Page 46 of A Cobbled Conspiracy

Dominic’s expression shifted to something more cautious. “We’ve been working on a solution to the Vertex problem. You knew that. I mentioned it.”

“What kind of solution?” I crossed my arms.

Blake set his tablet down, the device clicking against the glass surface of the coffee table. “We played the same game Vertex has been playing.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Corporate warfare. Hostile takeovers,” Dominic said, his voice colder than I’d ever heard it. “We identified Vertex’s major financial backers and systematically undermined their positions. Leveraged insider information to manipulate stock prices. Forced three smaller companies into bankruptcy to create pressure points.”

I stared at them, my mind struggling to process what he was telling me. Corporate warfare. Financial manipulation. These were the methods they’d used to “help” my community.

“The information Jake provided against Mayor Holloway and Cretch proved quite helpful,” Dominic added matter-of-factly.

I felt sick, but at least they were trying to protect us, right? At least their hearts were in the right place, even if their methods were questionable.

But something in Blake’s expression suggested there was more.

“You destroyed careers,” I said slowly, the full implications sinking in. “Ruined retirement funds. Put people out of work. That’s what you did, right?”

Blake’s brows drew together. “We did whatever it took to make Vertex’s continued presence in this district financially unviable.”

“And it worked,” Dominic added with satisfaction. “Cobblers’ Corner is safe. So is Vintage Vogue, your friend's bakery, and at least ten other district businesses. Vertex can’t touch them now.”

“But not the pharmacy,” I said slowly.

“Paula was always the wild card,” Blake admitted. “We couldn’t protect someone who was determined to give up.”

The full scope of what they were telling me was starting to sink in, and I felt sick. My chest tightened, and a wave of nausea crashed over me—whether from pregnancy hormones or moral horror, I couldn’t tell.

“You’re telling me that you two… what? Destroyed people’s lives? Do you have no conscience?”

The contrast was sickening. While they sat with me in the community center, nodding sympathetically at everyone’s concerns, these two had been conducting their own shadow war. People I didn’t even know had lost their jobs, their security, their futures...

I didn’t want that.

“We saved your community,” Dominic said firmly.

“And I guess you want a gold star for a job well done?” I snapped. “All you two did was become criminals yourselves!”

“We used the system the same way they were using it against you,” Blake corrected, his tone defensive now. “Everything we did was technically legal. Morally questionable, maybe, but legal.”

“How many people lost their jobs because of what you did?” I demanded, pacing now as the energy of my fury needed anoutlet. The stress was making my hands shake, and I could feel my omega instincts screaming in distress—not just at the conflict, but at what this meant for my unborn child.

What kind of life was I bringing a baby into if this was how his or her Sire solved problems?

“I want numbers, Blake. You’re good with numbers.”

Blake’s expression was carefully neutral. “The exact figures are?—”

“Ballpark,” I demanded. “How much collateral damage did you cause?”

“Approximately three hundred job losses across four companies,” Blake said quietly. “Seventeen executive terminations. Five forced retirements.”

“Three hundred families,” I said, the number hitting me like a physical blow.

Three hundred families. Hundreds of people who went home and had to tell their spouses, their children, that they’d suddenly lost their jobs. People who might have been struggling to pay mortgages, medical bills, college tuition. People who had nothing to do with Vertex’s harassment campaign but got caught in the crossfire anyway.

“People who were part of a system designed to destroy everything you care about,” Dominic said firmly. “People who would have eliminated your shop, your friends’ businesses, your entire way of life without a second thought.”