Chapter 33: Get Help

Dominic had discovered that forced vacations weren’t nearly as unpleasant as everyone seemed determined to make them out to be.

Even when he was apparently an unwanted guest in his own ancestral home.

Victoria had certainly made her opinion clear.

After over a month of sharing the same roof with her son and somehow arguing with him over everything from breakfast to how loudly he closed doors, she’d finally announced that she needed a break.

According to her, the stress of watching Dominic mope around the house all day was adding years to her face.

Dominic had pointed out that he wasn’t moping.

Victoria had informed him that arguing about whether he was moping was precisely why she needed a vacation. She couldn’t accept that a fully grown, educated man would sit around all day doing nothing.

"Take up a hobby. Start painting again or learn a new skill."

So she’d packed several suitcases and left for an extended holiday with a few friends, sending Dominic a photograph barely two days later of herself lounging beside a resort pool with an enormous sunhat, sunglasses, and a cocktail in hand.

She looked remarkably pleased with herself.

Traitor.

Still, Dominic couldn’t complain too much.

The house was finally quiet.

For once, no meetings were waiting for him.

No executives asking for approvals.

No reports demanding to be read before the end of the day.

He’d slept late and ordered a box of pizza for lunch.

The delivery arrived shortly after noon.

"Thank you, sir."

Dominic took the box and began to close the door when the young delivery rider hesitated.

"Um... sir?"

Dominic looked back.

The rider gave him an awkward smile.

"Would you like to leave a tip?"

"Hmm."

Dominic instinctively reached into his pocket, then remembered there was absolutely nothing in it.

"I don’t have any cash."

"You can add it through the app, sir."

Dominic paused.

Apparently, there was no escaping this.

With a sigh, he picked up his phone and added the tip.

The rider’s smile immediately brightened.

"Thank you, sir!"

Dominic closed the door.

Ridiculous.

There had once been a time when someone else would’ve accepted the delivery before it ever reached him.

Now he was apparently learning how the tipping function worked.

Forced vacation was becoming unexpectedly educational.

Still, ten minutes later, Dominic was stretched across the sofa with one ankle resting over the other, an open pizza box on the coffee table, and a glass of whiskey beside it.

Not bad.

Especially when his PR campaign finally seemed to be doing its job.

Dominic scrolled through another article questioning Giovanni Mercer’s motives, then another discussing whether Mercer Group had taken advantage of the sudden instability between Vance Holdings and Sebastian Group.

Good.

At least someone was finally asking the right questions.

For weeks, everyone had treated Dominic like the only person who needed to explain himself. At the same time, Giovanni conveniently walked away looking like some opportunistic hero who’d arrived at exactly the right moment.

Well.

Let him enjoy that reputation while it lasted.

Dominic took another sip of whiskey.

A month ago, he would’ve been stuck in the office at this hour.

Maybe being suspended had its advantages after all.

His phone rang.

Dominic glanced at the screen.

Andrei.

His good mood immediately disappeared.

He considered ignoring it.

Then again, knowing his brother, Andrei would probably keep calling until answering became less irritating than listening to the damned phone ring.

Dominic picked up.

"What?"

"You’d better have savings."

Dominic frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"The Board reviewed the expenses connected to your PR campaign."

He sat straighter.

"And?"

"Some of them weren’t authorized."

Dominic relaxed slightly and reached for his whiskey again.

"Then authorize them. You’re the interim CEO."

"No."

The answer came so quickly that Dominic paused.

"Andrei, I’m your brother."

"Which has nothing to do with company funds."

"I was protecting Sebastian Group."

"No. You were protecting yourself and charging the company for it."

Dominic set the glass down.

"That’s bullshit."

"Then you’ll have the opportunity to prove otherwise."

His fingers tightened around the phone.

"What does that mean?"

"It means Finance is identifying every expense connected to the campaign, and Legal is reviewing which ones were incurred without proper authority."

"Andrei—"

"The Board doesn’t intend to pay for your personal reputation management."

Dominic went still.

"You can’t be serious."

"I am."

"What are they going to do?"

A brief silence followed on the other end.

Then Andrei answered.

"Recover the money."

Dominic’s grip tightened.

"From who?"

This time, Andrei actually paused.

"Who do you think?"

Dominic said nothing.

"The formal demand will be delivered once the review is complete."

"Andrei, you can’t let them do this."

"I’m not letting them do anything. I’m carrying out the Board’s decision."

"We’re family."

"And Sebastian Group isn’t your personal bank account."

The words landed hard enough to silence him.

Dominic’s mouth opened, but Andrei spoke first.

"One more thing."

"What?"

"Get your own lawyer."

The line went dead.

Dominic slowly lowered the phone.

Before he could even process what had happened, the doorbell rang.

He stared toward the entrance.

Once.

Then twice.

With a curse, Dominic crossed the room and pulled the door open.

A courier stood outside holding a sealed envelope.

"Mr. Dominic Sebastian?"

"...Yes."

The man held out a clipboard.

"Please sign here."

Dominic did.

The courier handed over the envelope, and he barely noticed it leave.

His attention had already settled on the sender printed neatly across the upper-left corner.

SEBASTIAN GROUP

Dominic tore it open.

By the time he reached the amount the company intended to recover from him, Andrei’s parting words no longer sounded like a warning.

Get your own lawyer.

His own brother had just refused to protect him.

Worse, the Board intended to come after him personally.

Dominic swallowed.

Then he reached for his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found the one person who had spent a lifetime making sure problems like this never reached him or never stayed permanently.

He pressed call.

The other line answered on the third ring.

"Dominic?"

His grip tightened around the phone.

"Mom...When are you coming back?"

A pause.

"Why?"

"I need a lawyer. A damn good lawyer."