20. Damian

Damian shut his office door behind him and walked directly over to the selection of guns on the wall. If something was going down, then Damian was going to be as prepared for action as he possibly could be.

‘You've never let me down before, Shadow,' Damian said, picking up the dark black pistol that Gianluca gifted to him many years ago. ‘I'll keep you close. Just in case.'

With that, Damian placed the small pistol in the specially tailored holster on the inner lining of his suit jacket. As he did this, a familiar feeling came over Damian. The energy in the room was different. There was an almost palpable extra edge to the air. This was war. Trouble was very much on its way.

It's not safe out there.

I need to get my boy back.

Jake needs to be under my direct protection…

Damian couldn't help but feel worried for Jake. Even though they hadn't exactly left things on the best of terms, Damian would never have wished for anything bad to happen to Jake. And now that it seemed like there could be a problem, Damian's inner most feelings were speaking volumes.

Jake was Damian's special boy.

There was no length that Damian wouldn't go to in order to ensure Jake's safety. Protecting himself and his business was one thing, but Damian felt an overwhelming desire to protect Jake.

Damian knew that whatever he had to do, he would do it. Killing people wasn't something that Damian ever took lightly, but if it meant protecting Jake then Damian knew he wouldn't even give pulling the trigger a second thought.

Damian looked up and down the array of knives at his disposal. Having a gun was essential, but holding a knife too could be crucial if things got crazy. As he was scanning over his options, Damian saw his cell phone flash up with a message…

Sorrento. Your time has come. If you want to see your stupid little boyfriend alive one last time, you should come to his apartment. Do not reply to this message. Don't call. Simply show up and prepare to die. Failure to do so will result in… well, I'll let your imagination figure that one out. Reed.

Damian felt his blood bubbling with anger. His suspicions had been correct. Jake was in terrible dangerand Damian wasn't going to waste a second longer in getting over to Jake's building and putting an end to Connor Reed once and for all.

The odds are against me.

I might not make it out of this.

But if I go down… I'm taking that asshole Reed with me.

With that, Damian burst out of his office and charged down the stairs and out of the restaurant. Jake's place was a fair distance across town, and time was of the essence.

It was time to push the Ferrari harder than it had ever gone before.

There was a life at stake, one that Damian valued more than anything else in the whole world.

* * *

The drive over to Jake's apartment was intense. Damian wasn't one to hold back at the best of times, but knowing the severity of the situation and what fate might befall Jake if he was late, Damian really put the pedal to the floor.

As he drove, Damian sent a voice message over to Nico, explaining what was happening and advising him to be on high alert. It wasn't long before Nico replied, and it wasn't good news from his end either…

‘I've been called over to one of my businesses,' Nico's voice crackled over the car speaker. ‘Reed's got his thugs to petrol bomb the place. We've got two confirmed fatalities and a ton of injured people. I'll come and help you the first chance I get. But I have to look after my family here too. I'm fucking worried I'm going to get another call any second about one of my other properties. Stay strong, brother. And if you get a chance… waste that motherfucker.'

Damian could see what Connor was doing. This was Connor's big play. He was all set on wiping out Damian, Nico and Antonio too. Fortunately, he hadn't succeeded with Antonio – but the attack had been enough to take him out of action.

Well I guess this is it.

This is the final fucking showdown.

It's me or Reed. One of us isn't getting out of this alive…

As he weaved in and out of traffic, Damian found himself strangely calm. There was so much at stake, and yet it was maybe because of this that Damian's killer instinct kicked in.

‘Eyes, heart, and mind on the goal,' Damian said, repeating the words that Gianluca had told him before his first ever mafia hit.

Damian even afforded himself a wry smile as he remembered how Gianluca would provide feedback on all of his early murder contracts. Gianluca was old-school and not one to worry too much about other people's feelings. There was no screwing around when it came to dishing out criticism. If Gianluca wasn't happy, then he would spell it out to Damian in the clearest terms.

I could do with Gianluca here now.

One last job together.

Damn, I miss him…

Without any kind of warning, Damian suddenly found himself backed up in traffic. His first instinct was to do a U-turn and try and different route, but there was so much traffic even this was impossible.

Damian was still too far from Jake's place to abandon the car and run. This wasn't good at all. And yet, Damian remained calm. He knew that if he allowed his emotions to control him, that would be when an error was made and potentially a life could be lost.

There was no way in hell that Damian was going to do anything that might even slightly put his boy in more danger than he already was. Each passing second in the traffic logjam felt like an eternity, and each time it seemed like the backlog of cars might begin to clear it seemed to just come to a total standstill again.

Breathe.

Focus.

Be ready to strike.

Yet again, it was the comforting words of his former mentor that kept Damian feeling about as relaxed as was possible given the severity of what was happening. Gianluca had given Damian so much in their time together, treating him almost like a son. But those days were long gone now. Nothing but memories. Yes, they were memories that Damian would cherish forever, but in the present day Damian realized that he had someone very special to him who he simply had to do anything for to protect.

If he hadn't known already, Damian was beginning to truly comprehend just how important Jake was to him. The thought of living without Jake, or even being in part responsible for his death, was too much to even consider.

But no matter how determined he was to protect Jake. Or how calm and collected Damian stayed in the traffic, it wasn't going to change the fact that Jake was in mortal danger.

Psychos like Connor Reed didn't have Damian's code of honor.

Damian knew that Connor might even have killed Jake already. With Connor, who lived in a world where basic human decency wasn't on his radar, literally nothing was off the table.

The clock was ticking.

Damian felt helpless, frustrated, and even a little bit afraid.

Everythingwas on the line.