Elena stood frozen.
The photograph trembled between her fingers.
She had expected danger.
She had expected enemies.
But she had never expected betrayal to come from someone who had once stood close enough to Damien to know his every weakness.
The woman in the photograph smiled at the camera.
A beautiful smile.
A dangerous smile.
Elena looked up slowly.
“Who is she?”
Damien didn’t answer.
His jaw tightened as his eyes remained fixed on the photograph.
For the first time since Elena had met him, something different crossed his face.
Not anger.
Fear.
Just for a second.
But Elena saw it.
“Damien,” she whispered.
“Who is she?”
He finally looked at her.
“Someone who should be dead.”
Elena’s heart stopped.
“What?”
Damien took the photograph from her hand.
“She disappeared three years ago.”
“Disappeared?”
“She was presumed dead.”
Elena stared at him.
“Then how is she in this photograph?”
“That,” Damien said coldly, “is what I intend to find out.”
A loud knock suddenly came from the door.
Damien immediately reached inside his jacket.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Luca.”
Damien opened the door.
Luca entered quickly, his expression serious.
“We have a problem.”
Damien’s eyes narrowed.
“What happened?”
Luca glanced at Elena before lowering his voice.
“One of the men we sent to investigate the warehouse hasn’t returned.”
Damien’s expression hardened.
“How long?”
“Four hours.”
“Did he contact anyone?”
“No.”
Damien walked toward the window.
“His phone?”
“Destroyed.”
Silence filled the room.
Elena watched them carefully.
“What does this mean?”
Luca looked at Damien.
“It means they know we’re investigating.”
Damien turned around.
“And there’s more.”
Luca pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket.
“We found this in the warehouse.”
He handed it to Damien.
Damien opened it.
His eyes immediately darkened.
Elena stepped closer.
“What is it?”
Damien didn’t answer.
She reached for the paper.
This time, Damien didn’t stop her.
Elena looked down.
There were names written on the page.
Several names.
Men.
Women.
Members of Damien’s organization.
But one name caught her attention.
Elena Rossi.
Her breath caught.
“Why is my name here?”
Damien’s face became unreadable.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
His eyes snapped toward her.
“I don’t lie to you.”
“Then explain it.”
Damien walked toward her.
“This list wasn’t made by my people.”
“How do you know?” You are reading on g.com, the official source.
“Because if it had been made by my people, your name would have been crossed out already.”
Elena swallowed.
“What does that mean?”
“It means whoever made this list isn’t planning to protect you.”
He stepped closer.
“They’re planning to use you.”
Elena’s heart began pounding.
“Against you?”
Damien didn’t answer.
That was answer enough.
Luca suddenly looked toward the hallway.
“Boss.”
Damien turned.
“What?”
“I think we’re not alone.”
The room went silent.
Elena heard it too.
A faint sound.
Footsteps.
Someone was moving upstairs.
Damien immediately pulled Elena behind him.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Elena.”
“I said no.”
His eyes hardened.
“This isn’t a negotiation.”
“And I’m not one of your soldiers.”
For a moment, they stared at each other.
Then another sound came from upstairs.
A door slammed.
Damien immediately moved.
“Luca, stay with Elena.”
He disappeared through the doorway.
Elena watched him go.
She wanted to obey.
She really did.
But something inside her told her that if she stayed behind, she would never know what was happening.
So she followed.
Quietly.
The staircase was dark.
She could hear Damien moving above her.
Then—
BANG!
A gunshot exploded through the house.
Elena gasped.
“Damien!”
She ran upstairs.
She found Damien standing at the end of the hallway, his gun raised.
A window was shattered.
The curtains moved violently in the cold night air.
There was no one there.
Luca rushed up behind Elena.
“Boss!”
Damien lowered his weapon.
“He escaped.”
Luca looked outside.
“Impossible.
There are men covering the entire property.”
Damien stared through the broken window.
“Not anymore.”
Elena looked down.
Something lay on the floor.
A small black envelope.
She bent down and picked it up.
“Damien.”
He turned.
“What?”
She held it out.
“This was left for you.”
Damien took the envelope.
There was no name.
No address.
Only one symbol stamped across the front.
A black rose.
Damien’s expression changed instantly.
He opened it.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
He read it.
His face became completely emotionless.
Elena stared at him.
Damien didn’t respond.
“Damien.”
He handed her the paper.
Elena read the message.
You took what belonged to me.
Her eyes moved to the second line.
Now I will take what belongs to you.
And beneath it was one final sentence.
Your wife will be the first to suffer.
Elena’s blood ran cold.
She looked at Damien.
“Your wife?”
Damien’s eyes met hers.
“Yes.”
His voice was dangerously calm.
“They’re talking about you.”
Elena’s fingers tightened around the paper.
“But why me?”
Damien stepped closer.
“Because you’re the one thing they believe can destroy me.”
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Damien reached for her hand.
His grip was firm.
Protective.
“Elena, listen to me.”
She looked into his eyes.
“No matter what happens, you do not leave my side.”
She swallowed.
“Is that an order?”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“It is a promise.”
Her heart skipped.
Before she could respond, Luca’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed immediately.
“Boss…”
Damien looked at him.
“What?”
Luca slowly lowered the phone.
“We found the missing man.”
“Where?”
Luca hesitated.
“Inside the east garden.”
Damien’s face hardened.
“Alive?”
Luca shook his head.
“No.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Another man was dead.
Another warning.
Another step closer to a war she had never asked for.
Damien pulled her closer.
“This ends tonight.”
Elena looked up at him.
“What are you going to do?”
Damien looked toward the broken window.
Then toward the darkness outside.
“I am going to find the person behind this.”
His eyes turned cold.
“And when I do…”
He paused.
“…they will learn exactly why the Moretti name is feared.”
Far away, hidden beneath the darkness, a woman stood beside a black car.
She held a photograph in her hand.
A photograph of Elena.
She smiled.
“Everything is going exactly as planned.”
The man beside her looked nervous.
“And Damien?”
The woman slowly folded the photograph.
“Damien will come looking for me.”
She opened the car door.
“And when he does…”
Her smile disappeared.
“…he will finally understand who betrayed him.”
The car disappeared into the night.
And inside the Moretti mansion, Elena had no idea that the greatest danger had already entered her life.
Not through the front door.
Not through an enemy’s gun.
But through someone Damien once trusted.
Someone who knew exactly how to destroy the Mafia King.