Chapter 88 Chapter 88
Damien’s POV
Lorenzo had done his job well. The route to the safe house had been carefully planned backroads, multiple turn-offs to confuse any potential surveillance, constant checks for tails. By the time we arrived, I was confident no one had followed us.
As my car pulled up to the estate, I felt the familiar weight of memory settle over me.
This place.
I hadn’t been here since Elena died. And stepping out of the vehicle, looking at the house she’d loved so much, it all came flooding back.
I’d bought this property years ago, back when Elena and I were newly married and still keeping our relationship relatively private from the organization. It had been our escape a place where we could be just Damien and Elena, not the Kingpin and his wife.
We’d spent weekends here, away from the city, away from the violence and politics of the syndicate. We’d made love in every room of this house, christened every surface. This was where we’d been happiest, most free.
And then Elena got pregnant with Sophia, and we’d converted it into a safe house. Added the security systems, the reinforced walls, the escape routes. Turned our sanctuary into a fortress.
After Elena died, I couldn’t bring myself to come back. The memories were too painful.
But now I had no choice.
I walked through the front entrance and immediately saw them all gathered in the main hall.
Hailey stood frozen, staring up at something on the wall. I followed her gaze and felt my stomach clench.
Elena’s portrait. The large one we’d commissioned for our fifth anniversary.
Hailey’s face was pale, her expression a mixture of awe and something that looked like defeat.
Around the room, there were other photos too. Smaller ones. Elena in the garden. Elena and me at some charity gala. Elena holding baby Sophia.
This entire house was a shrine to my dead wife.
And I’d just brought my pregnant girlfriend here to live.
Fuck.
Sophia stood near another photo, her fingers touching the frame lightly, tears streaming silently down her face. She wasn’t making a sound, just crying as she looked at her mother’s image.
Isabella simply stood in the center of the room, slowly turning to take it all in, her expression unreadable.
I needed to fix this. Needed to make this less painful for everyone.
“Take down the portrait,” I ordered the guards who’d followed me in. “The large one in the entrance hall. Take it down and store it somewhere safe.”
“NO!” Sophia’s scream was immediate and visceral. “Don’t you dare! Don’t you DARE touch that portrait!”
She ran to stand in front of it, spreading her arms wide like she could physically protect it.
“Sophia…” I I started.
“This is Mom’s house!” she screamed. “These are her pictures! You don’t get to erase her just because you brought your replacement here!”
“I’m not erasing her,” I said firmly. “I’m just removing the portrait from the main entrance. It’s making everyone uncomfortable.”
“I don’t care!” Sophia shouted. “Leave it alone! Leave everything alone!”
“Take it down,” I repeated to the guards, my voice harder now.
They moved forward, and Sophia actually tried to fight them, pushing at them, screaming and crying.
“Miss Sophia, please,” one of the guards said gently. “We’re just following orders.”
Two of them carefully lifted the portrait off the wall while a third held Sophia back as she sobbed and struggled.
“I hate you!” she screamed at me. “I hate you so much!”
The guards carried the portrait away to storage, and Sophia collapsed to the floor, crying so hard her whole body shook.
Isabella moved to comfort her, kneeling beside her granddaughter and pulling her into her arms.
And then Hailey spoke, her voice quiet but clear.
“Don’t take down the solo portrait of her,” she said, pointing to one of the smaller photos on a side table. It was Elena alone, candid, laughing at something off-camera. “That one should stay. It’s Sophia’s memory. And yours to keep.”
I looked at her, surprised by the gesture.
Hailey met my eyes, and I saw pain there, but also understanding. “This was her home. Her space. I’m not going to ask you to erase her completely. Just… maybe not the huge portrait in the main entrance where I have to see it every time I walk in.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
She nodded and turned away, heading toward the stairs. “I’d like to see the rooms now. I’m exhausted.”
“Of course,” I said. “I’ll show you.”
I led everyone upstairs, pointing out the various bedrooms. “This wing is for family. Choose whichever rooms you want.”
Once everyone was settled, I called them back downstairs to the main living area. There was someone they needed to meet.
A man stood waiting near the fireplace tall, muscular, with close-cropped gray hair and a scar running down his left cheek. He looked like exactly what he was: a career soldier who’d seen too much combat.
“Everyone, this is Louis,” I announced. “He’ll be the head of security here at the safe house. When Kai, Lorenzo, or I are not present, Louis is in charge. You follow his instructions without question. Understood?”
Louis nodded respectfully to everyone. “It’s an honor to protect this family,” he said, his voice gravelly.
“Thank you, Louis,” Isabella said graciously.
Barbara nodded acknowledgment. Benita barely seemed to register his presence, still lost in her grief.
But Sophia’s reaction was immediate and hostile.
She looked Louis up and down with obvious contempt, then made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat.
“Another guard,” she said, her voice dripping with disdain. “Great. Just what we need. More armed men following us around.”
“Sophia,” I warned.
She ignored me, turning to Louis directly. “Let me guess. You’re going to watch us constantly, report our every move to my father, and treat us like prisoners in this house?”
Louis’s expression remained neutral. “I’m here to keep you safe, Miss Sophia. Nothing more.”
“Sure you are,” Sophia said, then actually hissed at him.
Then she turned and stormed out of the room.