All Chapters of Love wasn't in the contract: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

Damon Moreau hated hospitals. They smelled like antiseptic and loss. They felt like quiet rooms where people whispered prayers they didn’t believe in. He stood beside his mother’s body, his hands locked together so tightly that his knuckles had gone pale. Evelyn Moreau looked peaceful, as if she were only asleep. A faint bruise darkened her temple where she had hit the marble floor after the bullet tore through her chest. Damon replayed that moment in his mind a thousand times. The echo of the gunshot. Her startled gasp. The way she stepped forward without thinking. Without fear. For him. He pressed his lips together until he tasted blood. Power meant nothing when you couldn’t protect the person who mattered most. The doctor spoke softly beside him, explaining procedures and timelines, but Damon barely heard. Everything sounded distant, like it was underwater. He signed forms he didn’t remember reading. He nodded at condolences that bounced off his skin. By the time he left the p

Damon didn’t sleep. He lay awake, staring at the ceiling. The words burned in his mind. NO RECORD FOUND. It wasn’t possible. Everyone left traces: birth certificates, school enrollments, medical files. Even criminals created paper trails. But Luca Raines? Nothing. A man without a past was guarding Damon’s present. Suddenly, every look Luca gave him felt heavier. Every quiet moment carried new meaning.By morning, Damon had built a wall around himself again. If Luca was a mystery, Damon would treat him like one. Carefully. Professionally. At breakfast, Damon barely spoke. Luca noticed immediately. He always noticed.“You okay?” Luca asked quietly, handing Damon a cup of coffee. Damon accepted it without meeting his eyes. “I’m fine.” It was a lie. Luca studied him for a long second, then stepped back into position. Damon hated how relieved he felt when Luca stayed close.Later that day, Damon attended a board meeting while Luca waited outside. Inside, Matteo spoke smoothly about restruc

Smoke burned Damon’s lungs as Luca dragged him down the emergency stairwell.Gunfire echoed above.Below.Everywhere.“You killed her.”The words came out hoarse.Luca didn’t slow.“Yes.”Damon’s heart cracked open and bled.He should have pulled away.Should have fought him.Should have let Matteo’s men take him.Instead, his fingers tightened in Luca’s jacket.“Why?” Damon demanded.They reached the landing between floors. Luca shoved open a maintenance corridor and pushed Damon inside.Dark.Concrete.Narrow.“Because I was ordered to,” Luca said quietly.“That’s not an answer!”Luca turned to him then, eyes blazing in the dim emergency light.“I was a weapon. I didn’t ask questions.”“You don’t get to say that like it makes it clean!”“I know.”The admission wasn’t defensive.It was wrecked.Damon staggered back against the wall.“My mother trusted you.”“I know.”“You were at the house for three weeks.”“I know.”“You had dinner with us.”Luca swallowed.“I know.”Damon shoved hi