Third Person POV
The following day at the base, Damien was halfway through signing off an important report when a knock came - not rushed, not hesitant. Precise. He didn't look up when he said "Come in"
Kane, Damien's right hand in the dark world stepped inside, expression stripped off its usual ease. That alone made Damien close the folder and stand.
"Where?" he asked.
"Investigation room" Kane answered.
They walked in silence down the corridor, the kind that pressed against the ears. The investigation room was already lit when they entered, screens awake, analysts standing instead of sitting. No one spoke until Damien took his place at the head of the table.
"Speak." he said this one word with authority.
One of the senior investigators slid a tablet forward. "Cassano property. Sector three. The Nevara Mall"
Damien's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "That mall closed hours ago for maintanance"
"Yes" the investigator replied. "Which is why casualties were minimal. Two security guards injured. No civilians"
"So they waited" Damien said.
"They timed it" another added.
"Structural explosives only. Load bearing columns. Clean work."
Damien's gaze stayed fixed on the image of smoke curling out of a building that bore his family's name in steel and glass. "This wasn't a hit" he said quietly.
"No" Kane agreed. "It was a message"
As if on cue, a notification chimed from the main screen. An incoming file, already decrypted by internal systems.
"It came through three minutes after the explosion" the analyst said. "Encrypted on a channel we shut down six years ago"
Damien looked up sharply. "That channel predates me"
"Yes, boss"
"Open it"
The screen shifted.
Blueprints filled the room, detailed, intimate. Floor plans. Emergency exits. Security rotations with names beside them. Access codes long retired. At the bottom of the file, a timestamp matched the explosion down to the second.
No one breathed.
Then the image changed.
The same black rose appeared yet again, but this time with two petals on the ground. Everyone sat frozen, eyes flickering between Damien and the black rose symbol on the screen.
Damien's eyes were fixed on the screen but his mind was elsewhere.
"They didn't just hit a mall" he said quietly. "They mapped my infrastructure. My assets. My personal operations"
An analyst spoke "They accessed restricted Cassano archives. Some of that data isn't even on the public syndicate network"
"Meaning?" Kane asked.
"They know things only family knows" the analyst answered.
Damien straightened, his expression hardening. "Shut down all operations under my name. Every branch, every shell company, every subsidiary. If it traces back to me, it goes dark"
Kane hesitated. "Damien, that's half the Cassano machine"
"Then the machine will breathe quietly" Damien replied. "Do it"
YOU ARE READING
OUR BOND
RandomEver since Alessia, Noel's mother passed away it has never been the same. She doesn't get along with her father and it's been like that for the past years. He eventually gets tired of it and decides to send her to his brother-in law's place in Italy...
