LOGINDamian's POVThe world stopped.The prison walls.The guards.The thick glass separating the visitation room.Everything faded into the background.Damian stared at the man standing on the other side of the glass, unable to breathe.His father had died eight years ago.He had identified the body.He had stood beside the grave.He had mourned him.Yet the man looking back at him had the same piercing gray eyes.The same calm expression.The same scar just above his eyebrow from an old construction accident.Only one thing had changed.He looked older.More tired.Like life had stolen pieces of him one year at a time.The visitor slowly picked up the telephone."Hello, son."Damian remained frozen.His hands trembled as he reached for the receiver."No..."His voice cracked."This isn't possible."The older man gave a sad smile."I know.""They told me you were dead.""They told you what they wanted you to believe."Damian searched the man's face, looking for any sign of deception.Ther
Tayla's POVThe front door exploded inward with a deafening crash.Splinters of wood flew across the hallway as four masked men stormed into the house with guns raised. Their heavy boots pounded against the hardwood floor, their movements disciplined, almost military."Clear the downstairs!" one of them barked."Find the woman!" another shouted."And kill Luca Russo!"The words echoed through the house like a death sentence.Luca's jaw tightened."So this is how Marcus repays loyalty," he muttered bitterly.Michael pressed a finger to his lips before raising his pistol. He motioned for everyone to stay low.Emily quickly wrapped one arm around Isabella and helped her crawl behind the kitchen island. Isabella was weak from blood loss, but her eyes remained alert."Tayla," Michael whispered.I looked at him."Get Noah."I nodded without hesitation.---Every step toward the staircase felt heavier than the last.The shouting downstairs grew louder.Furniture crashed.Glass shattered.So
Tayla's POV"The man everyone thinks is dead...""...is still alive."The room fell silent.No one moved.No one even breathed.The silver key in my trembling hand suddenly felt heavier than a brick."What are you talking about?" Michael asked, his voice low.Isabella leaned back against the couch, her face pale from blood loss."They lied to all of us."Luca knelt beside her."Who?"She swallowed painfully."Victor..."My heart skipped."...didn't die that night."---"No."Michael shook his head immediately."I identified the body.""You identified a body," Isabella whispered. "Not Victor."Luca frowned."That's impossible.""Marcus made sure everyone believed it was impossible."She closed her eyes for a moment, fighting the pain."The fire destroyed almost everything.""The reports were altered.""The witnesses disappeared.""And the man inside the building..."She looked directly at me."...wasn't Victor."Every hair on my body stood on end.If Victor hadn't died...Then Damian h
Tayla's POVThe rain hadn't stopped.It drummed against the windshield as Luca drove through the empty streets, his hands gripping the steering wheel tighter than necessary.Neither of us had spoken for almost twenty minutes.My heartbeat had finally slowed, but my mind refused to.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the gun pointed at me.The men chasing me.The fear in Luca's face when he found me lying on the ground.He had looked terrified.Not the kind of fear someone fakes.The kind that comes from believing they're about to lose someone."You should let me take you to the hospital," he said quietly."I'm fine.""You've said that three times.""And I mean it."He glanced at me briefly before looking back at the road."No, Tayla. You're in shock."I turned toward the rain-streaked window."I just want to go home."---Luca pulled into my driveway just after sunset.Every light in the house was on.Emily's car.Michael's SUV.Two police cruisers.My stomach tightened.The moment I
Tayla's POV"Run!"Michael's voice echoed through the warehouse as another gunshot shattered the silence.The bullet slammed into a metal container behind us, sending sparks into the air.My heart pounded violently against my ribs.I had never been this close to death.Not even the attempted kidnapping in the alley compared to this.These men weren't trying to scare me.They were here to make sure I never spoke again.Michael grabbed my wrist and pulled me through a narrow passage between two towering stacks of shipping containers."Don't stop!" he shouted."I can't keep up!""You have to."Behind us, heavy footsteps pounded against the concrete floor."There!"A rough voice roared."They went this way!"Another shot rang out.The sound bounced around the empty warehouse, making it impossible to tell where they were.---Michael suddenly shoved me behind an old forklift."Stay here.""What about you?""I'm buying us time."Before I could stop him, he picked up a rusty iron pipe lying
Tayla's POV I didn't tell Michael about the address. I didn't tell Emily. And I definitely didn't tell Luca. The folded piece of paper remained tucked inside my wallet all night, its edges already beginning to crease from how many times I'd unfolded it just to stare at the words. Raven Storage Warehouse. Unit 19. Who had left it? Luca? Someone pretending to be Luca? Or was I being led into another trap? After what happened in the alley, common sense told me to stay away. But common sense hadn't cleared Damian's name. It hadn't explained Victor Salazar's death. And it certainly hadn't told me why people were willing to kill over secrets buried eight years ago. If the answers were inside Unit 19... I had to see them. --- The next morning, Tayla dropped Noah at school. She lingered longer than usual. Watching him laugh with his classmates. Watching him disappear into the building. A strange fear settled in her chest. For the first time, she understood why Damian h







