All Chapters of Whispers of Loyalty: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

ZACHI didn’t realize how bad I looked until I saw her face.Alana froze when I stepped into the room, blood crusted down my forearm, dirt on my knuckles, ash near my temple. I was breathing fine, nothing broken, but her eyes locked on the stain creeping down the side of my shirt and I saw her freeze like she couldn’t make her legs move.“It's not mine,” I said first, before she could speak.But she didn’t care.She was already moving, already closing the space between us. Her hands cupped my jaw before I could stop her, tilting my face toward the light, studying every inch like she didn’t believe me.“Zach,” she whispered, “tell me everything that happened?”Her voice was shaking.I should’ve cleaned up. Should’ve showered before coming straight to her. But the need to be near her was louder than the soot in my hair or the blood on my sleeve.“Everyone’s alive,” I murmured, because that mattered more than anything else. “Everyone came out okay, this time. I don’t think we should’ve t

ZACHLuca was first.We decided that before the sun rose.The silence between us wasn’t hesitant, it was tactical. Alana and I had said everything without needing to repeat ourselves. We were aligned. Two generals with our next move ready. No matter how much anger pulsed under the surface or how much fear clawed at the edges, we were steady. And now we had to be smarter than we’d ever been.I stared at the coffee she made me, untouched. I didn’t want warmth. I wanted blood. I wanted truth.Alana walked back into the kitchen, barefoot, her hair still damp from the shower, skin clean and glowing, but her expression was all shadow and storm. She dropped into the seat across from me, biting at the edge of her thumbnail, something she did when she was thinking too much and feeling even more.“You sure about testing Luca first?” she asked, her voice low and strained.“I’m not sure about anyone,” I admitted, dragging a hand over my jaw. “But yeah. If someone’s been feeding Gio information… i

ZACHThe morning after Luca left felt like a strange, electrified calm. We were up before the sun, shadows stretching long across the concrete of the compound. I stood in the kitchen, black coffee in one hand, the other braced against the counter as I replayed yesterday’s meeting on a loop in my mind. Every glance. Every delay. Every reaction Luca gave me.He hadn’t known what to expect, that much was clear. But something about the way he tried too hard to act normal, the over explanations, the way he kept his hands visible on the table like he didn’t want me to think he was hiding anything, that shit was suspicious. He was rattled, and I wanted him rattled. If he was innocent, fine. He’d forget it. If he wasn’t, he’d bury himself.Alana came downstairs barefoot, hair wet from a shower, wearing one of my black shirts that hung off her shoulders like a second skin. Even after everything, after Gio’s trap, Cade bleeding on the ground, my fucking world spinning, I looked at her and felt

ZACHThe hallway was dark.Too dark.Even with the dim glow of the sconces lining the wall, something about it felt… wrong. Like the air itself was holding its breath. Every shadow felt heavier. Every creak beneath my boots was too loud. And Alana’s footsteps behind me, they weren’t soft like they usually were. They sounded unsure. Like she didn’t want to keep walking.She wasn’t the only one.But I couldn’t stop.We were past the point of hesitation. Too deep in the game to turn around now. Luca had taken the bait like we’d hoped, like we’d fucking planned, but something still didn’t sit right in my chest. It wasn’t just paranoia anymore. It was instinct. It was war whispering at the back of my neck, telling me it wasn’t over. That someone was still watching. That someone was still moving pieces behind our backs.Alana slipped up beside me, her hand brushing mine for only a second. Not enough to be obvious, but just long enough to feel her pulse hammering beneath her skin."Any word

ZACHThe silence felt wrong.Even before I stepped outside, even before the front door clicked behind me, the air was wrong. Heavy. Dense. Like the sky had sucked in its breath and didn’t plan on letting it out. The humidity clung to my skin, and everything smelled faintly of metal and smoke, like something was burning underground, and we hadn’t noticed until the scent started seeping through the cracks.I stood in the driveway too long, listening for something I couldn’t name.Nothing.No birds. No engines. No wind.Just fucking nothing.Back inside, I found her pacing the length of the hallway, barefoot, arms crossed over her chest. Her sundress swayed with each step, barely brushing her thighs. Her hair was a soft, wild mess from what we did last night, what I did to her, and she hadn’t bothered fixing it.There was something in her eyes though.Still wide. Still present. Still here.But cracked.“Zach,” she said, voice tight. “You feel it too?”I nodded. “Yeah.”It wasn’t paranoia