All Chapters of DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH : Chapter 151 - Chapter 160

Chapter 150: The Structural ValveThe old leather pouch was open on the table. It had been locked for centuries. Now its secrets are out. Thomas Vance stepped back into the shadows. He had done his job. Now the room was quiet. The air was thick with the smell of iron and dust. The fireplace was. The smell of woodsmoke filled the room.Julian was looking at the papers on the table. He was a man with a strong body. His eyes were fixed on the documents and his face was cold and hard. He was holding Elena close to him. His hand was around her waist and his fingers were pressed into her skin. He was holding her tightly as if she was the thing that mattered.Elena was looking at the blueprints. They were made of paper and had old ink on them.. She could see that they were very precise. She was studying them carefully trying to understand what they meant. She was good at reading maps and diagrams."It's not about the environment, Julian, " Elena said quietly. Her voice was clear and sharp. S

Chapter 152: The Silent LeverageThe sound of the pressure valves clicking into place was the noise in the lower stone gallery. This sound was made by the valves settling into their new positions. The limestone walls around them stopped the sound from going. It was like the sound was trapped inside the mountain. By 3:00 PM Elena had set up a system that was working perfectly. The state engineers in Albany could not control it. They were looking at fashioned dials that were not moving even when they tried to make them work. These engineers did not know that the key to controlling their system was hidden deep inside a mountain.Julian was not looking at the iron gauges. His eyes were fixed on Elena. He was standing close to her holding her tightly. His fingers were wrapped around her waist. His thumbs were pressing into her cardigan. He was holding her against his chest. He was holding her tightly and his breathing was slow.Elena whispered something against his neck. She was happy abou

Chapter 154: The Paper SovereignThe light in the lower gallery was old fashioned. It came from iron sconces that cast flickering shadows on the damp limestone walls. The air was thick with the smell of fog from the mountains and the strong smell of ink. This smell was coming from the briefcase on the mahogany table. Vance, the Governor's Chief of Staff was standing still. He was under a lot of pressure from Julian's presence and Elena's calm steady gaze.Julian's big hand was on the small of Elena's back. His long fingers were spread across her waist keeping her close to him. His bare chest was moving up and down slowly. He was not looking at the state papers. His gray eyes were fixed on Vance's throat. He could see the shallow pulse that showed how scared Vance was.The Governor signed these papers forty-five minutes ago in Albany Vance said. His voice was rough. He carefully took out three sheets of paper from the briefcase. These papers were a kind of deed. They would remove an ar

Chapter 156: The Limestone ShieldThe loud horn sounds from the gatehouse. The lower gallery was silent but you could feel the violence coming. The mountain fog outside the windows was like a gray wall pressing against the glass. Below the sound of tactical boots on wet shale started to echo up through the old ventilation shafts. It was the sound of a black-ops team moving with a purpose.Julian didn't move. He stood tall, a figure in the dim light of the sconces. His right hand was still around Elena's waist holding her close. His palm felt her heartbeat. The company fleet his father left behind was working on a man's switch, a plan that didn't care about titles or treaties."They are using the spot, Julian " Elena whispered. Her voice was cold and clear, cutting through the tension. She looked at the blueprints not at the doors. "They aren't trying to breach the gates. They know the old logging road goes over the limestone cavern, the one above the floodgates."Julian made a gravell

Chapter 158: The Resonance of the DeepThe week of being completely on our own was passing slowly. It felt really different from our busy lives. By Thursday morning the white dust from the logging trail had settled. The lower terraces were now clean and quiet under the summer sun. The state's registry hadn't noticed anything; the public boards in Manhattan had stopped looking for a signal. The core engine was still working perfectly quietly protecting us.Julian woke up with the sunrise. His strong body was wrapped around Elena holding her close. This was the way he had held her every night since we took over the ridge. His bare chest. Fell slowly against her shoulder. His long fingers were spread across her waist under her silk gown. For the time in three years there were no market updates for him to check no security breaches for his teams to handle. There was the warm quiet feeling of Elena in his arms.Elena woke up with her eyes open with a sharp diagnostic look. She didn't check