LOGINSebastian approached first, adjusting the strap of his weapon.“Routes are clear.” He said calmly. “Outer perimeter secured. No movement detected yet.”“Yet.” August muttered as he joined them, loading his sidearm with a quiet click. “Luca doesn’t announce himself.”Michael stepped forward, glancing over the map one last time in his hand before folding it and tucking it into his jacket.“He doesn’t need to, dad.” He commented gently. “He lets the damage speak first.”Dominic didn’t respond as he watched the gates from his point.They opened slowly and the convoy waited beyond.Three vehicles with no markings, no lights.Old school.No trackers.No signals.Just men with their intent.“We split once we hit the second checkpoint.” Dominic said finally. “Primary team with me. Sebastian, you take flank control. Roberto and Antonio are with you.”Sebastian nodded once. “Already planned.”“Mi
Some of the engines started before the sun fully set down below the estate’s basement.One by one that is measured and deliberate until the entire compound seemed to hum with restrained violence.Blackstone was no longer still and is now moving within its walls.Dominic stood at the base of the steps, already changed, already armed, the last traces of the morning gone from him. What remained was something colder.Sharper and focused.Before the engines started.Before the gates opened.Before the night claimed them, Dominic gave himself one hour.Nicholas sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by scattered wooden blocks and a half-built structure that didn’t quite make sense to the adults but to him, it was everything.His dinosaurs are all arranged on one side of the wall, all lined up and looking like an audience at what he is doing.Except for the wooden knight, which is by his arm’s reach.
The war room filled faster than usual.Not with noise but with presence.Men moved with purpose, chairs pulled back, papers laid down, weapons set aside but never too far. The air shifted the moment the doors closed, sealing them inside a space where decisions were no longer theoretical.They were final.Maps covered the table that are large, worn, marked by hand.Routes are carved in ink with red lines cutting across cities while black circles enclosed names.Targets.Every detail was deliberate.Every mark meant consequence.Dominic stepped in last, the room immediately adjusting to his presence as it always did.Conversations stilled and movements continued to align.Focus snapped into place.He didn’t need to raise his voice or demand any attention.Dominic is the center.But this time, he wasn’t alone when he entered.Althea walked in with him.No
Morning came slowly to Blackstone with a quietness that felt earned after the past few days of storm within the walls.Light of the early morning rays slipped through the tall windows in soft bands, cutting across the room in muted gold. It settled over the bed where Althea and Dominic lay, still wrapped in the aftermath of everything they had chosen the night before.For a moment, nothing moved.Then Althea stirred.Her eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the light, to the stillness, to the unfamiliar absence of tension in her chest.She felt it still inside of her but relieved because it had somehow lessened and became quieter.She shifted slightly her eyes checking the clock on her bed and saw it read ten past six.And felt him.Dominic’s arm was still around her, firm even in sleep, his hold instinctive, unguarded in a way he never allowed himself to be when awake.His breathing was even and steady.
Something in Dominic shifted quietly, but deeply as Althea’s words settled into him.Not just heard but felt it.“Even now?” He asked, his voice lower, more careful, as if the answer carried more weight than he was ready to hold.He looked down at her, searching as though he needed to see it in her eyes, not just hear it.Althea didn’t hesitate.She nodded.“Yes.”The certainty in her voice didn’t waver, even if everything else still did.A quiet breath left him, almost unsteady.For a man who had built his life on control, on precision, on knowing exactly where he stood, what Althea had said to him was different.This was something he couldn’t predict.Something he didn’t want to.“I don’t know how to fix everything.” Althea admitted softly. Her gaze dropped for a moment before returning to him, honest and unguarded. “I do
The walk back to her room felt longer than usual. Not because the distance had changed but because she had.Althea slowed when she reached Nicholas’ door and opened it quietly.Inside, the lights were soft, warm, untouched by the chaos that had consumed everything else.Nicholas lay asleep, peaceful in a way that felt almost unreal after everything that had happened. One arm was thrown over the blanket, his breathing steady, unbothered. The other one clutching her dinosaur plushie.His other dinosaur toys are lined up on the empty side of the bed with the wooden knight on the center.Seraphina sat beside him, clutching the book she must have read for her.Her gaze lifted the moment Althea stepped in, staying by the door.And for a second, nothing was said.Seraphina studied and saw everything from the redness of her eyes to the quiet exhaustion. She rose slowly and walked toward her. Then gently, she reached out, her fing
It had been an hour since Seraphina arrived at Blackstone. The urgency of her arrival still lingered in the halls like a storm that had only just passed.Dominic could still hear the echo of tires grinding against the stone courtyard when the SUV came barreling through the gates. The Blackstone gua
The estate lights glowed across the long drive, washing the stone façade in warm gold while the outer perimeter remained wrapped in shadow. Patrol teams rotated quietly through the grounds, their movements precise, practiced. After years of tension around the Valtieri name, Blackstone had become so
The Blackstone medical wing was previously just a private recovery suite when one arrives from the hospital. But now it had slowly transformed into something closer to a compact surgical center.Stainless steel counters had replaced antique cabinets, additional monitors had been installed along the
The house had settled into a deceptive calm.Dominic had retired to his private study when the men had called it a night.He stood by the wide window, the air still, overlooking the darkened estate grounds, one hand resting against the cool glass. The bandage along his ribs pulled faintly when he s







