. "While we see if you can be trusted."
"And if I cannot?"
"Then we finish this," Dom says, his voice ice. "The old way. The way you understand."
Marko nods. He stands, extends his hand. They shake, all three, a fragile agreement.
As they leave, Allie feels the weight of what they have done. The danger they have invited, the peace they have bought, the future they have risked.
But she also feels Dom's hand in hers, strong and warm and present.
"We did it," he whispers as they get in the car.
"We started it," Allie corrects. "The rest comes later."
"Together?"
"Together."
They go home to their children, to their fragile family, to the life they are building one hard choice at a time.
And for the first time, Allie believes they might actually win.