Chapter 4
Damian lunged across the room, tackling the assailant mid-air.
They crashed into a glass display case, shattering dozens of antique whiskey decanters.
The second intruder raised his weapon toward Damian’s chest.
Clara didn’t hesitate.
She grabbed a heavy bronze candlestick holder from the side table.
With all her strength, she brought it down hard across the intruder’s skull.
The man slumped forward, unconscious.
Damian pinned the remaining attacker to the floor, pressing the barrel of his gun against the man’s temple.
“Who sent you?” Damian growled, blood dripping from a cut above his brow.
The masked man chuckled, coughing up blood.
“You think it was about money, Costello? The girl’s mother knew too much about the 2004 fire.”
Damian froze.
His grip on the gun loosened for a fraction of a second.
“What did you say?” Damian demanded.
The man smiled a bloody smile.
“Ask your precious Victoria who ordered the hit on Joanne Hughes two years ago.”
A sharp click echoed through the room.
Before Damian could pull the trigger, a cyanide capsule hidden in the intruder’s tooth ruptured.
The man went limp in an instant.
Damian stood up slowly, his chest heaving.
He looked down at Clara, who was clutching the yellowed paper against her chest.
“You heard him,” Clara whispered, tears burning her eyes. “Victoria had something to do with my mother’s death.”
Damian didn’t answer.
He walked over to the ruined window and looked out into the pouring rain.
“Victoria Kensington is my fiancée,” Damian said quietly. “And her father is my primary business partner.”
“Then you’re protecting my mother’s murderer,” Clara said, her voice dripping with venom.
Damian turned around, his expression ice cold.
May you like
“I protect nobody,” Damian said softly. “Especially not traitors.”
Suddenly, the study phone began to ring relentlessly.
