Chapter 8

Morning came without peace.  

Damon Moreau had slept for less than two hours.  

The city of Milan glittered beyond the glass walls of his penthouse. Golden sunlight reflected off skyscrapers and marble rooftops. Normally, the view grounded him. Today, it only reminded him of how exposed he was.  

His mother used to stand here every morning with coffee in hand, smiling softly as the city woke. Now, the memory felt like a wound.  

Behind him, Luca Raines stood silently near the entrance of the living room, watching every shadow that moved across the hallways of the penthouse.  

Damon began noticing things about Luca he couldn’t ignore.  

The way he positioned himself between Damon and any open space.  

The way his eyes scanned every reflection in the glass.  

The way he never truly relaxed.  

A professional bodyguard.  

Or a soldier still fighting a war no one else could see.  

Damon rubbed his temples.  

“Did security finish reviewing the footage from last night?”  

Luca nodded once.  

“Yes.”  

“And?”  

“There was no breach.”  

Damon looked up slowly.  

“No breach?” he repeated.  

“There were gunshots in my building.”  

“They came from outside,” Luca replied calmly. “Someone fired from the street and disappeared before security responded.”  

Damon exhaled slowly.  

Another warning.  

Another ghost in the dark.  

It had been happening more often lately.  

Strange surveillance.  

Unidentified vehicles.  

Encrypted hacking attempts on company servers.  

Someone was circling his life like a predator.  

The only problem was that Damon had too many enemies to guess which one.  

His phone vibrated sharply on the glass table.  

Damon picked it up.  

The moment he saw the notifications, his stomach tightened.  

Twenty-seven missed calls.  

Thirty-two messages.  

News alerts.  

His assistant’s name filled the screen.  

Claudia.  

Damon answered immediately.  

“What happened?”  

Her voice was breathless.  

“Sir, you need to see the news.”  

Damon opened the first link she sent.  

The headline appeared instantly, and the world seemed to tilt.  

BILLIONAIRE CEO DAMON MOREAU IN SECRET RELATIONSHIP WITH BODYGUARD  

Damon blinked.  

Another article loaded beneath it.  

SECURITY OR SOMETHING MORE? CEO AND PERSONAL BODYGUARD CAUGHT IN LATE NIGHT MEETING  

Then another.  

IS MOREAU INNOVATIONS BEING RUN BY EMOTION INSTEAD OF LEADERSHIP?  

Photographs filled the screen, grainy but unmistakable.  

Damon and Luca entering the penthouse together.  

Luca standing too close during a meeting.  

Luca touching Damon’s arm while guiding him through a crowded hallway.  

Moments that had seemed harmless.  

Moments that now looked intimate under the lens of scandal.  

Damon lowered the phone slowly.  

For a long moment, he said nothing.  

Then he laughed once.  

Not amused.  

Just tired.  

“Of course,” he murmured.  

Luca stepped closer.  

“What is it?”  

Damon turned the screen toward him.  

Luca read the headline.  

His jaw tightened.  

“Someone’s trying to discredit you.”  

“Obviously.”  

Damon stood and walked toward the glass window, staring down at the city far below.  

The news media moved fast when there was blood in the water.  

A billionaire grieving his mother.  

A powerful company with defense contracts.  

A mysterious bodyguard with no past.  

The perfect story.  

“This will affect the board,” Damon said quietly.  

“They’ll question your judgment.”  

“They already do.”  

Luca didn’t respond.  

Damon turned slowly.  

“You didn’t leak anything?”  

The words slipped out before he could stop them.  

Silence filled the room.  

Luca’s eyes didn’t change.  

“No.”  

Damon studied his face carefully.  

Still.  

Controlled.  

Impossible to read.  

For a second, Damon felt something uncomfortable stir inside him.  

Guilt.  

Because part of him had believed Luca capable of it.  

Damon looked away.  

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.  

Luca shrugged.  

“Suspicion keeps people alive.”  

Before Damon could respond, the elevator doors opened across the penthouse.  

Footsteps echoed inside.  

A familiar voice followed.  

“Damon!”  

Matteo Laurent walked into the room like he owned it.  

Tall.  

Elegant.  

Perfectly composed in a charcoal suit.  

Concern colored his expression as he approached.  

“I came as soon as I saw the news.”  

Damon sighed.  

“I was wondering how long it would take.”  

Matteo glanced at Luca briefly before turning back to Damon.  

“You shouldn’t be dealing with this alone.”  

“I’m not alone.”  

Matteo’s gaze flickered again toward Luca.  

A faint smile touched his lips.  

“Right.”  

Damon crossed his arms.  

“Say what you came to say.”  

Matteo hesitated.  

“The board is worried.”  

Of course they were.  

“They think the media attention could damage investor confidence.”  

“They always think that.”  

“This is different.”  

Matteo gestured toward the phone still displaying the article.  

“Perception matters.”  

Damon’s voice cooled.  

“So what are they suggesting?”  

Matteo hesitated again.  

“They want Luca reassigned.”  

The words landed like a stone in Damon’s chest.  

Damon didn’t answer immediately.  

Matteo continued gently.  

“Just temporarily.”  

“A new security team could remove the appearance of impropriety.”  

Luca hadn’t moved since Matteo entered the room.  

Now he spoke quietly.  

“If my presence creates risk, I can step aside.”  

Damon turned sharply.  

“No.”  

Both men looked at him.  

Damon forced himself to remain calm.  

“My security stays the same.”  

Matteo sighed.  

“You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”  

“Am I?”  

“The board won’t stop pushing.”  

“Let them push.”  

Matteo studied him for a long moment.  

Then he nodded slowly.  

“I’ll try to calm them down.”  

Damon raised an eyebrow.  

“You’ll try?”  

“I’m on your side, Damon.”  

Matteo placed a reassuring hand on Damon’s shoulder.  

The gesture would have looked supportive to anyone watching.  

But Luca’s eyes narrowed slightly.  

Something about the touch felt wrong.  

Calculated.  

Matteo leaned closer.  

“Just be careful,” he murmured.  

“Scandals destroy empires faster than enemies.”  

Then he stepped back.  

“I’ll speak to the board this afternoon.”  

And just like that, he left.  

The elevator doors closed behind him.  

Silence returned to the penthouse.  

Damon exhaled slowly.  

“Well.”  

“That could have gone worse.”  

Luca was still staring at the elevator.  

“What?” Damon asked.  

Luca shook his head.  

“Nothing.”  

But something in his expression had hardened.  

Damon walked back toward the table and picked up his phone again.  

More headlines were appearing.  

More speculation.  

More commentary.  

His reputation was becoming a public spectacle.  

“You know what the worst part is?” Damon said quietly.  

“What?”  

“They’re not even interested in the truth.”  

Luca leaned against the wall.  

“The truth rarely matters.”  

Damon looked at him carefully.  

“Is that something you learned the hard way?”  

Luca’s expression didn’t change.  

“Yes.”  

Damon studied him for a long moment.  

Then he sighed.  

“Welcome to my world.”  

Another message appeared on his screen.  

This one from Claudia again.  

Damon opened it.  

The color drained from his face.  

“What is it?” Luca asked immediately.  

Damon turned the phone toward him.  

A new headline had just broken.  

Bigger than the first.  

Much worse.  

BREAKING: LEAKED DOCUMENTS SUGGEST EVELYN MOREAU WAS INVESTIGATING HER OWN SON'S COMPANY BEFORE HER DEATH  

Damon felt the room tilt.  

“That’s impossible.”  

The article continued scrolling across the screen.  

Claims.  

Speculation.  

Leaked fragments of investigation files.  

All pointing to one terrifying suggestion.  

That Evelyn Moreau had been investigating corruption connected to Moreau Innovations.  

And that her death might not have been random.  

Damon’s hands trembled slightly.  

“My mother would never”  

He stopped.  

Because suddenly he remembered something.  

A conversation weeks before her death.  

Evelyn standing in this exact room.  

Her expression serious.  

Her voice quiet.  

“Damon, if anything ever happens to me, promise me you’ll look deeper before trusting anyone.”  

At the time, he thought she was being dramatic.  

Now the memory chilled his blood.  

Luca watched him carefully.  

“Damon.”  

Damon looked up slowly.  

“Someone is rewriting my mother’s death.”  

Luca nodded.  

“Yes.”  

“Why?”  

Luca didn’t answer immediately.  

Then he said quietly,  

“Because if people start questioning the truth, chaos follows.”  

Damon stared at the screen again.  

Another message appeared.  

This one from an unknown number.  

Just one sentence.  

No name.  

No signature.  

Only four words.  

Your mother knew everything.  

Damon’s pulse slammed in his chest.  

He looked up at Luca.  

“Someone just sent me this.”  

Luca read the message.  

For the first time since Damon had known him, the bodyguard’s composure cracked.  

Just slightly.  

“Luca?” Damon said slowly.  

Luca’s voice was quiet.  

Dangerously quiet.  

“This isn’t a scandal anymore.”  

Damon frowned.  

“Then what is it?”  

Luca looked toward the city skyline, his eyes sharp with realization.  

“A warning.”  

Damon’s heart pounded.  

“From who?”  

Luca didn’t answer.  

Because at that exact moment, the lights in the penthouse went out.  

Every screen in the room went black.  

And from somewhere inside the building, an alarm began to scream.  

Damon’s voice came out in a whisper.  

“Tell me that’s just a power outage.”  

Luca reached inside his jacket.  

His hand closed around the grip of a hidden weapon.  

“No,” he said quietly.  

Then he looked toward the dark hallway.  

And Damon saw something in his eyes that made his blood run cold.  

Recognition.  

“Someone’s inside the building.”