Chapter 57 – Bloodlines and Broken Locks
Chapter 57 – Bloodlines and Broken Locks
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Rain misted over Bellagio, falling in sheets so light it felt like silk brushing skin. The vineyard below Damon’s family estate was veiled in gray, stretching like a forgotten memory across the hillside. Rows of vines slept beneath the storm, unaware of the war brewing above them.
Damon stood at the entrance of the cellar, the keycard Tomaso had given him clenched in his hand.
“This used to be where my mother stored wine barrels,” he murmured, voice low.
“Now it holds secrets instead,” Aurora said behind him, her coat soaked from the journey, hair sticking to her cheeks.
Luca and Caleb checked the perimeter while Silas coordinated via comms. The estate was locked down tighter than a vault. But no one could be sure they weren’t already being watched.
Damon slid the card into the stone console embedded near the old wine rack. A soft beep, then a low hiss as an invisible door in the wall shifted open, revealing an iron staircase spiraling down into darkness.
Aurora peered into the void. “You’re sure about this?”
“No,” Damon said. “But the only way out of this is through.”
They descended.
---
The air below was cold. Ancient. Stone walls lined with cryptic engravings flanked them on either side. Caleb led with a flashlight while Damon walked ahead of him, tension etched in every muscle.
Halfway down, Aurora placed a hand on Damon’s back. He turned.
“If this changes things,” she said, “don’t push me away again.”
He searched her face for mockery, for doubt.
He found none.
“I won’t,” he said. “Not anymore.”
They reached the vault.
It looked like something from a spy novel—steel embedded in rock, a biometric scanner blinking amber. Damon pressed his palm to it.
A moment’s pause.
Then the door unlatched with a hiss and swung open.
Inside were rows of black metal drawers. Some labeled. Some not. And in the center—a pedestal holding a sealed box made of reinforced glass and encrypted steel. Embedded within it was an old family crest: a phoenix in flames.
“The original ledger,” Damon whispered.
Caleb raised a brow. “What’s in it?”
Damon stepped forward. “Proof of everything. My father’s secret transactions, the real board of directors behind Moretti Holdings. Offshore accounts. Blackmail letters. Enough to make or break governments.”
Aurora frowned. “Why didn’t he destroy it?”
“Because he believed in leverage.”
As Damon reached to open the case, an explosion rocked the floor above them.
The lights flickered.
Then the alarm blared.
Caleb drew his weapon. “We’ve been breached!”
Luca’s voice cracked through the comms. “They’re coming in heavy—at least eight armed. Eastern flank. They knew where to strike.”
Damon grabbed the sealed box. “We don’t have time to go back through the cellar. Follow me.”
They took the emergency route—an underground tunnel meant for wine shipments, long since disused.
Behind them, gunfire echoed down the walls.
As they moved, Aurora caught up to Damon. “Why now? Why are they so desperate?”
“Because they know this vault proves who really runs the empire,” he said. “And it’s not just my family.”
They emerged near the vineyard, crouching between rows of wet vines. Smoke curled from the manor’s shattered windows in the distance. Damon looked back once—his past burning behind him.
Caleb’s phone buzzed.
Silas. “We’ve ID’d one of the attackers. Mask came off during the breach. It’s one of Petrov’s mercenaries.”
“Petrov again,” Damon growled. “He’s trying to get to the files before I do.”
Luca added, “And he’s using your face to build a future without you in it.”
---
They drove to the safehouse in Como, an abandoned printing press converted into a high-security bunker. The files were secured behind another biometric scanner and triple authentication codes.
Silas met them there, handing Damon a tablet. “We decrypted one drawer already. You’ll want to see this.”
Damon tapped the screen.
A photo appeared—of Elijah Voss in a boardroom with Tomaso, a young Aurora’s father, and… Damon’s own uncle.
Aurora gasped. “That’s the man who came to our home after my mother died. My father called him ‘the problem solver.’”
“They were all part of this,” Damon said. “It wasn’t just about money. They were managing an entire political laundering operation. Using our companies.”
“Your uncle too?” Caleb asked.
Damon stared at the screen.
“Yes. Which means he’s not as retired as he claims.”
Aurora stepped back, suddenly pale. “And that ledger—if it gets out—”
“It topples everyone,” Damon finished. “Including your father.”
---
Night settled in. Quiet. But not peaceful.
Damon stood alone on the balcony, the sky above Como bruised and cloudy.
Aurora approached, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. “You haven’t said anything since we got here.”
He didn’t turn. “This isn’t about proving myself anymore. It’s about choosing what to burn.”
She leaned beside him. “Then burn the things that keep hurting you.”
He glanced at her.
“You don’t have to carry this alone anymore,” she added.
There was silence. Then a small, unexpected sound from inside the room.
Luca tripped over a suitcase, knocking over a lamp.
Aurora burst into laughter, despite herself. “You okay?”
Luca poked his head out. “For the record, I’m a graceful dancer. Just not… on rugs.”
Damon cracked a reluctant smile.
Aurora raised a brow. “Did you just smile?”
“I think he did,” Luca teased. “Mark the calendar. The billionaire smiled.”
Caleb walked past holding a coffee mug. “Apocalypse confirmed.”
Despite the chaos, the tension… for a moment, it felt like family.
Until Silas walked in with his phone raised.
“Another file decrypted,” he said grimly.
They all turned.
“It’s a surveillance video. From Venice. Dated three weeks ago.”
He played it.
The footage showed Tomaso meeting someone in a cloaked coat in a dark alley. The audio was patchy, but one word was clear:
“Voss.”
And then, the cloaked figure stepped into the light—just long enough to reveal a glimpse of a silver ring with three crescent moons.
Aurora’s blood ran cold. “I’ve seen that before. In my father’s safe. It belonged to—”
She stopped.
Damon stared at the screen. “Finish that sentence.”
Aurora swallowed. “It belonged to my mother.”