Chapter 18 - The Brothers' War
The hallway outside the safe room erupted into a warzone.
I could hear the brutal, chaotic sounds of hand-to-hand combat, the shattering of expensive vases, and the sickening thud of bodies hitting the floor. Damian’s men had arrived in full force, sweeping through the estate and neutralizing Lorenzo’s remaining mercenaries with terrifying precision.
But the battle immediately outside my door was deeply personal.
"You have lost, little brother!" Lorenzo screamed over the gunfire. "You were in a cage where you belong!"
"You touched my house," Damian roared back, the sound of a heavy blow landing instantly afterward. "You threatened my wife. You threatened my daughter."
I pressed my ear against the cold steel of the door, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm.
The two brothers were fighting like feral animals. There were no guns being fired in the hallway anymore—just the brutal, visceral sound of shattered bones and desperate violence.
A heavy body slammed against the safe room door, denting the reinforced steel.
"You think she loves you?" Lorenzo spat, his voice wet with blood. "She loves your money, Damian. She is a parasite!"
"She is my soul," Damian replied, his voice deadly and cold.
There was a sickening crack, followed by a gasp of agony from Lorenzo.
Then, absolute silence fell over the hallway.
I held my breath, the heavy handgun still pointed at the door. I didn't know who had won. I didn't know if my husband was dead or alive.
"Elena," a rough, exhausted voice called out softly.
It was Damian.
I instantly dropped the gun and threw the heavy deadbolts back, pushing the steel door open.
Damian was leaning against the wall, his crisp white shirt torn to shreds and soaked in blood—both his own and his brother's. His knuckles were bruised and split, his breath coming in heavy, jagged gasps.
Lorenzo lay unconscious on the floor a few feet away, his face brutally beaten, his hands zip-tied securely behind his back by Marcus, who was standing over him with a grim expression.
I didn't care about the blood or the dirt. I threw myself into Damian’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
Damian caught me, his massive arms wrapping around me like a vice. He buried his face in my neck, inhaling my scent as if it were the only oxygen left in the world.
"I told you I would come back," Damian whispered fiercely, kissing my temple, my cheek, my lips.
Lily ran out of the safe room, crying out for him.
Damian dropped to his knees, ignoring the pain in his battered body, and pulled our daughter into the embrace.
"I've got you, princess. I've got you," Damian promised, tears mingling with the blood on his face.
I looked down at Lorenzo, the man who had tried to destroy our lives.
"What happens to him now?" I asked quietly.
Damian looked at his unconscious brother, his eyes hardening into obsidian glass.
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"He goes to a federal maximum-security prison for the rest of his natural life," Damian stated coldly. "The evidence you gave the board was handed directly to the FBI. He is finished."
The war was finally over. We had defended our empire, and we had won.
