Chapter Title: A PursuitLena's POVPain pulsed through my body with every step, but I forced myself to keep going. I couldn't afford to slow down—not now. Not when the heavy boots behind us were closing in."Stay close," Damian ordered, his tone low but commanding. He was gripping my wrist, guiding me down the black alley. His grip was firm, reassuring, but I knew it wasn't to keep me safe—it was because he didn't want to release me.We had hardly escaped Bianca's men, but they were not so easily deterred. I could hear their voices bellowing commands, the staccato crackle of the walkie-talkies, the sporadic gunfire that made my heart pound. The air reeked of smoke and gasoline, the receding echoes of revving car engines telling me that they were closing in.Damian pulled me behind the old brick building, bracing himself against the wall as he scanned the street. His face was tense, his sharp eyes measuring all points of egress."They're clogging up the main streets," he muttered unde
Title: Shadows Beneath the SurfaceLena's POVThe tunnel air was clammy and heavy, heavy with the smell of dirt and rot. My own breath jerked in and out of my body in ragged gasps as I held tight to Damian's arm, my legs managing a stumbling jog to keep up with his long strides. We'd left the immediate threat behind, but I knew better than to think we were really safe. The darkness that surrounded us wasn't only physical—it was weighted, tense, with a presence that made my skin prickle.Move forward," Damian whispered, his voice firm but quiet.I did not complain. Despite the body protesting to rest, I kept going. The ground underneath was rough, a mixture of damp soil and rocky stones. I touched my fingers on the walls of the tunnel, the skin bristling with cold, hard surface as I caught my balance again. The light came from a weak lantern Damian had collected when we entered the tunnel, the flickering flame creating eerie shadows on the walls.How much further?" I breathed.Damian d
Chapter Title: The GambleLena's POVThe tension in the room was palpable. Damian had his back against the window, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. Outside, the city remained peaceful, but inside, a storm was brewing."She kidnapped him," Damian snarled, his voice low and menacing.I swallowed. "Who?"He turned to face me, his dark eyes hot with rage. "Bianca. She kidnapped someone who is close to us. And I believe she'll use them to trap us."A chill ran down my spine. Bianca had always been cruel, but now, she was desperate. And desperation made people do crazy things."Who did she take?" I whispered, my voice not much louder than a breath.Damian paused for a heartbeat before answering. "Luca."The sound of the name was like a blow to the stomach. Luca—Damian's most trusted right-hand man, the man who had stood by him all these years. He was not just an ally; he was family. And now, he was in Bianca's control.I slapped my hand over my mouth, horror seeping
Chapter Eighty Eight: Trapped Lena's POVI heard the gunshots within the deserted, blackened corridor, the shots reminding me that time was against us. My heart pounded fast as I ran in the presence of Damian and Luca, the three of us running to the best of our abilities. Gunpowder and perspiration filled the air, and with every step, I felt heavier than before.Damian had already dispatched two of Bianca's thugs, but there were always plenty more where they came from. They were not your typical thugs—these were high-class assassins, and they were gunning for us. "Keep moving!" Damian shouted, grabbing my wrist and pulling me along as a bullet whizzed past my head.I barely had time to react before Luca fired back, his shot hitting one of the attackers directly in the chest. The man went down with a grunt, but two others jumped into his place almost at once."This dump is crawling with them," Luca growled.We were trapped in what was supposed to be a safehouse. It turned out to be a
Chapter Eighty Nine : A Trap Lena's POVThe room was black, and the quiet was suffocating. I could still hear the distant sounds of gunfire from earlier, the cries of men in the distance who had been swept up in Bianca's scheme. Luca was out cold on the leather couch, his breathing uneven but consistent. Damian's men had done their best to sew him up, but I could sense the fury simmering under Damian's cold mask as he leaned against the window, gripping the edge of the table so tightly his knuckles turned white."I should have known better than this," he muttered to himself. His tone was low and menacing, the calm before the storm.I crossed my arms and sat beside Luca, my fists in my lap. "We both should have," I stated firmly, but softly. "Victor was right in front of us, and we trusted him."Damian turned, his icy gaze meeting mine. "Trust is a weakness I can no longer afford."The room fell into an enraged silence. I recognized his fury. Victor had been one of his most devoted me
Chapter Ninety Caught Damian's POVThe cold metal of the chains cut into my wrists as I huddled in the dark room. The scent of damp concrete mingled with something more bitter—something metallic. Blood? No, not my own. Someone had been here before me. The walls were lined with rusted pipes that were ancient and some of them dripped with water, a rhythmic tap that filled the room. The air was dense, heavy with the kind of tension that leads up to a storm.I knew Bianca wasn't stupid. If she'd gone to all this effort to kidnap me, then she must have had a plan. A poor one. But she'd miscalculated if she'd expected me to arrive without one of my own.A door creaked.Soft footsteps approached, heels clicking on the cement floor with agonizing slowness. I didn't have to look up and see in order to recognize that it was her. The cloud of her high-class perfume, a mix of vanilla and something else, tougher probably to mask the stench of her corruption, lingered in the air."Damian," Bianca
.Chapter Title: The Breaking PointDamian’s POVThe cold bite of the metal chains on my wrists had long since turned from pain to numbness. Hours—maybe even days—had passed since Bianca's little speech, but time lost all meaning when locked in a dark, airless room. The single and only thing that mattered was escape.I replayed every word she'd said, every hint she'd dropped regarding her final play. She was after Lena. That in itself had anger searing through me, hot and unforgiving.I had to do something. Now.The problem? The heavy steel cuffs binding my hands and the two guards—Luca and Rian—stationed outside.They were sure, arrogant. Bianca had them thinking I was broken, too frail to strike back. That was their mistake.I let my body fall forward, feigning exhaustion, letting my breathing come in thin, uneven pants. The tramp of boots was heard in the hallway outside the door. A moment later, it creaked open, and the room was lit with dim light.Luca came in first, followed by
Chapter Ninety TwoSafetyLena's POVThere was unease thick in the air as Damian gripped the steering wheel, his eyes darting from the dark, winding road ahead of us to the rearview mirror. The engine rumbled low, the only sound between us, but I felt the pressure of everything that had never been said resting on my chest. We had been on the road for hours, and yet the feeling of being chased never wavered.I sat stiffly in the passenger seat, my fists clenched in my lap. My mind ran over the past few hours in a cycle. Bianca had known where I was. She had orchestrated this. If Damian hadn't saved me, I shuddered at what could have happened. And yet even now, I didn't know if I had gotten away or was merely delaying the inevitable.The car careened widely as Damian navigated onto a dirt path, the tires crunching over rocks."Where are we?" I finally cut into the quiet. My words trembled ever so slightly more than I wished, but I was too drained to care.Damian maintained his concentra
LLena’s POVI held the photo in my hand for a long time.It was a picture of me… standing in the garden. Smiling. Peaceful. I had no idea someone was hiding nearby, taking pictures of me. Watching me.I felt sick.My heart pounded in my chest. My hands trembled as I slowly placed the photo on the table. Damian stood across from me, arms crossed, his jaw tight with anger. But he wasn’t just angry. He was scared. I could see it in his eyes.And that scared me even more.“She was close enough to take this,” I whispered. “That means… she could have hurt me anytime.”“She didn’t,” Damian said quickly, walking to me. “She didn’t, and she won’t. I won’t let her.”I nodded, but fear crawled up my spine like cold fingers. I turned my head toward the window. The garden looked peaceful. The sun was shining. But now it felt like a trap. Like eyes were hiding behind every tree.I looked at Damian. “What if she’s still watching?”“She’s not,” he said firmly. “We swept the grounds. She’s gone.”“Bu
.Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Six: The Hunt BeginsDamian’s POVI didn’t sleep.I sat in my office all night, the shadows long and heavy across the floor. The city outside my window was quiet, but inside my head, it was chaos. Bianca’s face kept flashing in my mind—smiling, cold, dangerous. I knew her well enough to understand one thing.She wasn’t done yet.Lena was still sleeping when I left. I didn’t want to wake her. Not because I didn’t trust her strength—but because I didn’t want her to see the war I was about to step into. I had promised to protect her. And now, I had to keep that promise with everything I had.Logan was already waiting downstairs.“She moved again,” he said, holding a file. “But we have something. A man named Nico—he used to work for Ricci. He wants to talk.”“Why?” I asked.“He says he has information. Claims he knows where Bianca is hiding.”I narrowed my eyes. “And what does he want in return?”“Money. And safety.”Of course. No one in this world gave an
Chapter 125Lena’s POV – Preparing for the StormThe soft hum of the safe house’s lights was the only sound that accompanied me as I paced back and forth across the room. The floor was cold beneath my bare feet, but I barely felt it. My mind was racing, a storm of thoughts that I couldn’t seem to quiet.Damian had gone into another room hours ago, speaking in hushed tones to Logan. The urgency in their voices had been undeniable, but I hadn’t been able to get close enough to hear the details. I hated being left out of the plan, hated feeling like a liability. I wasn’t the same vulnerable person I had been when I first walked into this world.But still, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake the sense of helplessness that seemed to cling to me, suffocating me with every passing minute.I walked to the window, peering out into the darkness. The world beyond was eerily still, almost as if it was waiting for something to happen. I didn’t like how quiet it was. There was too much at
Chapter: Lena’s POV - The AftermathThe silence in the room was deafening. The kind of silence that fills your ears and makes every tiny sound seem amplified. It was the quiet after chaos. After the explosion, the gunfire, the running. After the moment when my life, and Damian’s, nearly slipped away in the blink of an eye.I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at my hands, which were still shaking. The memory of the bomb—its deafening roar—was fresh in my mind, every detail still vivid. Damian’s urgent hands on my arm, pulling me into his protection, the heat of the blast, the smell of smoke and dust that had choked the air. The sound of the glass shattering, the metallic scent of blood in the air. I had never been so close to death, yet here I was, alive. But was I really living? I felt numb, detached from everything around me.Damian had ordered me to stay here, in this safe house, a place where I had never felt more like a prisoner. There were no windows, no doors to the outside wo
Chapter One Hundred and : The Final CountdownDamian's POVThe room was filled with the harsh beeping of the countdown on the bomb, the constant, remorseless intervals ringing out. 00:02:45. The evil red numerals on the device pulsed, a grim reminder that every second ticked us closer to disaster.Bianca leaned against the cold ground, her body shaking in weakness due to the wounds I had inflicted upon her before. Nonetheless, despite the pain, she smirked. Her deep, bloodshot eyes gleamed with twisted satisfaction. She thrived in such chaos. "You'll never be able to prevent it in time," she whispered, licking blood from her cut lip.I clenched my fists, my patience wearing perilously thin. My heart pounded in my ears, the rage within me kept barely under control by the fear of what was at risk."Shut up," Logan snarled, bent over the bomb. His hands flew across the wires, but even he couldn't hide the sweat at his temples. "This is not an ordinary bomb—it's encoded. If I cut the wro
Chapter 11”: The Trap Lena’s POV The silence in the room was suffocating. I stood frozen, my heart hammering against my ribs as I stared at Damian. His face was stone-cold, but his eyes burned with barely contained fury. Logan had just delivered the news—Bianca had taken someone. Someone close to me. I swallowed hard, my throat dry. My fingers curled into fists as I struggled to process it. “Who?” My voice came out hoarse. Logan hesitated, glancing at Damian before answering. “Mia.” A sharp pain shot through my chest. Mia. The only person who had ever been like a sister to me. The girl who had stayed by my side when no one else did. The thought of her in Bianca’s hands made my stomach churn. I took a shaky breath and turned to Damian. “We have to go. Now.” He didn’t answer immediately. His jaw was tight, his muscles tense as if he were barely restraining himself. “It’s not that simple,” he finally said. My eyes flashed with anger. “What do you mean? She has Mia! Are you ser
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty a one: A Perilous MissionLena's POVThe night was abnormally still as I crouched next to Logan behind a row of abandoned boxes outside the warehouse. The cold wind nipped my skin, but the surging adrenaline coursing through my veins prevented me from feeling it. This was it. Bianca's operation. One of her most important warehouses, where she had stored weapons, money, and intel that could be used against her. Blowing it up would eliminate a good chunk of her might.It wasn't just a matter of incinerating her resources, though. It was a matter of finding out what she had in store. Why she had allied herself with Antonio Ricci.Logan handed me an earpiece, his expression serious. "Stay close. No unnecessary risks. If something does go wrong, we leave right away."I grinned wryly. "Oh, you don't trust me?"He glared at me. "I trust you. I don't trust this place."He wasn't joking. The warehouse was heavily guarded. Security cameras were around every corner
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Lena's ChoiceLena's POVI lay in bed beside Damian, my hands holding him tightly. His face was pale, breathing labored but slowed. Having him like this—so broken and open and vulnerable—was like having someone poking an icicle deep into my heart. I never saw him in this manner before. Damian was always standing, always directing everything. But now, he was hanging by a thread barely.And this is all Bianca's doing.I swallowed the lump in my throat, and fought to keep my cool. I didn't have time to lose it. I didn't have time to let fear get the best of me. Bianca wasn't finished yet. She had already demonstrated how far she would go. And if I just sat here, waiting for Damian to wake up, she would come after us again.I couldn't let that happen.I needed to do something.I needed to stop this.I breathed in deeply and looked over at Logan, standing by the door. His arms were crossed, his face inscrutable, but I could tell there was tension in his stanc
Chapter One Hundred and Nine: The Escape (Lena's POV)The sound of gunfire echoed through the air, my own heart pounding against my ribcage. There was madness inside the warehouse—shouting, running, bullets ripping through walls. I blinked through dust and smoke, but I did not have time for fear. Logan was beside me, firing at Bianca's men while I held onto Damian, trying to keep him awake.He was too white. Too quiet. His chest rose and fell shallowly, and blood trickled through the bandages I'd slapped across his wound."Stay with me," I breathed, jostling him lightly. His eyelids trembled, but he didn't move.Logan ducked behind a stack of crates, reloading his pistol. "We have to go now," he exclaimed, sounding frantic. "They're on top of us.".I swallowed and nodded. My body trembled, but I steadied myself against it. Now was not the time to be afraid."We can't get out the front," Logan said. "They're too numerous."I looked around for another way out. The warehouse was big, but