Chapter 72 Chapter 72
Damien’s POV
I arrived at Elder Carter’s estate and was immediately shown into his sitting room by one of the household staff. The place was quiet, almost eerily so, and that nagging sense of wrongness intensified with every passing second.
“Elder Carter will be with you shortly,” the staff member said before disappearing.
I sat down, pulling out my phone to try Kai again. Straight to voicemail. Lorenzo. Same thing. I tried the compound’s main security line. Nothing.
Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then fifteen.
My patience was wearing thin. This wasn’t like Carter. When he called an urgent meeting, he was always prompt, always prepared.
I stood up, my instincts screaming that something was wrong. I was heading toward the door to leave when it opened, and a young woman walked in carrying shopping bags.
I recognized her immediately as Carter’s daughter, Rebecca. She looked surprised to see me.
“Mr. Alejandro,” she said, setting down her bags. “I didn’t know my father had a meeting scheduled this morning.”
“He sent me an urgent message,” I said, my unease growing. “Asked me to come immediately. Where is he?”
“He should be in his study,” Rebecca said, frowning. “He didn’t mention anything to me about a meeting, but let me take you to him.”
I followed her through the house, that sense of wrongness growing with every step. Something was off. Very off.
Rebecca opened the door to Carter’s study, and we both froze.
Elder Carter was slumped over his desk, his face pale and waxy, foam crusted at the corners of his mouth. His eyes were open but unseeing, staring at nothing.
“Dad!” Rebecca screamed, rushing forward. “Dad, no, no, no!”
I moved quickly, checking for a pulse even though I already knew what I’d find. Nothing. He was already cold.
“He’s been poisoned,” I said, my voice flat as I examined the coffee cup on his desk. “Recently, within the last few hours.”
Rebecca was sobbing, clutching her father’s lifeless hand, her screams growing louder and more hysterical.
“Rebecca, you need to be quiet,” I said firmly, grabbing her shoulders and trying to get her to focus. “I need to think. I need to assess the situation.”
But she kept screaming, and I was trying to process what this meant. Carter had been murdered. Someone had poisoned him and then used his phone to lure me here.
To distract me. To get me away from the compound.
At that exact moment, my phone finally rang. Kai’s name flashed on the screen.
I answered immediately. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you for…”
“Boss!” Kai’s voice cut through, and he was breathing hard, panicked in a way I’d never heard before. “We’re on our way to you.”
In the background, I could hear an engine roaring, pushed to its absolute limit. Lorenzo’s voice was shouting something I couldn’t make out.
“Kai, calm down and report,” I ordered, but my heart was already racing. “What’s happening?”
“We figured it out,” Kai gasped, his breath coming in heavy pants. “The heart. It’s your home, Kingpin. They’re going to raid your home. A mole has already carried out their job. You need to be on alert. You need to get back there now!”
The world seemed to stop.
My home. Hailey. My mother. Sophia. Everyone I cared about was at the compound.
And I’d been lured away by a fake message from a dead man.
“How long ago?” I demanded, already running toward the door. “When did the attack start?”
“We don’t know exactly,” Lorenzo’s voice came through, closer to the phone now. “But our surveillance caught movement around your compound about twenty minutes ago. Multiple vehicles. Boss, this is bad.”
Twenty minutes. I’d been sitting in Carter’s house for twenty minutes while my home was under attack.
Rebecca was still screaming behind me, but I couldn’t focus on her. Couldn’t focus on anything except getting back to my family.
I ran out of the house toward my car, my driver already moving toward the driver’s seat when he saw my expression.
“The compound,” I barked. “Now. Break every speed limit. I don’t care if the cops chase us.”
As we peeled out of Carter’s driveway, I tried calling Marco. He was Benita’s guard, which meant he should be at the compound. Should be protecting them.
The phone rang once, twice, then connected.
But instead of Marco’s voice, all I heard was gunfire. Rapid, continuous gunfire mixed with shouting and explosions.
“Marco!” I shouted into the phone. “Marco, report!”
More gunfire. A scream. Then the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.
“Marco!” I shouted again, but the line went dead.
I tried calling again. Straight to voicemail.
I tried the main security line. No answer.
I tried my mother’s phone. No answer.
I tried Sophia’s phone. No answer.
And then, with shaking hands, I tried Hailey’s phone.
It rang. Once. Twice. Three times.
And then it went to voicemail.
“No,” I breathed. “No, no, no.”
“Boss,” my driver said, his voice tight. “We’re still fifteen minutes out, even at this speed.”
Fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes while my home was under siege. While the people I loved were fighting for their lives.
While Hailey and our unborn child were in mortal danger.
“Go faster,” I ordered, my voice barely above a whisper.
But we both knew it wouldn’t be enough. Wouldn’t be fast enough.
Whatever was happening at my compound, I was going to arrive too late to stop it.
The Morellis had played this perfectly. Lured me away with a fake emergency. Killed Elder Carter to make it seem legitimate. Cut communications. And then launched their attack on my home, on my family, when I wasn’t there to protect them.