Chapter 26: “Eight Years Earlier”

Damian's POV

Eight Years Ago

I was twenty-eight years old when I met Victor Salazar.

Back then, I still believed hard work could solve everything.

I believed business was simple.

Good people succeeded.

Bad people failed.

And if you stayed honest long enough, eventually life rewarded you.

God, I was naïve.

I laughed quietly as I leaned back in my office chair.

The Russo Group was still young then.

Not the empire it would eventually become.

Just a growing company with potential.

And ambition.

A lot of ambition.

The office door opened.

Luca walked in carrying two glasses of whiskey.

"You're still working?"

I looked up.

"Someone has to."

Luca smirked.

"You need a life."

I accepted the drink.

"And you need responsibility."

His laugh filled the office.

Back then things were easy between us.

We argued.

We competed.

But he was still my little brother.

The person I trusted more than anyone.

The last person I thought would ever betray me.

If only I knew.

A week later, Luca introduced me to Victor Salazar.

The meeting happened inside a luxury hotel downtown.

The kind of place where every chair cost more than a family car.

Victor arrived twenty minutes late.

And somehow managed to make lateness look powerful.

He walked into the room smiling.

Confident.

Charismatic.

Dangerous.

The type of man people followed without realizing they were being led.

"Damian Russo."

He shook my hand firmly.

"I've heard great things."

His voice was smooth.

Practiced.

The voice of a man used to getting exactly what he wanted.

I smiled politely.

The meeting lasted three hours.

By the end, Victor wanted to invest.

A lot.

More money than anyone had ever offered us before.

Enough to double the company's growth overnight.

Enough to change everything.

Luca was thrilled.

I was cautious.

But not cautious enough.

For the first few months, everything seemed perfect.

The company expanded rapidly.

New offices.

New employees.

New opportunities.

Money flowed faster than ever.

Everyone celebrated.

Everyone except me.

Because little things started bothering me.

Numbers that didn't match.

Accounts that seemed unnecessary.

Payments moving through companies I'd never heard of.

At first, I ignored it.

Then I investigated.

The deeper I looked...

The worse it became.

One night, I stayed at the office long after everyone left.

The city lights glowed through the windows.

The building was silent.

Only the hum of computers remained.

I reviewed transaction records for nearly six hours.

And then I found it.

The mistake.

A single transfer.

Buried beneath hundreds of others.

Small enough to escape attention.

Large enough to matter.

My stomach tightened.

I followed the trail.

Then another.

Then another.

The pattern became impossible to ignore.

Money wasn't being invested.

It was being cleaned.

Washed.

Moved.

Hidden.

Laundered.

The realization hit me like a truck.

Victor wasn't building businesses.

He was using them.

Using us.

The next morning I confronted Luca.

He stared at the documents spread across my desk.

Completely calm.

Too calm.

"Tell me this isn't what it looks like."

Luca sighed.

Then sat down.

Like we were discussing the weather.

"Damian."

The way he said my name made something cold settle inside me.

"You need to relax."

"Relax?"

My voice rose.

"These companies are fake."

"They aren't fake."

"They exist only on paper."

Silence.

Then Luca smiled.

Actually smiled.

And suddenly I didn't recognize my own brother.

"Everyone does it."

The words stunned me.

"What?"

"Big companies."

He shrugged casually.

"Politicians."

"Investors."

"Everyone."

I stared at him.

Waiting for the joke.

It never came.

My blood ran cold.

Because for the first time...

I realized Luca knew.

He had known all along.

That night I couldn't sleep.

I kept replaying the conversation.

The smile.

The indifference.

The way Luca had dismissed criminal activity like it was normal.

The memory made me sick.

Around midnight my phone rang.

Victor.

I almost ignored it.

Almost.

"Hello?"

"Come meet me."

His voice sounded calm.

Too calm.

"Why?"

"We need to talk."

I should have refused.

Instead, I agreed.

That decision changed my life forever.

Victor's penthouse overlooked the city.

The entire skyline glittered beneath us.

A view worth millions.

A view built on stolen money.

Victor poured two glasses of whiskey.

I didn't touch mine.

He noticed.

"Still angry?"

"You used my company."

Victor laughed.

Actually laughed.

As though I'd told a joke.

"No, Damian."

His eyes met mine.

Cold.

Calculating.

"I made your company successful."

The arrogance shocked me.

"You committed crimes."

Victor shrugged.

"Allegedly."

I clenched my fists.

"You dragged Luca into this."

His expression changed slightly.

Just enough.

"Your brother made his own choices."

The answer hit harder than expected.

Because deep down...

I knew it was true.

Weeks passed.

Arguments became routine.

Victor wanted me silent.

I wanted out.

The partnership began falling apart.

The tension grew worse every day.

Then one evening, everything exploded.

I received an anonymous envelope.

No return address.

No explanation.

Inside were photographs.

Dozens of them.

Victor meeting politicians.

Victor exchanging money.

Victor threatening witnesses.

Victor standing beside men connected to organized crime.

Enough evidence to destroy him.

Enough evidence to send him to prison forever.

I finally had proof.

Real proof.

And Victor somehow learned I had it.

Three nights later, he called again.

His voice sounded different.

Panicked.

Desperate.

"Meet me."

"Why?"

"Because somebody wants me dead."

The fear in his voice was real.

For the first time ever.

And despite everything...

I believed him.

So I went.

God help me.

I went.

And that was the biggest mistake of my life.

Because when I arrived at the abandoned warehouse on the river...

Victor Salazar was already dying.

And I wasn't alone.

Someone else was standing over him.

Someone I knew.

Someone I trusted.

Someone I never expected.

The moment our eyes met...

My entire world shattered.

Because the face staring back at me belonged to my brother.

Luca.

And in his hand...

Was the gun that had just killed Victor Salazar.