Chapter 6 - EVELYN’S WARNING
Evelyn refused to meet Damian at the Costa estate.
Her message arrived through Rachel.
Public place.
No armed entourage.
Tessa accompanies you.
Damian read the final condition twice.
“How does she know Tessa?”
Rachel answered over the phone.
“My mother knows more about your household than you think.”
Damian did not like that sentence.
At noon the following day, he entered a small botanical conservatory on Chicago’s North Side with Tessa beside him.
Paul remained outside.
Officially.
Damian knew at least six guards were hidden within two blocks.
Tessa knew too.
“You cheated.”
“I compromised.”
“You’re impossible.”
“I’m alive.”
“Coincidence.”
He looked at her.
She smiled.
Then Damian saw the woman waiting beneath an enormous ficus tree.
Time disappeared.
Evelyn was forty-nine.
Silver threaded through her black hair.
But her eyes were unchanged.
Costa eyes.
His eyes.
She stood.
Neither moved.
Finally Evelyn said, “You look like him.”
Damian flinched.
“Hello to you too.”
Her expression broke.
She crossed the distance and slapped him.
Tessa inhaled sharply.
Damian remained still.
Evelyn’s hand trembled.
“That was for becoming what I ran from.”
Then she hugged him.
Damian froze.
He had forgotten what his sister’s arms felt like.
He slowly held her.
For a moment, he was nine years old again.
Then Evelyn stepped back.
“You were supposed to get out.”
“I didn’t know there was an out.”
Her eyes softened.
“I know.”
Rachel approached.
Damian recognized her immediately from St. Catherine’s website.
Tessa whispered, “Dr. Dawson.”
Rachel smiled sadly.
“Hi, Tessa.”
Tessa hugged her before anyone could stop her.
“You took care of Lily.”
Rachel’s eyes filled.
“I wish I could have done more.”
“You did everything.”
Damian watched them.
His niece had unknowingly connected their lives years before he ever learned she existed.
Evelyn sat.
Then she explained.
Antonio Costa discovered her pregnancy at seventeen.
The father was Gabriel Russo, son of a rival boss.
Antonio believed Evelyn had humiliated the family.
He imprisoned her in a private house for months.
Beatrice secretly helped her escape after Rachel’s birth.
The staged funeral was Antonio’s solution.
“He told you I was dead because he wanted my name erased,” Evelyn said.
“Why didn’t Mother tell me?”
“She was terrified.”
“Of him?”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“Everyone was.”
Damian looked away.
“Why stay hidden after he died?”
Evelyn’s expression hardened.
“Because you replaced him.”
The truth landed cleanly.
Tessa looked at Damian.
He did not defend himself.
Evelyn continued.
“I watched what you built.”
“You watched me?”
“From a distance.”
“Then you know what I had to survive.”
“I know.”
She leaned forward.
“And I know survival eventually becomes an excuse.”
Damian said nothing.
Rachel touched her mother’s arm.
Evelyn’s voice softened.
“I didn’t come here to condemn you.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
“I came because Victor Marino is not the real threat.”
Damian’s attention sharpened.
“What?”
“Victor worked for someone else.”
“Who?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“Gabriel Russo.”
Damian went still.
“My father?”
Rachel asked.
Evelyn nodded.
Rachel closed her eyes.
Damian had assumed Gabriel Russo died years earlier.
He had not.
“He disappeared after Antonio ordered a hit on him,” Evelyn said. “He survived. Built operations overseas. Came back two years ago.”
“Why target Tessa?”
Evelyn looked toward her.
“To destabilize you.”
“Why her specifically?”
Evelyn’s expression changed.
Tessa saw it.
“What aren’t you telling us?”
Evelyn sighed.
“Gabriel knows Tessa matters to you.”
Damian’s jaw tightened.
“She is an employee.”
Tessa looked at him.
Something hurt crossed her face.
He immediately regretted the wording.
Evelyn almost smiled.
“Keep telling yourself that.”
Damian ignored her.
“How would Russo know anything about her?”
“Your cameras aren’t the only cameras in Chicago.”
The implication chilled him.
“He’s surveilling the estate?”
“He has someone inside.”
Damian rose.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
A loud crack split the air.
Glass shattered.
Damian moved before thought.
He knocked Tessa to the floor and covered her body.
People screamed.
Another gunshot.
The conservatory window exploded.
Paul’s voice thundered through Damian’s earpiece.
“Sniper! Northwest roof!”
Damian drew his weapon.
“Tessa?”
“I’m okay.”
Blood stained his sleeve.
She stared.
“You’re hit.”
“Glass.”
Evelyn grabbed Rachel.
Security rushed inside.
Damian kept Tessa behind him.
Another bullet struck the metal frame.
“Move!”
They ran through the service corridor.
Within ninety seconds, they were inside an armored SUV.
Tessa pressed a handkerchief against Damian’s upper arm.
“You’re bleeding.”
“So are you.”
A thin cut crossed her forehead.
“Stop moving.”
He stared at her.
“You’re giving me orders again.”
“You’re terrible at being injured.”
“I’m excellent at it.”
“That is not a skill normal people brag about.”
He almost smiled.
Then Paul’s voice came through the radio.
“Sniper escaped.”
Damian’s expression changed.
“How?”
“He had inside timing.”
Evelyn had been right.
Someone close to Damian was feeding Russo information.
Paul continued.
“And there’s something else.”
“What?”
“We pulled a traffic camera from the escape route.”
A photo appeared on Damian’s phone.
The driver who collected the sniper wore a Costa security uniform.
Tessa leaned closer.
Damian recognized him.
His stomach turned.
“No.”
Tessa looked up.
“Who is it?”
Damian zoomed in.
The man behind the wheel was Paul’s younger brother.
Anthony Vale.
One of Damian’s most trusted guards.
Damian looked toward Paul across the convoy.
His head of security had not yet seen the image.
May you like
For the first time since Damian had known him, Paul was about to learn that the traitor they were hunting shared his blood.
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