The officer behind him finally spoke. “Time of death puts him roughly an hour before your… Mr. Wolfe was found. Based on ballistics, all three shots came from the same weapon. Close range.”Luca’s hands dropped to his sides.“Someone wanted to make sure he didn’t get back up,” the man added quietly.Luca didn’t respond.His mind was a blur. He stared at his father’s face and tried to summon something, anger, grief, relief, even love. But all he felt was hollow.“You hated him,” a voice inside whispered. “So why do you feel like you’re falling apart?”He backed away slowly, the corners of his vision darkening.“I need air,” he murmured.“Take your time, Mr. Virelli.”Luca turned and left the morgue, his heart thundering.He walked until he was alone in a stairwell, hands gripping the metal railing so tightly it squeaked.This wasn’t just a murder.It was a message.Three bullets. No mercy. Planted weapon. Blood smeared. A staged scene.And the man the world would blame?Kieran Wolfe.A
The name hit like a punch to the chest.For a second, Luca didn’t move. “My father?”Detective Harlan’s expression didn’t shift.Luca blinked, then his voice sharpened. “What do you mean late?”The officer hesitated before speaking.“I’m afraid your father, Paolo Virelli, was found dead at the scene of the shooting in the Black Hollow forest clearing. Time of death was estimated to be approximately an hour before Mr. Wolfe was found by first responders.”Luca didn’t hear the rest at first.It all blurred.The words dead, shooting, clearing… swirled like stormwater in his head.“No,” Luca whispered, backing up a step. “That’s not possible. He... he just… I saw him days ago, he was...”“I’m truly sorry, sir,” Harlan said gently.Luca shook his head. “There must be a mistake.”“We’ve confirmed the identity,” Harlan continued, a little firmer now. “His body was identified at the scene. There are still active investigations into the circumstances surrounding his death, but…”He looked towa
The door opened with a slow, metallic creak, a sound too soft to belong in such a sterile, heavy place.Luca stepped in like a man walking through a dream, not knowing whether it would end in relief or heartbreak.The room was quiet, except for the steady rhythm of machines, a dull, mechanical beat that reminded him Asher was still here.Alive.But barely.Asher lay still on the hospital bed, pale against the white sheets. His face was scratched and bruised, a bandage wrapped tight across the left side of his head. Wires curled around his wrists, a heart monitor keeping time to a life suspended. His chest rose and fell under the thin gown, but it looked too fragile. Too slow.Luca’s steps were slow, hesitant. He’d faced corporate wars, boardrooms full of vultures, paparazzi storms, and scandal headlines… but nothing had ever brought him to his knees like this.He moved to the side of the bed, pulling the chair closer, fingers brushing the metal rail before gripping it tightly.“Hey,”
Caldera stumbled back, drink spilling as Reid lunged.But the guards were faster. They grabbed Reid mid strike, wrenching him back as he fought tooth and nail, fury boiling over like a dam cracked too long.“You son of a bitch!” Reid screamed. “You set him up to die! And I.. I helped you! You twisted everything!”“You pulled the trigger,” Caldera said quietly, straightening. “I only gave you a mirror.”Reid froze. Chest heaving. That sentence carved straight through him.He had.He’d been the one to aim. The one to pull. Even if instinct, even if chaos, it was him.The guilt closed in like a vise.But beneath it… something else began to smolder.Resolve.“You think I’ll keep doing this for you?” Reid said, voice like gravel. “You think you can drag me back into the mud?”Caldera studied him. “No. I think you already are in the mud.”He turned to the guards. “Put him in the lower wing. I want him breathing, but not walking out.”Reid didn't fight this time. As they dragged him toward t
The scarred man remained crouched for a beat longer after the word DEBT, crimson, angry strokes etched like a warning to ghosts and gods alike.But then… his eyes slid back to Asher.And something shifted.Cold calculation replaced that flicker of curiosity. This was war. Every move mattered. Every corpse told a story, and he was going to write the next one perfectly.Dominic’s words in his earpiece earlier had been simple: “Leave no trace of Reid. Make it Asher’s mess.”And now that the others were gone, the stage was his.With practiced efficiency, he moved to Reid’s footprints. He found a fallen branch and dragged it over the soft patches of soil, kicking up leaves, smoothing dirt. Then he moved to the broken foliage where Reid had crashed through with Asher in his arms.Gone in moments.He took Reid’s bloodied glove, one the idiot had dropped while pressing on Asher’s wound, and tossed it deep into the brush, far from the scene.Then he returned to Paolo.Carefully, he picked up
Blood soaked through Asher’s shirt, pooling beneath them.“No.. no, no, no,” Reid muttered, pressing both hands to the wounds. “Come on. Don’t do this to me, Ash. Please.”Asher's lashes fluttered. His lips parted with effort.“Why…?”That was all he could manage.Reid’s face crumpled. “I didn’t want to hurt you, I wanted to save us. But you never looked at me like that. Never once.”Gunfire came again, grazing the trees above their heads.Reid snarled. “FUCK!”He grabbed his own sidearm, firing two quick shots at the men flanking the treeline. One dropped. Another cursed and ducked.“Asher, stay with me,” he whispered, voice trembling now. “Don’t you dare die. Not like this. Not because of me.”Asher's eyes slid shut.Reid's breath hitched.“Please…”He knew he had no more time.He had to move.He scooped Asher into his arms, staggering under the weight.His own wound bled freely now, a graze across his bicep, nothing fatal. But Asher’s…Reid gritted his teeth and took off running.E