Chapter 113 Chapter 113
Damien’s POV
Three days in the city felt like three months. Three days of meetings with nervous elders, of coordinating security, of trying to plug holes in an organization that seemed to be bleeding from a thousand cuts.
But I couldn’t stay away from the safehouse any longer. Couldn’t leave my family unprotected while I dealt with business in the city.
I drove to the secret apartment where I’d left Lorenzo, Kai, and Vincent a secure location we used for operations that required discretion.
The building looked ordinary from the outside, just another apartment complex in a middle-class neighborhood, but the top floor was entirely ours, reinforced and equipped with everything we needed.
I let myself in with the keycode and found the three of them in the main room.
Immediately, I sensed something was wrong.
Kai stood on one side of the room, his arms crossed, his expression cold and hostile.
Vincent sat on the couch, his injured hand still bandaged, looking uncomfortable and defensive. And Lorenzo stood between them like a referee trying to prevent a fight.
“We’re heading back to the safehouse,” I announced without preamble. “Pack your things. We leave in twenty minutes.”
Nobody moved. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.
“What happened?” I demanded, looking between them.
Lorenzo sighed. “They got into a bit of a scuffle while you were gone, boss. Nothing serious, but.”
“A scuffle?” I repeated, my voice hardening. “Explain.”
Kai spoke first, his voice cold. “Vincent has been acting suspicious. Making phone calls he won’t explain. Asking questions about security protocols he has no need to know. I confronted him about it.”
“I was just trying to be helpful,” Vincent protested. “Trying to understand our security setup so I could contribute…”
“Bullshit,” Kai interrupted flatly. “You were gathering information. And when I called you out on it, you got defensive and aggressive.”
“I did not get aggressive!” Vincent said, his voice rising. “You’re the one who grabbed me and accused me of being a traitor!”
“Because you’re ACTING like a traitor!” Kai shot back.
“ENOUGH!” I roared, my voice echoing off the walls.
Both men fell silent immediately, though the hostility between them remained palpable.
“I don’t care who started what,” I said, my voice dropping to something dangerous and controlled. “We are in the middle of a war. The Morellis are killing our people. We have actual traitors in our organization. And you two are fighting each other like children?”
“Boss, I’m just trying to protect…”Kai started.
“Get your senses straight,” I interrupted harshly. “Both of you. Vincent, if Kai asks you a question about your activities, you answer him. Completely and honestly. No deflection, no excuses. Understood?”
“Yes, boss,” Vincent said quietly, looking down at his bandaged hand.
“And Kai,” I continued, turning to my head of security, “you don’t put hands on our people unless you have concrete evidence of betrayal. Suspicion is not enough. Am I clear?”
Kai’s jaw tightened, but he nodded. “Yes, boss.”
“Good,” I said. “Now pack your things. We’re leaving in fifteen minutes.”
We packed quickly, efficiently, years of experience making the process smooth despite the tension. Within fifteen minutes, we were loading into two vehicles Kai and I in one, Lorenzo and Vincent in the other.
I drove, needing something to do with my hands, needing to feel in control of something.
We’d been on the road for about twenty minutes when Kai’s sharp eyes caught something in the side mirror.
“We’ve got a tail,” he said quietly. “Black sedan, three cars back. Been following us since we left the apartment.”
I checked my own mirror and spotted the vehicle. “How long?”
“At least ten minutes,” Kai said. “Could be longer. I just noticed.”
I made a sudden turn without signaling, changing our route. The black sedan followed.
“Not coincidence,” Kai confirmed, reaching for his weapon.
I called Lorenzo in the other vehicle. “We’ve got a tail. Black sedan. I’m going to try to lose them, but if we can’t, we eliminate the threat.”
“Copy that, boss,” Lorenzo said.
I made several more turns, trying to shake the sedan, but it stayed with us, keeping a consistent distance.
Finally, I’d had enough. I pulled into an empty parking structure, driving up to the third level where it was deserted.
The black sedan followed us in.
“Here we go,” Kai muttered, already out of the vehicle the moment I stopped.
Lorenzo’s car pulled up seconds later, and all four of us spread out, weapons drawn, as the black sedan came up the ramp.
It stopped about twenty feet away, and a single man got out. Young, maybe late twenties, wearing jeans and a hoodie.
“Who are you?” I demanded, my gun trained on his chest. “Who sent you?”
The man smiled, and there was something wrong about it. Something resigned and hopeless.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “You’re already too late.”
Before any of us could react, before we could ask another question, the man pulled a gun from his own waistband.
And shot himself in the head.
The sound echoed through the parking structure. The man’s body crumpled to the ground, blood pooling around his head.
“What the fuck?” Lorenzo breathed.
I stared at the body, my mind racing. A tail who killed himself rather than be questioned. That level of dedication, of commitment to silence…
“Check him,” I ordered. “Wallet, phone, anything that might tell us who he was working for.”
Kai moved forward carefully, kneeling beside the body and searching through the dead man’s pockets.
“Nothing,” Kai said after a moment. “No ID, no phone, no wallet. He’s been cleaned.”
“Boss, we need to move,” Lorenzo said urgently. “If he was following us, others might know our location.”
He was right. We needed to get out of here.
“Different route,” I decided. “Backroads. No highways. We assume everything is compromised.”
We got back in the vehicles and left the parking structure, the dead stalker’s body left behind for someone else to find.
But as we drove, taking random turns and doubling back repeatedly to make sure we weren’t being followed again, I noticed something two more vehicles had picked up our trail. Different cars, different drivers, but clearly coordinated.
“We’ve got more company,” Kai said, spotting them at the same time I did. “Two SUVs, different positions. They’re boxing us in.”
I called Lorenzo. “You seeing what I’m seeing?”
“Yeah, boss,” Lorenzo confirmed. “We’re being herded.”
That’s when it hit me. The suicide wasn’t just about preventing interrogation. It was a signal. A way to alert other teams that we’d been spotted.
And now they were closing in.
“They know our route,” I said, realization dawning. “They know where we’re going.”
“How?” Kai demanded. “We’ve been careful. We took precautions…”
“Our location has been leaked,” I said, feeling cold certainty settle over me. “They’ve known where we were going all along. And now they’re going to storm us.”
I looked in the rearview mirror at the SUVs maintaining their distance, not attacking yet, just following.
“Fuck,” Kai breathed, coming to the same conclusion.