Chapter 21 Damage without fingerprints
Lina’s POV
The house woke before the sun did. I knew something was wrong before anyone said it. Footsteps were faster. Voices were lower. Doors opened and shut with purpose instead of leisure. The air didn’t feel heavy anymore — it felt charged.
I had just stepped into the corridor when Damien rounded the corner, already dressed, already on the phone.
“No, shut it down for the morning,” he snapped quietly. “I don’t care how much it costs, just do it.”
He hung up and nearly ran into me. His eyes flicked over me once, assessing, then past me, like I was part of the wall. “You’re up early.”
“So is everyone else,” I said. “Who’s bleeding?”
His jaw tightened. “Stay near the east wing today.”
“That bad?”
He didn’t answer. Which meant yes
.
Before I could press, another man hurried down the hall. “Damien, Padrone wants everyone in the conference room. Now.”
Everyone.
Damien looked at me again, this time longer. Deciding. “Come,” he said.
I smiled faintly. “I thought I wasn’t supposed to unsettle things.”
“You already did,” he muttered, walking. “Might as well be useful.”
The conference room felt colder than the rest of the house. Carlino stood at the head of the long table, jacket off, sleeves rolled, dark hair slightly out of place like he’d been running his hands through it too many times. Papers were spread across the polished surface, along with two tablets and a ringing phone no one dared touch.
Around the table sat a mix of men and women from both sides of his world — tailored suits beside scarred knuckles.
Every conversation died when I walked in. Carlino’s eyes found me instantly. They didn’t soften. They sharpened.
“Sit,” he said.
I did. Slowly and calmly.
Damien moved to Carlino’s right side. “We’ve confirmed three incidents since midnight,” he began. “Two on the legal side, one… not.”
“Start legal,” Carlino said.
Damien tapped the tablet, turning it so Carlino could see. “The Lacentra Grand downtown — kitchen fire at 4:12 a.m. Sprinkler system malfunctioned. Damage contained to one floor, but bookings are already canceling.”
“Cause?” Carlino asked.
“Officially? Electrical fault.” Damien paused. “Unofficially? The wiring was replaced last month. By our people.”
Carlino’s expression didn’t change. “Next.”
“The Lacentra Holdings office in Milan — servers wiped. Not stolen. Not corrupted. Wiped clean. Backups too.”
A murmur rippled through the room.
“That’s not random,” one of the executives said. “That’s targeted.”
“No kidding,” another muttered.
Carlino raised one hand. Silence snapped back into place.
“And the third?” he asked.
Damien’s voice lowered. “One of the north-side shipments never arrived.” No one asked what kind.
“Driver?” Carlino said.
“Missing.”
The word settled over the room like dust after an explosion. I leaned back in my chair. “So someone hits your money, your reputation, and your supply lines. All before breakfast.” I tilted my head. “That’s not a warning. That’s a test.”
A few men bristled at me speaking. One actually scoffed.
Carlino didn’t look at them. He looked at me. “Go on.”
“They’re checking your response time,” I said. “Seeing where you’re slow. Where you panic. Where you overcorrect.”
“We don’t panic,” the scoffing man snapped.
I met his eyes. “Everyone panics. The smart ones just do it quietly.”
Carlino’s mouth twitched — not a smile, but close. “Damien?”
“I agree,” Damien said. “This feels coordinated. Too clean to be a coincidence.”
“Who?” someone asked. “Rossi? The Belmonte family?”
“Rossi doesn’t have the brains,” another said. “Belmonte would’ve sent a message with it.”
Carlino tapped his fingers once on the table. “Exactly.”
Silence again.
“No claims,” he said. “No noise. Just damage.”
I watched him as he thought. He didn’t fidget. Didn’t rush. That, more than anything, told me how serious this was.
“Lock down all hotels,” he said finally. “Private security only. No outside contractors.”
“That’ll cost—” an executive started.
“I didn’t ask.”
The man shut up.
“The IT team works in-house from now on,” Carlino continued. “Air-gapped backups. Physical copies of critical files.”
Damien nodded, already typing notes. “And the shipment?” another man asked carefully.
Carlino’s eyes went cold. “We don’t reroute. We don’t pause. We double escort and change routes every run.”
“That makes us visible,” someone argued. “More movement—”
“Good,” Carlino cut in. “Let them watch. I want them to think they’re pushing us into the open.”
I tilted my head. “You’re setting bait.”
His gaze flicked to me. “I’m setting a pattern.”
“So they get comfortable,” I said.
“And make a mistake,” he finished.
A slow understanding spread around the table.
Damien leaned forward. “We should also consider internal leaks.”
A few men stiffened.
Carlino didn’t look surprised. “Already did.”
The room got very still.
“We limit information flow,” Damien continued smoothly. “Compartmentalize routes, schedules, access. No one sees the whole board.”
“And how do we know the leak isn’t in this room?” someone asked.
Carlino’s voice went soft. “We don’t.”
That was worse than shouting. I crossed my legs. “So the enemy’s invisible, patient, and organized. You must be flattered.”
A bodyguard shot me an irritated look. “This isn’t a game.”
“I know,” I said lightly. “That’s why it’s interesting.”
Carlino’s eyes stayed on me a moment too long. “You’re not wrong,” he said quietly.
Damien cleared his throat. “There’s one more thing.” Everyone looked at him.
“The fire alarm at the hotel?” he said. “Triggered manually. From inside the staff corridor.”
“An employee?” Carlino asked.
“The badge used belonged to a night cleaner.” Damien hesitated. “She didn’t show up for work.”
“Missing,” I said.
“Yes.”
Carlino’s jaw tightened slightly. “Find her.”
“We’re trying,” Damien said. “But—”
A sharp knock hit the door. Everyone turned. One of the outer guards stepped in, pale. “Don… there’s been another incident.”
No one moved.
“Speak,” Carlino said.
“The Lacentra Grand airport location,” the guard said. “Police are on-site. Anonymous tip about… illegal activity.”
The room went silent in a different way this time.
“That site is clean,” one of the legal managers said quickly. “Completely legitimate.”
“I know,” Carlino said.
I leaned forward. “But a public investigation ties your name to something dirty anyway. Even if they find nothing.” Carlino nodded once.
“Damage without evidence. Pressure without fingerprints.”
Damien swore under his breath. “They’re not just hitting money. They’re hitting perception.”
Carlino stood, slow and controlled. “Then we respond the same way.”
“How?” someone asked.
“We stay open,” he said. “All locations. No closures unless I order it. We cooperate with inspections. We smile for the cameras.”
“And underneath?” Damien asked.
Carlino’s eyes went dark. “We hunt.” A chill slid down my spine — not fear. Anticipation.
Phones started buzzing around the table almost in unison. Messages. Alerts. Updates. The man beside me checked his screen and went pale. “Don…”
Carlino didn’t look away from Damien. “What.”
“It’s the stock,” the man said hoarsely. “Lacentra Holdings just dropped eight points in ten minutes.”
Executives started talking over each other. “That’s market manipulation—”
“Pull liquidity—”
“We can’t stop a panic sell—”
Carlino slammed his palm on the table. Once. Silence. “Let it dip,” he said. They stared at him.
“Don, that’s millions—”
“I know exactly what it is,” he said coldly. “And I know someone is watching that line fall, waiting to see if I flinch.”
He looked around the room slowly. “I don’t.”
The confidence in his voice was absolute. Unshakable. For a second, I almost believed the enemy had already lost.
Damien’s phone rang. He answered, listened, and all the color drained from his face. “What?” Carlino asked.
Damien lowered the phone slowly. “They found the missing driver.”
“And?” Carlino pressed.
Damien met his eyes. “Alive. Barely.” The room held its breath.
“He’s in a hospital outside the city,” Damien said. “And he’s asking for you.”
Carlino didn’t hesitate. “Get the car.” As the room exploded into motion, I stood too.
Carlino’s gaze snapped to me. “You’re staying.”
I raised a brow. “After all this? I don’t think so.”
“Lina—”
“You said it yourself,” I cut in calmly, “someone’s watching how you respond. What does it say if you suddenly start hiding your Donna?”
His eyes burned into mine. Things had changed, more than I had anticipated. I have started blending into his world, understanding his world and strategies. A man I vowed to hate. A place I vowed to escape but here I am, in the midst of his dark world. Attending meetings. Giving opinions.
Damien looked between us. “She has a point.”
Carlino exhaled once through his nose. Then, sharp: “Fine. You stay close. You don’t wander.”
I smiled faintly. As we moved toward the door, alarms suddenly blared down the hall — loud, urgent, wrong.
Everyone froze.
A guard’s voice shouted from somewhere distant, “Security breach in the west wing!” Carlino turned slowly toward the sound.
The west wing.
Where my rooms were. And where, just last night… someone had been watching from the shadows.
He looked at me once, just once, before the lights flickered.
Then went out.