Chapter 108

Chapter 108

Morning came too soon.

Luca woke with a smile.

Which should have been impossible.

Yet there it was.

A real smile.

The memory of the previous night lingered like warmth beneath his skin.

The porch.

The moonlight.

Damon.

The kiss.

For one reckless night

Luca had allowed himself to believe happiness might actually be his.

That maybe, after everything

After the Program.

After the blood.

After the lies

He could have this.

Have Damon.

The thought should have terrified him.

Instead, it made him want to smile again.

Dangerous.

Very dangerous.

Downstairs, the safehouse was already awake.

Nova was arguing with Cassian.

Mira was helping Hale organize recovered files.

Seraphine was drinking enough coffee to kill a horse.

Normal.

For them.

Luca entered the kitchen.

And immediately found Damon.

Their eyes met.

A second passed.

Then another.

Neither looked away.

The memory of last night flashed between them.

A secret.

A promise.

Damon smiled.

Small.

Real.

Luca felt his heartbeat betray him instantly.

Across the room, Nova noticed.

Of course she did.

"Oh my God."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Absolutely yes."

Cassian looked between them.

Then froze.

His eyes widened dramatically.

"WAIT."

Everyone looked at him.

"WAIT."

"Why are you saying it twice?"

Seraphine asked.

Cassian pointed at Damon.

Then Luca.

Then Damon again.

"Oh my God."

Mira gasped.

"They kissed."

The room exploded.

Immediately.

Luca considered death.

A peaceful one.

Preferably far away.

Damon looked significantly less embarrassed.

Which was unfair.

Very unfair.

Before the teasing could escalate further

Hale entered carrying a stack of recovered files.

His expression grim.

Serious.

Wrong.

The mood shifted instantly.

Because Hale never looked nervous.

And right now

He looked nervous.

Something cold settled into Luca's stomach.

"What happened?"

Hale placed a black file folder on the table.

Nobody touched it.

Nobody spoke.

The folder looked old.

Worn.

Dangerous.

Like something buried for a reason.

"I found this among the recovered archive data."

Silence.

Then Seraphine frowned.

"And?"

Hale didn't answer immediately.

Instead

He looked at Luca.

A look that made Luca's blood freeze.

No.

No.

No.

Not this.

Please not this.

Damon noticed.

Immediately.

His smile faded.

"Luca?"

Luca couldn't breathe.

Because he knew.

The second he saw Hale's expression

He knew exactly which file it was.

And after years of hiding from it

After years of praying it would remain buried

It was here.

Now.

At the worst possible moment.

Hale finally spoke.

"It's a mission record."

Silence.

"A very old one."

Damon frowned.

"Whose?"

Nobody answered.

Because nobody needed to.

Luca's silence said everything.

The room became deathly quiet.

Then Damon slowly reached for the folder.

"Luca."

His voice was calm.

Confused.

Trusting.

The trust nearly killed Luca.

"Tell me what's in it."

Luca opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

Because there was no version of this truth that didn't destroy them.

None.

Damon looked at him.

Waiting.

Still trusting.

Still believing.

And Luca hated himself.

Hated himself so much he could barely stand.

Finally

Damon opened the file.

The room remained silent.

Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

Page after page.

Mission logs.

Psychological assessments.

Orders.

Reports.

Then Damon reached the final section.

The target profile.

And froze.

Immediately.

The color drained from his face.

His eyes locked onto a single name.

A name he knew better than his own.

TARGET: ELENA MORETTI

His mother.

The room vanished.

Everything vanished.

Damon stared at the page.

Once.

Twice.

Again.

Because his mind refused to process it.

Refused.

There had to be a mistake.

There had to be.

Then he saw the operative designation.

Subject L-13.

Luca.

No.

No.

No.

His hands began shaking.

Nobody spoke.

Nobody dared.

Damon turned another page.

A photograph.

A younger Luca.

Maybe twelve years old.

Thin.

Bruised.

Cold-eyed.

A child.

A child holding a weapon.

Mission accepted.

Mission failed.

Reassignment authorized.

Return to complete target elimination.

Every line felt like a knife.

Every word worse than the last.

Then Damon finally looked up.

At Luca.

The room felt impossibly silent.

"Tell me this isn't real."

The words barely sounded human.

Luca couldn't answer.

Because it was real.

Every terrible piece of it.

Real.

The silence became its own answer.

Damon's face broke.

Not with anger.

Not at first.

Something worse.

Pain.

Pure pain.

"You knew."

A whisper.

Barely audible.

But it cut deeper than a scream.

"You knew."

Luca felt his heart shatter.

"Damon"

"No."

The word came out sharp.

Broken.

Damon stepped backward.

Away from him.

Away from them.

Every step felt like a knife twisting deeper.

"All this time?"

His voice cracked.

"All this time?"

Luca wanted to explain.

Wanted to tell him about the Program.

The orders.

The punishment.

The child he'd been.

But none of it mattered.

Because one truth remained.

He had gone after Elena Moretti.

More than once.

And he had never told Damon.

Not before friendship.

Not before trust.

Not before love.

Love.

The word felt cruel now.

Damon laughed once.

A terrible sound.

Empty.

Disbelieving.

Then he looked at Luca.

And the look in his eyes hurt more than any wound Luca had ever suffered.

Because the love was still there.

Buried beneath betrayal.

Beneath grief.

Beneath heartbreak.

But it was still there.

And that somehow made everything worse.

"Don't."

Luca froze.

"Don't follow me."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Then Damon turned.

And walked away.

The kitchen door slammed behind him.

The sound echoed through the safehouse.

Like a gunshot.

Like an ending.

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Luca remained standing exactly where he was.

Unable to breathe.

Unable to think.

Unable to move.

Because the worst thing had finally happened.

Not Vale.

Not the Program.

Not death.

This.

Losing Damon.

And for the first time since meeting him

Luca let him go.

Far away from the safehouse

Hidden within one of the remaining divisions

Vale smiled as she watched the archived footage play across a monitor.

Exactly as planned.

The first crack had finally appeared.

And she intended to break them completely.