Chapter 25 25

Chapter 25 25
Damiano’s POV
I slam the car door shut, rage burning in my veins like wildfire. My jaw is clenched so tight it aches, and my fists are balled against the steering wheel as I drive.
Lorenzo.
The name alone ignites something dark in me. My men told me Aurora met him at the café—early morning, quiet corner, no one else around. I’d dismissed it once. But now? Now Rizzoto runs his mouth, spreading filth across the streets, says Aurora’s pregnant. Says it’s Lorenzo’s.
Lies. It has to be.
But I can’t breathe right. Can’t think straight. Because I don’t know what to believe anymore.
Aurora looked at me this morning like she was hiding something. She kissed me goodbye, soft and sweet—but her eyes weren’t with me. Her mind was somewhere else.
With him?
The idea rips something from me I didn’t even know I had left. I’m not letting this slide. I’m not letting her go. And I sure as hell am not letting Lorenzo take what’s mine.
He won’t make it out of this.
I floor the gas, speeding down the road downtown, toward the war that’s about to begin.

Aurora
The hallway is silent as I step barefoot across the floor, my hand clutching the small key Damiano had hidden in his piano. My heart pounds, not just from fear, but from the weight of truth I’m about to face.
If Damiano betrayed me…
I stop in front of the vault. The cold steel gleams under the dim light of the hallway. I hesitate only for a moment before sliding the key into the lock. It clicks open with an ominous sound.
I push the door slowly.
Inside—rows of files, documents, and hidden compartments. I find the box. Wooden. Plain. Heavy.
I open it.
Letters. Photos. A folded note written in my father's handwriting. Some contracts. 
My breath catches.
And then I see it—documents linking Damiano’s name to a secret deal with Rizzoto and Moretti (my father). Years ago. Before me. Before the fire that changed everything. A deal that cost my father his live.
Tears well in my eyes.
I drop to my knees, the paper fluttering from my hands.
Everything inside me shatters.
Damiano

Pachino Estate – Afternoon
The gravel crunches under my boots as I step out of the car, eyes fixed on the towering gates of the Pachino estate. Lorenzo lives in luxury built on secrets. But I’m not here to admire his wealth—I’m here to end this.
The guards shift uneasily as I approach, knowing better than to stop me. My presence alone is enough to make men reconsider their loyalties. I walk past them like I own the place. Because today, I do.
Inside, Lorenzo is already waiting in the hall, drink in hand, suit crisp. As if this is some civilized meeting. He smirks.
“I was wondering when you’d show up,” he says.
“You’ve been busy,” I reply, voice cold. “Spreading lies. Whispering poison in Aurora’s ears.”
His smile fades. “You mean telling her the truth?”
I pull my gun and press it against his chest without hesitation.
“You want to talk about truth?” I growl. “You lied about the baby. You used her to get to me.”
“She came to me,” he snaps. “You pushed her away with your own hands.”
I shove him against the wall, my rage spilling. “You think I won’t end you right here?”
His laughter is bitter, tight. “If you kill me, she’ll never forgive you. And if she ever finds out what you did to her father…”
I freeze.
He knows.
The silence between us is no longer just about rivalry. It’s about blood.
And betrayal.

Aurora’s POV
Vault Room – Late Afternoon
I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here, the papers spread across the floor like ashes from a fire I didn’t know had been burning this long.
Damiano killed my father.
The documents don’t lie, his signature, his orders, a dated ledger from one of his old men. It was a hit. A silent one. Hidden behind fake names and burnable contracts.
I grip the edge of the wooden box, breath coming short. But something still feels… incomplete.
There’s another safe inside the vault. Smaller. Newer. Hidden behind a false wall panel. I’d almost missed it.
I run my fingers across the keypad.
It needs a password.
I try the obvious, his birthday, his name, his father’s name. 
Nothing works.
I don’t know what’s inside, but the fact that it’s hidden from everything else tells me enough. The final truth, the kind Damiano never wanted me to see, is locked away in there.
And I have to find it.
Because if what I’ve already read is real, then the man I love murdered my father in cold blood.
And if there’s more… I’ll uncover it.
Even if it destroys us both.
Aurora
Inside the Vault Room – Late Afternoon

My hands are trembling as I hold the camera steady. One by one, I take pictures of the papers, the contract, the bank transfer, the surveillance image stamped with a date and time. My throat tightens with each click of the shutter. These aren’t suspicions anymore. These are facts. These are truths sealed in ink and blood.
Damiano killed my father.
And I don’t even know why.
I carefully place the documents back exactly how I found them, shutting the secret vault with a soft click. My heart pounds like it might echo through the room. The soft velvet of the piano bench meets my fingertips as I return the small gold key to its hidden slit beneath the keys. Just like he showed me once, thinking I’d never have a reason to use it against him.
I back away from the piano, chest heavy.
Then my phone rings, slicing through the stillness like a blade.
Lorenzo.