Chapter 4 - THE SHADOW OVER BROOKLYN
By noon the following day, the rain had cleared, leaving a crisp, bitter autumn wind blowing across the Long Island estate.
Inside the compound's subterranean command center—a room filled with tactical monitors, encrypted satellite feeds, and armed guards—Damian stood before a large glass wall covered in photographs, financial flowcharts, and intelligence dossiers.
Luca stepped into the room, holding a encrypted tablet.
"Mrs. Higgins talked, Boss," Luca reported grimly. "We didn't even have to use force. Once she realized Vance’s hitman died in the elevator, she sang like a canary. She was recruited six months ago by Viktor Vance’s chief enforcer, Nikolai. They offered her two hundred thousand dollars to slip small doses of digitalis into Leo’s morning milk."
Damian didn't speak. He picked up a heavy glass tumbler of bourbon from his desk, staring at the photograph of Viktor Vance—a ruthless sixty-year-old Russian mob boss with cold, colorless eyes and a scar running from his ear to his chin.
"Where is Vance now?" Damian asked, his voice deathly calm.
"He's hiding behind his legal front—The Red Star Import Terminal down at the Brooklyn Docks," Luca replied. "He’s got forty heavily armed men stationed around the warehouse. He knows we know it was him. He’s hunkered down, waiting for his political connections in the district attorney’s office to step in."
Damian took a slow sip of his drink. "Political connections won't save a man who tried to murder my blood."
"Boss," Luca warned carefully. "If we mount a direct assault on the Red Star terminal, it means full-scale war in the middle of Brooklyn. The federal authorities, the other syndicate families... they'll all get involved."
"Let them," Damian said, smashing the glass against the stone floor, shattering it into a hundred glittering pieces. "I spent three years trying to build a legitimate future for my son. I compromised. I made deals. I played by their rules. And they took my mercy for weakness."
He turned to Luca, his dark eyes burning with terrifying resolve.
"Gather the primary tactical unit," Damian ordered. "Call Elias. I want every weapon we possess prepped by midnight. Tonight, we erase the Vance family from Chicago and New York."
Upstairs, in the sunlit conservatory adjoining the medical wing, Maya was walking slowly with Leo. The boy was wearing his favorite dinosaur pajamas, his hand tucked tightly inside Maya’s, his energy gradually returning.
"Look, Maya!" Leo giggled, pointing out the panoramic window at two Belgian Malinois dogs playing on the lawn with their trainer. "Those are Daddy's puppies!"
"They look very fierce, Leo," Maya smiled, sitting down on a plush velvet sofa and pulling the little boy into her lap.
"They protect us," Leo said matter-of-factly, leaning his head back against Maya’s chest, listening to the steady beat of her heart. "Daddy says when you love people, you have to build big walls so bad things can't get in."
Maya rested her chin against Leo’s soft hair. "Your daddy loves you very much, Leo."
"Do you love Daddy?" Leo asked suddenly, looking up with wide, innocent dark eyes.
Maya froze, her heart skipping a beat. "I... I barely know your daddy, sweetie."
"He looks at you different," Leo noted with the terrifying observation skills of a five-year-old. "He doesn't look sad when you're in the room. He always looks sad when he thinks I'm sleeping."
Before Maya could answer, the heavy double doors of the conservatory opened, and Damian stepped inside.
He had removed his dark tactical gear and was wearing a simple grey cashmere sweater, though the tension radiating from his posture was palpable. His eyes softened the moment they landed on Maya and his son sitting together on the sofa.
"How is the patient?" Damian asked, walking over and kneeling before them.
"He’s doing wonderfully, Mr. Costa," Maya said, her cheeks flushing slightly as she remembered Leo’s question. "His chest sounds clear, and his oxygen levels are back to normal."
"Good," Damian said. He reached out, his thumb gently caressing Leo’s cheek before his dark eyes lifted to lock onto Maya’s. "Maya, I need to go into the city tonight to handle business."
Maya felt a sudden, sharp coldness settle in her stomach. She knew what "handling business" meant in Damian’s world.
"Damian..." she whispered, using his first name for the first time without realizing it. "Is it dangerous?"
Damian stared at her, mesmerized by the sound of his name on her lips.
"It is necessary," he replied softly. "I am leaving Elias and twenty guards here with you. The compound is on absolute lockdown. No one enters or leaves until I return."
"Promise me you'll come back," Maya said, her voice trembling with an emotion she could no longer deny. She reached out, her fingers catching the sleeve of his sweater. "Leo needs his father."
Damian looked at her fingers holding his sleeve, then reached up, wrapping his large, warm hand over hers, pulling it to his lips and pressing a firm, lingering kiss against her knuckles.
"And what about you, Maya?" Damian murmured, his dark eyes burning into hers with breathtaking intensity. "Do you need me to come back?"
May you like
Maya swallowed hard, the breath catching in her throat as she looked at the powerful, dangerous man who had shattered every wall around her frozen heart.
"Yes," she whispered fiercely. "I need you to come back."
