Chapter 2 - The Secret Behind Tessa's ScarThomas escaped before Damian could interrogate him.
Not because Damian allowed it.
Because the lights failed.
For thirty-seven seconds, the entire east wing went black.
When they returned, Thomas was gone.
So was Tessa.
Damian nearly tore the house apart.
“Find her!”
Paul moved his men through every corridor.
“She's not on the estate.”
“Cameras?”
“Offline.”
“For how long?”
“Thirty-seven seconds.”
Damian looked at the monitor.
Someone had planned it.
They had used the cameras.
The security blackout.
Thomas.
Tessa.
All connected.
He checked the front gate.
Nothing.
The back gate.
Nothing.
Then he saw a delivery truck leaving.
His eyes narrowed.
“Stop that truck.”
Three miles away, police discovered an empty vehicle.
No Tessa.
No Thomas.
Only a woman's gray apron.
Damian picked it up himself.
The fabric was torn.
A tiny bloodstain marked the sleeve.
He clenched his fist.
“Boss.”
Paul stood behind him.
“We found something.”
“What?”
“The truck belonged to a company called Miller Logistics.”
Damian turned.
“Tessa?”
“Her father's old company.”
“Her father is dead.”
“Supposedly.”
That word stayed with Damian.
Supposedly.
He had spent his life assuming death meant certainty.
Now he was beginning to understand that powerful families treated death differently.
Sometimes death was a shield.
Sometimes it was a weapon.
Sometimes it was an address.
They traced Miller Logistics to an abandoned warehouse.
Inside, they found files.
Old newspapers.
Medical records.
Photographs.
Tessa.
As a child.
Her sister.
Her parents.
And one man standing behind them.
Damian's father.
He stared.
“What is this?”
Paul handed him another file.
EVELYN MILLER — COSTA FAMILY ASSET.
Damian's blood chilled.
Tessa's mother had worked for his father.
Not as a maid.
As an accountant.
An intelligence operative.
Someone who knew where the money moved.
“She knew everything,” Paul said.
“Then why wasn't she killed?”
“She disappeared.”
Damian looked at the photographs.
The last one showed Evelyn holding a baby.
Tessa.
Beside her was another baby.
Her sister.
Both were wearing identical hospital bracelets.
But one bracelet had been crossed out.
Damian flipped it over.
A note was written on the back.
Subject B-17 transferred.
His stomach tightened.
“Where?”
Paul shook his head.
“No record.”
Damian looked at Tessa's file.
A medical scar appeared on her childhood records.
A mark near her wrist.
The same scar he had seen.
She had not gotten it working at the mansion.
She had been given it as a child.
Someone had tracked her.
Experimented on her.
Used her family.
And his father had been involved.
Damian returned to the estate.
His mother was awake.
“Tessa?”
Beatrice looked at him.
“She left.”
“I know.”
“Did you hurt her?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Damian sat beside her.
“Who is Thomas?”
Beatrice went silent.
“Mother.”
She looked toward the window.
“He was your father's brother.”
“I know.”
“He loved your father.”
“Apparently not.”
Beatrice closed her eyes.
“Thomas believed your father betrayed him.”
“How?”
“Money.”
“What money?”
“The money your father stole from the Millers.”
Damian frowned.
“Why?”
“To fund the first Costa operation.”
Silence.
Damian stared.
“You used them.”
Beatrice's face hardened.
“Everyone used everyone.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“It's the truth.”
Damian stood.
“Where did Evelyn go?”
Beatrice shook her head.
“She trusted me once.”
“And then?”
“I betrayed her.”
His jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“Because I chose your father.”
Damian looked toward the door.
“Where is she now?”
Beatrice whispered:
“Somewhere your father couldn't find her.”
A phone rang.
Damian answered.
Paul.
“We found Tessa.”
“Where?”
“Saint Andrew's Hospital.”
Damian's heart stopped.
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
“I'm coming.”
He arrived fifteen minutes later.
Tessa was unconscious.
A nurse approached.
“She was found outside the emergency room.”
“Who brought her?”
“We don't know.”
Damian entered.
Tessa lay beneath a thin blanket.
Her wrist was bandaged.
He sat beside her.
For the first time, the terrifying mafia boss looked powerless.
He touched her hand.
She woke.
Her eyes opened slowly.
“Damian?”
“Yes.”
She tried to sit.
He stopped her.
“Don't.”
She stared at him.
“You came.”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
He didn't know.
Because he couldn't stop watching her.
Because his mother trusted her.
Because someone had taken her.
Because she was no longer just a maid.
Because he cared.
He said the safest answer.
“Because you're part of my responsibility.”
Tessa looked sad.
“That's not true.”
“What?”
“You don't rescue people out of responsibility.”
He stared.
“You rescue people because you can't stand losing them.”
The words hit too close.
Tessa's eyes filled.
“My sister was taken.”
Damian froze.
“What?”
“She didn't die.”
He stared.
“She disappeared.”
Tessa whispered:
“Eight months ago, I was told she died.”
“By whom?”
“The hospital.”
“Which hospital?”
“Saint Andrew's.”
Damian stood.
“Then she's alive.”
Tessa grabbed his sleeve.
“Don't.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever took her wants me to come looking.”
Damian's eyes hardened.
“Then they made a mistake.”
“What?”
“They brought you to me.”
He called Paul.
“Lock down the hospital.”
Then he looked at Tessa.
“No one takes you again.”
Tessa whispered:
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
She looked at him.
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“You don't understand who you're fighting.”
She swallowed.
“Thomas wasn't looking for me.”
Damian frowned.
“Then who?”
May you like
Tessa looked toward the door.
“Your father.”
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