Chapter 68 LINES

Chapter 68 LINES

DAMIAN'S POV 

“Why are you doing this,What do you want from me?” Aria asked, her voice trembling.

The woman held her chin, inspecting her like prey. “Nothing personal, sweetheart. You’re just leverage.”

Aria’s breath hitched. “Don’t… please.”

“Oh relax,” the woman said. “You won’t die. You’re just bait.”

A guy covered added, “He’ll come. He always comes for you.”

And then I woke up,my whole body covered in sweat.

I touched my head, pinching it to see if I'm okay.

“Woow,” I jumped, only to see Viktor in my room.
“What are you doing here?” 

“You’ve been behaving unstable,I decided to check on you.”

“Ooh.”

“Looks like you had a dream.”

“Obviously? , nothing to worry about.”

ADRIAN'S POV 

I rubbed my thumb against my wrist, a habit I picked up years ago.

Kane walked behind me. “Adrian, you need to sit. You haven’t closed your eyes in two days.”

“I’ll sleep when we’re done burying whoever’s coming for us.”

Viper adjusted the comms on the table. “You haven't said anything since you returned from visiting Santiago.”

“Victor,” I said quietly.

Kane turned slowly. “Victor? Damian’s Victor?”

“Yes.” I didn’t look up from the screen. “He’s the one, he's the face not Santiago.”

Viper lifted his brows. “You sure? That man practically breathes for Damian. He’s been with him longer than we’ve known each other.”

“Kane cursed. “So what now?”

“This is a message.”

“From Victor?” Viper asked.

“ We're working for him now,and he's aiming for Damian's head.” I confessed.

“Why?” Kane asked.

“I don't know. We need a clean start. I'll call Lila to do very well in spying for me on how to ambush him.” I told them my plan.

I continued,
“ You guys will have to look out for our private share before the main payment.” 

I pulled up the digital blueprint Viper hacked,layout of the meeting Damian and his board holders had.

“Two exits. Cameras blind .No heat signals on thermal,meaning they’re blocking scans.”

Kane frowned. “What’s the play?”

“We don’t hit head-on,” I said. “That’s what they want. They’re expecting Damian to walk in angry and reckless.”

Viper snorted. “And he will.”

That made me stop.

He wasn’t wrong.

Damian was brilliant, he had one weakness. The one weakness he couldn’t hide.
Aria.

“This won’t be a rescue,” I said. “This will be a takeover.”

Kane leaned forward. “Explain.”

“They’re using different strategies to know whose contacting their major investors to pull out their money.” I explained.

Viper continued, “which means we need to act fast so they won't know whose taking the money.”

“We, when i mean we it's us all.” I advised.

I pulled up a second file,a folder I kept locked in a hidden drive.

A list of names.

Old allies.

Old enemies.

People who owed me favors.

People who feared me.

People who hated Damian enough to listen.

I tapped the table. “We gather six people. Only six. Fast, quiet, off-record. No communication traceable to Damian.”

Viper blinked. “Why six?”

“Because six is the exact number Victor doesn’t expect.”

Kane blew out a long breath. “So we’re going behind Damian’s back?”

“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “Because if he finds out Aria’s gone, he’ll act like a man in love.”

“And men in love,” Viper added slowly, “lose wars.”

Exactly.

I stepped away from the table, pulled out my phone, and dialed the first number.

“Shepherd,” a gruff voice answered. “Been a while.”

“I’m calling in the debt,” I said.

“You’re serious.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll come.”

I hung up.

Viper swallowed. “That’s one. Who’s next?”

“Ghost,” I said, already dialing. “He owes me blood.”

Kane raised a brow. “You’re bringing Ghost?”

“If Victor is behind this,” I said, “I want someone who can find him in the dark.”

Ghost picked up on the first.

“I need your eyes.”

A deep inhale. “Send location.”

I hung up again.

Two down.

Four to go.

Kane crossed his arms. “What if Damian finds out?”

My jaw tightened. “He won’t.”

“And if he does?”

“Then he becomes another threat I handle.”

They fell silent again.

Viper’s fingers flew over the keyboard. “No, no, no,someone jammed the signal.”

Kane backed up. “So they know we’re tracking them.”

“They’re already adjusting their plan,” I said. “They’re changing the timeline.”

Viper turned slowly. “Meaning?”

“Meaning we don’t have hours anymore.”

I grabbed my jacket.

Loaded my weapon.

“Everyone in the trucks,” I ordered. “We move in twenty minutes.”

Kane nodded. “And if Damian arrives before us?”

I stopped.

A dangerous stillness settled in my chest.

“If Damian reaches that warehouse first..”

I slid my gun into the side holster.

“…he will walk straight into Victor’s trap.”

Kane’s eyes widened.

Viper whispered, “So he’ll die?”

“No.” I shook my head slowly. “Death will be mercy.”

I turned to them.

“Victor doesn’t want to kill Damian.”

“Then what does he want?” Kane asked.

“He wants to destroy everything Damian loves… then break him.”

A beat of silence.

“Aria,” Viper whispered.

“And the company,” I added.
“And the board.”
“And anyone who ever stood by Damian.”

“Aria's mine, we won't let Viktor plan succeed until we have everything we want.”

“So what do we do?”

“We get there first,” I said.
“We break Victor’s plan before it starts.”
“We take Aria out of the equation.”
“And we remove every weapon Victor could use.”

Viper nodded. “So this is war.”

I stepped closer to them both.

“No,” I corrected.

“This is the beginning of something worse.”

My phone buzzed.

A message from an unknown encrypted line:

“They’re moving Aria. You’re running out of time.”

Kane grabbed his gear. “We need to leave now.”