The lamp beside the armchair flickered once, then steadied.Outside the small cabin Reid had chosen as his hideout, the wind howled faintly through the trees, the kind of wind that didn't scream, but whispered.He sat slumped on a threadbare couch, staring at his phone screen without really seeing it. His hands, once steady in the field, once sure behind a rifle, now trembled slightly as he held the device.He hadn’t slept.He kept hearing the sound of Asher’s laugh. Kept seeing the way he leaned in to whisper something into Luca’s ear. The way he used to whisper to him, back when things were simple and they were both just stupid boys in uniform.That was long gone now.And Reid hated himself for still hoping.The screen lit up.Incoming call: D.C.He hesitated. A chill passed through him.He hadn’t saved the name. He didn’t need to.Dominic Caldera had a way of reaching people even when you thought you’d disappeared.He let it ring once… twice…Then answered.“Reid,” came the voice
Paolo stood, slow and deliberate, walking to the wide window overlooking the estate gardens.Outside, birds fluttered across the hedges. Guards shifted at their posts. From a distance, everything looked peaceful.But this wasn’t peace. It was a war that had crawled its way inside the family name. Into their legacy.Into his son’s life.A son he still didn’t understand… but one he would not allow to be destroyed.Not like this.His lips parted as if to say something aloud, a name, maybe a curse, but no sound came out. Instead, he walked back to his desk, opened the drawer, and carefully folded the document again, sliding it beneath a hidden compartment.He didn’t speak.He didn’t make a call.He didn’t warn anyone.Because now, he needed to know why.What did Reid want?And what else had the boy touched?As Paolo leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers in thought, the storm that had been slowly brewing in his chest hardened into something colder.It was no longer about Luca bei
Asher’s eyes locked on Luca. “So then what? We pretend it didn’t trace to your company? You think someone else just got lucky hacking in through Virelli’s backdoor?”Luca set the coffee down, finally drinking in the full weight of the situation. “No. I think someone wants to tear us apart from the inside.”Asher rubbed a hand through his hair, agitated. "Could be a competitor. Or someone gunning for your seat at the board. You’ve made enemies, Luca.""And you haven't?" Luca asked, tone sharp. “How many people wanted us to fail from the start? This could be personal. This could be someone..."He paused.“Someone close,” Luca whispered.Asher stiffened. “Julian?”“No. He’s been with you too long. If anything, he’d sooner kill for us than betray us.”Luca turned the screen toward him again. “What about your side?”Asher’s first instinct was to say no. Instantly. Defiantly.But something made him hesitate.“…Maybe,” he admitted, reluctantly. “But most of my team have been with me for year
The Virelli Estate sat under a pale gray sky, its sharp angles and manicured perfection feeling colder than ever as Luca stepped out of his car.He didn’t wait for an escort. The guards opened the door the moment they saw his face, stone carved, unreadable, and quickly looked away.This time, Luca wasn’t here as a son.He was here as a CEO demanding answers.The door to Paolo’s study swung open without a knock. His father looked up from behind his desk, frown immediately tugging at his mouth.“You’ve stopped knocking,” Paolo said dryly, folding the newspaper in half. “Should I assume this is another outburst about your... personal affairs?”“No,” Luca said, voice low and razor sharp. “This is about corporate sabotage.”Paolo raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”“You leaked classified contracts from Wolf Guard,” Luca accused, walking forward and placing a folder on the desk, his assistant's data, detailed and timestamped. “The access point came from inside the Virelli Group firewall. Three days
After they hung up, Reid sat very still in the dim apartment, watching the city blink back at him from beyond the windows.He stared down at the phone.His reflection shimmered faintly in the black screen, unreadable.And for the first time in days, he didn’t feel jealous.He felt powerful.He had just reassured the man he was systematically tearing down. Just earned his trust again.And yet…There was something bitter curling around the edges of his stomach.The part of him that did mean it.The part of him that still looked at Asher like he was the man who used to laugh at midnight by the barracks fire, who used to trust him with more than just missions.The man Reid had once loved, deeply, before the military, before Luca, before all the heartbreak.He finished his drink, set the glass down with a soft clink, and opened a second file folder from his drive.Inside were more.More documents. More screenshots. More chess pieces.He told himself it was still about love. That if he burn
“Who is it?” Luca asked, sipping his coffee.“Not sure,” Asher muttered, wiping his hands and answering on instinct. “Hello?”The voice on the other end was clipped, direct. British.“This is Maya Sullivan from the Times Global Desk. We’re reaching out for a comment on the leak regarding Wolf Guard’s security contracts in the Middle East...”Asher stiffened.“...the file was uploaded to a watchdog forum this morning. Our editors want to confirm if the allegations about falsified clearances and flawed surveillance equipment under your leadership are accurate. We’re publishing in three hours.”“What...?” Asher’s voice broke off. “No. That’s not… that’s not real.”“We’d appreciate a statement before we go live.”He hung up.Luca set his mug down slowly. “What was that?”Asher didn’t answer right away. He walked over to the dining table, grabbed his laptop, and started typing.He found it within minutes.A red banner headline:BREAKING: “Wolf Guard Security Under Fire, Internal Documents