All Chapters of Beneath The Steel And Silk: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

The team was on the move by dawn, a cold, biting wind cutting through the thin layers of their clothing. The private jet Damian had secured was ready on the tarmac, waiting to take them to Switzerland. The journey would be long, tense, and silent—each of them lost in their thoughts as they prepared for what could very well be the final leg of this mission.Sage sat by the window, staring out as the plane began its ascent. The early morning sun painted the horizon in muted shades of orange and gold, a stark contrast to the storm brewing within her. She couldn’t shake the memory of Damian’s words the night before.“I can’t lose you.”Those words had hit her like a bolt of lightning, sparking feelings she wasn’t ready to confront. But she couldn’t ignore them anymore. Not when the stakes were this high, and their chances of survival felt slimmer with every passing hour.Across the aisle, Damian sat with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed ahead. He was a fortress—impenetrable, unyielding—bu

The rugged coastline loomed ahead, jagged cliffs rising from the churning waves of the North Atlantic. The team had left the safe house hours ago, their vehicle rumbling along desolate roads before giving way to the footpath they now followed. The remote location of Bancroft’s stronghold was no coincidence—it was a fortress designed to repel intruders, surrounded by natural barriers that made it nearly impossible to approach undetected.Sage adjusted her pack, the weight of the gear biting into her shoulders. The cold wind whipped around her, carrying the faint scent of saltwater. Damian walked ahead of her, his broad frame cutting through the fog like a shadow. Despite the urgency of their mission, her thoughts kept returning to their conversation the previous night. His words had lingered, his vulnerability a stark contrast to the unflinching leader she had come to know.“Keep moving,” Damian said over his shoulder, his voice low but firm.Sage quickened her pace, falling in step be

The roar of the helicopter blades was deafening, but inside the cabin, a heavy silence settled over the team. Sage leaned back against the cold steel wall, her hand pressed firmly against the makeshift bandage on her side. The sting of the bullet wound was dull now, her body too exhausted to feel the full weight of the pain.Across from her, Damian sat with his elbows on his knees, his face drawn in deep thought. Maya stared out the small window, her knife still clutched tightly in her hand as if the fight wasn’t over. Alex worked furiously on her laptop, her brows furrowed as streams of code scrolled across the screen.“How bad is it?” Damian asked, breaking the silence.Sage glanced down at the blood-soaked bandage. “I’ll live.”Damian didn’t look convinced. “As soon as we land, you’re getting that properly looked at.”She smirked weakly. “You sound like you care.”His jaw tightened, but he didn’t respond.Alex finally closed her laptop with a loud snap. “I decrypted the files,” she

The rhythmic thrum of the helicopter’s blades filled the cabin, drowning out most attempts at conversation. Sage sat next to Damian, her body aching from the morning’s chaos. Every muscle in her body was taut with lingering adrenaline, but it wasn’t just the firefight that had her mind racing. It was him—Damian, with his calculating eyes and steady hand, his quiet assurances that somehow made her feel like they were going to survive this, no matter how high the odds stacked against them.But she couldn’t shake the sense that he was holding something back.Maya leaned back across from her, cleaning her sniper rifle with a satisfied smirk. “I don’t know about you guys, but I could use a few hours of sleep after that little warm-up.”Alex groaned from her seat near the cockpit, her laptop perched precariously on her knees. “Warm-up? Maya, we just took on a full squad, and you’re calling it a warm-up?”“Hey,” Maya shrugged. “If you’re alive to complain, it wasn’t that bad.”Sage couldn’t

The next morning, the team regrouped in their hideout, the tension from the Chicago mission still lingering in the air. Drake’s intel had sent shockwaves through the room: an experimental weapon hidden in one of Bancroft’s most secure facilities in Nevada. This wasn’t just another operation; it was a make-or-break mission.Damian paced the room as Alex projected a map of the Nevada facility on the wall. "This is where it gets dangerous," Alex began, gesturing to a cluster of buildings surrounded by desert terrain. “This isn’t just any compound—it’s a fortress. Armed guards, surveillance drones, motion sensors, underground levels. If we’re going in, it has to be flawless.”“Flawless is my specialty,” Maya said, smirking as she loaded her weapons.“This isn’t a joke,” Damian snapped, his voice sharp. “Bancroft’s putting everything into this. If we fail, he wins, and we won’t get another shot.”Maya’s smirk faded, but she nodded.Sage sat quietly, studying the map. She’d learned to antic