Chapter 13 - DAMIAN FINALLY BROKE
Z
Damian disappeared for six hours.
Not physically.
He remained inside Lucia’s apartment.
But Tessa had never seen a person retreat so completely while standing in the same room.
He stopped speaking.
Stopped answering calls.
Stopped looking at anyone.
Eventually he walked onto the balcony.
Tessa waited ten minutes.
Then followed.
The city below glittered through cold air.
Damian held the railing.
His knuckles were white.
“You want me to leave?”
“No.”
She stood beside him.
For a while, they said nothing.
Then Damian asked, “Do you know what I remember most?”
“What?”
“Matteo falling.”
Tessa remained still.
“Not the gunshot.”
His voice was flat.
“The look on Adrian’s face.”
He swallowed.
“He was in the hallway.”
Tessa turned.
“You never said he saw it.”
“He saw everything.”
“Oh, Damian.”
“I was holding the gun.”
He stared at the street.
“My father was shouting. Matteo was bleeding. Adrian looked at me like…”
He stopped.
“Like what?”
“Like I had become someone he didn’t know.”
Tessa did not touch him yet.
She waited.
Damian continued.
“I spent twenty-three years telling myself I had no choice.”
“Maybe you didn’t.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“It matters.”
“Matteo still died.”
“Yes.”
He looked at her.
“And I still pulled the trigger.”
Tessa nodded.
“Yes.”
That surprised him.
She would not absolve him because she loved him.
Not love.
She was not ready for that word.
But whatever this was, it required truth.
“You killed a man,” she said.
His face tightened.
“You were twenty-three. He had a weapon. Your father manipulated the situation.”
She breathed.
“Both things can be true.”
Damian stared.
“You don’t think I’m a monster?”
“I think you’ve done things I wouldn’t do.”
“That is a diplomatic answer.”
“It’s an honest one.”
His eyes lowered.
“Trent taught me something.”
Damian went still.
“That people can use your worst moment to define your entire reality.”
She leaned against the railing.
“I’m not going to do that to you.”
He looked at her.
“But I’m also not going to tell you violence becomes innocent because you were manipulated.”
Something in his face cracked.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
“What do I do with that?”
“You decide what you do next.”
Damian laughed once.
Bitter.
“You make everything sound simple.”
“No. I make it sound possible.”
That broke him.
Not into tears at first.
Into silence.
His head lowered.
His shoulders moved once.
Tessa realized he was fighting it.
So she did what he had always done for her.
She waited.
Then Damian cried.
Quietly.
No sound except one broken breath.
Tessa took his hand.
He turned toward her.
She stepped closer.
His forehead rested against hers.
No kiss.
Nothing romantic.
Something more intimate.
Permission to fall apart.
“I hate him,” Damian whispered.
“Your father?”
“Yes.”
“You can.”
“I loved him.”
“You can do that too.”
He laughed through grief.
“That seems unfair.”
“It is.”
They remained on the balcony until Lucia called them inside.
Evelyn had reviewed the Bellhaven agreements.
“They’re real,” she said.
Damian’s face closed again.
“Enforceable?”
“Parts.”
“How bad?”
“Potentially catastrophic.”
Tessa sat.
Evelyn shared documents on screen.
Bellhaven had been created as a joint family trust.
Rossy.
Rinaldi.
Multiple businesses acquired through it.
Waterfront properties.
Warehouses.
Development rights.
Holding companies.
If Adrian successfully argued Salvatore violated the agreement through fraud or orchestrated violence, ownership could become contested.
Damian looked unimpressed.
“Let him have the buildings.”
Everyone stared.
Evelyn spoke slowly.
“Damian, these assets are worth hundreds of millions.”
“I heard you.”
Lucia looked at her son.
“That’s your grandfather’s life.”
“No.”
Damian’s voice hardened.
“It’s my grandfather’s system.”
He looked at Tessa.
“We end it.”
Luca stepped forward.
“You cannot simply dismantle Bellhaven.”
“Watch me.”
“It contains protection for people.”
“It contains blackmail.”
“Sometimes those are the same thing.”
“No.”
Damian’s tone sharpened.
“That is what our fathers told themselves.”
Tessa watched him.
Something had changed.
The discovery had hurt him.
But pain was becoming decision.
Evelyn closed one file.
“What exactly are you proposing?”
“Transparency.”
Luca laughed.
“Transparency will send half this family to prison.”
Damian looked at him.
“Then they should hire lawyers.”
Carlo raised an eyebrow.
“Boss.”
“You disagree?”
Carlo hesitated.
“I think a lot of people are going to try to kill you.”
“That isn’t new.”
Tessa spoke.
“We can’t just release everything.”
Damian looked at her.
“Why not?”
“Because those ledgers contain victims too.”
He frowned.
“People whose secrets were collected without consent. Whistleblowers. Informants. Families.”
Damian nodded slowly.
“So we separate corruption from private information.”
“Yes.”
Luca stared at Tessa.
“You intend to audit Bellhaven?”
She looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You understand it contains forty years of criminal history.”
“I used to reconcile restaurant liquor invoices.”
Luca blinked.
Tessa shrugged.
“Career growth.”
Carlo laughed.
Even Damian smiled.
They built a plan.
Evelyn would create a legal team.
Tessa would categorize records.
Damian would suspend active Bellhaven accounts.
Carlo would identify physical security threats.
Luca would explain historical codes.
For the first time, Rossy power would be used to dismantle part of Rossy power.
Then Damian’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Hello?”
Adrian.
Tessa knew from his face.
Damian put the call on speaker.
Adrian’s voice was calm.
“I heard you found Luca.”
Damian said nothing.
“Did he tell you?”
“Yes.”
A long pause.
Then Adrian laughed softly.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?”
Damian’s jaw tightened.
“Our fathers did this.”
“No.”
“Adrian—”
“You pulled the trigger.”
“Yes.”
The room froze.
Damian continued.
“I did.”
Adrian went silent.
“I will live with that.”
His voice remained steady.
“But I won’t keep living inside whatever they built around us.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m opening Bellhaven.”
Another silence.
Adrian’s voice changed.
“You have no idea what’s inside.”
“I know enough.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Then help me.”
Everyone stared at Damian.
Adrian laughed.
“You want my help?”
“I want the truth.”
“You want absolution.”
“No.”
Damian looked at Tessa.
“I’ve learned the difference.”
Adrian went quiet.
Then said, “Midnight tomorrow.”
“Where?”
“The old Rinaldi warehouse.”
Carlo shook his head violently.
Adrian continued.
“Come alone.”
Damian almost smiled.
“No.”
A pause.
“Still afraid?”
“No.”
His eyes moved to Tessa.
“I’m done letting men from my past decide who I have to become in the present.”
Then he hung up.
Carlo stared.
“You are absolutely not going to that warehouse.”
Damian looked at Tessa.
She crossed her arms.
“For once, Carlo and I agree.”
May you like
Damian sighed.
“I knew personal growth would become inconvenient.”
