Chapter 52

Chapter 52

The screen glowed against the darkness of the penthouse.

DID YOU REALLY THINK HE CHOSE YOU FIRST?

Damon stared at the words.

Cold settling slowly beneath his skin.

Not fear.

Something worse.

Recognition.

The message disappeared before he could move.

Static flickered violently

Then the television shut off completely.

Silence swallowed the room.

Damon stood frozen for exactly three seconds.

Then every survival instinct snapped into place.

He reached for his phone immediately.

Calling Luca.

No answer.

The line rang once

Then disconnected.

Damon’s pulse dropped.

“Luca.”

He called again.

Straight to voicemail.

Outside the penthouse windows, rain had started falling suddenly against the glass.

Heavy.

Violent.

The city disappearing beneath grey streaks and distant lightning.

Damon moved quickly toward the security console near the wall.

The building cameras flickered across the monitors.

Lobby.

Garage.

Hallways.

Roof access.

Static interrupted half the feeds.

Wrong.

Very wrong.

The elevator camera cut out completely.

Damon’s jaw tightened.

Someone was inside the system again.

Not fully.

Not like before.

But enough.

A sharp knock hit the penthouse door.

Damon reached for the gun hidden beneath the kitchen counter automatically.

Muscle memory now.

Another thing Hale had left behind.

The knock came again.

Then Luca’s voice:

“Damon.”

Relief hit too fast.

Too hard.

Damon unlocked the door immediately.

Luca stepped inside dripping rainwater and tension.

Seraphine followed behind him.

“You didn’t answer your phone,” Damon snapped instantly.

Luca frowned.

“I lost signal in the elevator.”

Damon stared at him for a second too long.

Checking.

Breathing.

Alive.

Then he stepped back.

“The screens turned on,” Damon said quietly.

Luca’s expression changed instantly.

“What did it say?”

Damon hesitated.

Just briefly.

Then:

“Did you really think he chose you first?”

Silence.

Something flickered across Luca’s face.

Gone too quickly to name.

Seraphine noticed it too.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“What does that mean?” Damon asked.

Luca looked away first.

“I don’t know.”

Lie.

Small.

Instinctive.

But Damon caught it immediately.

Because he knew Luca now.

Too well.

“You hesitated.”

Luca’s jaw tightened.

“It’s nothing.”

“That’s not an answer.”

The tension in the room shifted instantly.

Sharp.

Dangerous.

Seraphine stepped between them slightly.

Not physically.

Emotionally.

Trying to stop something before it started.

“Maybe Hale’s trying psychological warfare again,” she said carefully.

“That’s literally his thing.”

Damon looked at Luca.

Still watching him.

“…maybe.”

But he didn’t sound convinced.

Neither did Luca.

Rain hammered harder against the windows.

Thunder rolling low through the city.

Luca removed his soaked jacket slowly.

Too calm.

Too controlled.

Which meant he was hiding something.

Damon hated that he noticed now.

Hated that Hale had planted suspicion so easily.

“You know something,” Damon said quietly.

Luca froze for half a second.

“No.”

Another lie.

Not malicious.

Not cruel.

But protective.

And somehow that made Damon angrier.

“Stop doing that.”

Luca looked up sharply.

“Doing what?”

“Deciding what I can handle.”

Silence.

Seraphine exhaled softly under her breath.

Because this

This was familiar territory.

Luca stepped forward slightly.

“I’m trying to protect you.”

Damon laughed once.

Short.

Humorless.

“See? That.”

Lightning flashed outside.

Briefly illuminating the entire penthouse in white.

For a second

Luca looked almost haunted.

Then darkness returned.

“I don’t know what Hale’s planning,” Luca said quietly.

“But whatever this is, he wants you doubting me.”

Damon’s chest tightened instantly.

Because that part

That part was true.

And he hated himself for already feeling it.

Another screen turned on suddenly across the room.

Then another.

Then another.

All static.

Seraphine swore softly.

“He’s inside the building network.”

The screens flickered rapidly

Then synchronized.

One video file appeared.

Old footage.

Grainy.

Timestamp corrupted.

Luca went completely still.

Damon noticed immediately.

The video started playing.

Rain.

Gunfire.

Someone running.

The footage shook violently like it came from an old surveillance drone.

A black-clothed figure stepped briefly into frame.

Young.

Lean.

Deadly.

The face wasn’t visible clearly.

But Damon heard Seraphine inhale sharply beside him.

Because she recognized the fighting style instantly.

So did Luca.

“No,” Luca whispered.

Barely audible.

The footage cut suddenly before the face fully appeared.

Static replacing the image.

Then text appeared slowly across every screen.

HE WAS YOUR TRAGEDY LONG BEFORE HE BECAME YOUR LOVE.

The room went silent.

Damon looked at Luca slowly.

Very slowly.

And for the first time since they met

Luca looked afraid of him.

Damon’s voice came out dangerously quiet.

“…what was that?”

Luca couldn’t answer.

Because somewhere beneath the static in his fractured memory

He had heard a woman screaming before.