CHAPTER 79 — FIRE ON THE WATER

CHAPTER 79 — FIRE ON THE WATER
DAMIEN’S POV

The tracer rounds cut through the night and lighting up the Mediterranean in  red and green flashes. I pressed my shoulder against the yacht’s rail, steadying my aim as I fired at the closest enemy vessel – a sleek speedboat that's packed with Marco’s men. 

“Left flank!” I yelled over the roar of engines and gunfire, seeing another boat closing in fast from our port side. 
“Rico, take them out before they get close enough to board!”

From the helm, Laura’s voice crackled over the radio. 
“I’m pushing us to full throttle, make sure you hold on tight!”

The yacht surged forward, throwing me back against the rail as we cut through the waves at an impossible speed. 
Violet was pressed against the bulkhead beside Donovan, her eyes are wide as she handed him fresh magazines from a wooden crate. 
Even in all the chaos happening around her, she moved with a calm confidence that made my chest tighten, this wasn’t the broken girl Donovan had taken in months ago. This was a woman who belonged in our world and I wish could stand beside me through anything.

Alistair appeared at my shoulder, pressing a bandage to a gash above my eyebrow where shrapnel had sliced through my skin.
“You’re bleeding on my supplies,” he said, his voice sounded calm even as bullets whined past us.
“Try not to make more work for me.”

“Where’s George?” I asked, firing three quick shots that took out a gunner on the lead boat.

“Safe below decks with two of our best men,” he replied, already moving to tend to a crew member with a bullet wound in his arm.
“Violet made me promise to keep him safe.”

I glanced over at Violet just as Donovan pulled her close for a quick, fierce kiss. Even in the middle of a firefight, he couldn’t help but claim her and she leaned into him like she’d been waiting for it.
Something hot and sharp twisted in my gut, but I pushed it down. I can't afford to show any jealousy right now. But watching them touch like that… it tested even my legendary self-control.

“Damien!” Laura’s voice cut through my thoughts. “They’ve got a missile lock at  the starboard side!”

I spun around to see a launcher mounted on the lead boat, the operator aiming straight for our engine compartment. Without thinking, I grabbed a grenade from the weapons crate and pulled the pin with my teeth, lobbing it with all my strength.

The explosion lit up the night, sending debris and bodies flying into the water. But the blast threw me off balance, and I tumbled backward over the rail, hitting the cold sea with a shock that stole my breath.

The water closed over my head, I fought my way to the surface, gasping as I looked up to see the yacht pulling away at speed, enemy vessels still in pursuit. Just as I started to tread water, a shadow fell over me, one of Marco’s speedboats had peeled off from the chase, turning back towards me.

I reached for my gun, but it was already waterlogged and useless. The men on the boat laughed as they slowed, pointing their weapons at me. 
“Looks like the great Damien Einstein isn’t so tough after all,” one sneered, raising his rifle.

Before he could fire, a sleek black motorcycle roared across the water, that's impossible I thought, until I realized it was a jet ski, cutting through the waves at breakneck speed. 
Violet stood at the front, her hair streaming behind her like a dark banner, while Alistair handled the controls. he raised a rifle and fired three shots in rapid succession, each one finding its mark.

The speedboat veered wildly as its crew went down, slamming into a rocky outcrop and breaking apart in a shower of splinters. Alistair brought the jet ski alongside me, reaching down with one hand while still steering with the other. “Get on!”

I grabbed his arm and hauled myself aboard, water pouring from my clothes as we raced back toward the yacht. 
I turned to see Violet also holding a gun and she didn’t take her eyes off the enemy vessels ahead, firing at their engines whenever they came into range even if she wasn't hitting.

“Where’s Donovan?” I asked, pulling out my backup pistol that's still dry in its waterproof holster.

“Keeping Laura safe at the helm,” she replied. 

I moved behind her, my chest pressed against her back as I steadied her aim with my hands over hers.
“Steady now,” I whispered in her ear, feeling her shiver. 
“Breathe with me and squeeze the trigger on the exhale.”

She followed my instructions perfectly, and a distant explosion told us we’d hit our mark. 
As we closed in on the yacht, I couldn’t resist pressing a kiss to the curve of her neck, just below her ear. “You’re incredible,” I murmured. 
“Did you know that?”

She leaned back against me for just a moment. “I’m learning,” she said softly.

We boarded the yacht just as Marco’s remaining vessels broke off the chase, disappearing into the darkness toward the mainland.
Laura cut the engines as we reached open water, and silence fell over us except for the lapping of waves and the groans of wounded men.

Donovan was waiting at the gangplank, his eyes scanning Violet from head to toe before moving to me. 
“You okay?” he asked, and I could hear the relief in his voice even as he kept his face impassive.

“Never better,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder.
“Your girl just saved my life.”

Violet flushed, but there was pride in her eyes as she moved to help Alistair tend to the wounded. I watched her work, her hands steady as she cleaned wounds and applied bandages, and I realized without a doubt that I wants her with the whole of me.

That night, as we anchored in a hidden cove along the coast, we gathered in the main salon to plan our next move. George was awake now but still very weak, he's sitting in a large armchair with a blanket over his legs. 

“Marco won’t stop until he has what he wants,” he said quietly. 
“The Gray Circle, control of the city and Violet. He thinks she’s the key to legitimizing his claim.”

“He’s not wrong about that part,” Laura said, pouring herself a glass of whiskey. “With her bloodline, Lancaster and Moretti, she could unite all the factions. But not under Marco’s rule.”

I noticed how her eyes kept drifting to Donovan, how her hand tightened on her glass whenever he looked at Violet. 
The jealousy was almost palpable, and I exchanged a look with Alistair, we’d both noticed it, even if Donovan seemed determined to look the other way.

“What’s our next move?” Violet asked, sitting beside Donovan and Alistair. “We can’t keep running.”

“Donovan’s right,” Alistair said, laying out a map on the table. 
“We need to take the fight to him. His main stronghold is the old mountain compound, it's fortified, but we have advantages that he doesn’t.”

“Like what?” Laura asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Like me,” Violet said firmly. “He thinks I’m a weak girl he can manipulate. Let me go in undercover, get close to him, find out his plans, and help you get inside.”

Donovan stood up so fast his chair scraped against the floor.
“Absolutely not. He’d kill you the second he suspects anything.”

“Or he’d trust me,” she countered, standing to face him. “I can make him think I'm reuniting with my mother making him think I’m his daughter by marriage. I think I can use that.”

“I won’t let you risk yourself like this,” he said, his voice low and dangerous.

“I’m not asking for permission,” she shot back, her eyes blazing. 
“I’m telling you what I’m going to do. This is my fight too, my family and my life.”

The room fell silent as they faced off. I watched Violet stand her ground against one of the most powerful man in Milan, and pride surged through me.

“Let her go,” George murmured almost inaudibly if not for the moment of silence we wouldn't have hear him, making us all turn to look at him. 

Donovan’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he turned around and left. 
Later that night, I found Violet on the deck, staring up at the stars. The Mediterranean breeze caught her hair, and she looked more beautiful than any woman had a right to look after surviving a sea battle.

“Can’t sleep?” I asked, moving to stand beside her at the rail.

“Too much to think about,” she replied, leaning against the warm wood. 
“My mother, Marco, everything that’s happened in just a few months.”

I put my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close against my side.
“You don’t have to carry it all alone, you know. I'm here for you.”

She looked up at me, her eyes dark with emotion.
“That’s what scares me sometimes, trusting people again after everything Justin did.”

“Damien,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Please can you hold me.

I didn’t need to be asked twice. I grabbed her hand and  led her to the dock, I used some towels to arrange a makeshift bed and we lay together on the deck, her head on my chest as we watched the stars.

I kissed the top of her head, she didn’t say anything, but she snuggled closer.

Just as I was drifting off, my phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number. I pulled it out and read the text Maki my blood run cold.

“I know what you’re planning, Einstein. Bring Violet to the underground fight club in Milan at midnight tomorrow, alone. If you bring anyone else, your father dies. If you don’t come, I’ll release evidence that will destroy everything the Einsteins have built.”

I looked down at Violet, sleeping peacefully against me, and made a promise to myself. No matter what it took and how dangerous the path ahead, I’d keep her safe and I'd burn down the world before I let anyone take her away.