The room smelled like iron and silence not the peaceful kind but the suffocating kind.
Damien was tied to a chair, wrists bound tight behind him, blood dried at the corner of his lip. His breathing was uneven, chest rising too fast like his body already knew what his mind was still trying to deny.
The door creaked open, Vincenzo stepped in, no anger on his face. He closed the door behind him with a soft click.
"Do you know," Vincenzo said quietly, removing his gloves finger by finger, "what I hate more than enemies?"
Damien swallowed hard but said nothing.
Vincenzo walked around him slowly, like a predator studying something already caught.
"Disloyalty."
He stopped behind Damien, leaning slightly close to his ear.
"Because enemies… they don't pretend to love you first."
A sharp inhale escaped Damien.
"I didn't—"
The chair slammed forward as Vincenzo kicked one leg out from under it, sending Damien crashing to the ground. A choked groan filled the room.
"Don't lie to me." Vincenzo's voice dropped cold, lethal.
He crouched in front of him, gripping Damien's jaw and forcing him to look up.
"You were at my wedding," he whispered. "You ate my food. You stood under my roof… while planning to destroy it."
Damien's eyes flickered—fear, guilt, something else.
"I had no choice," he said hoarsely. "You don't understand"
Vincenzo smile a slow, terrifying smile.
"Then help me understand."
Silence the kind that breaks people.
Vincenzo stood, pacing once, then twice. He picked up a metal tool from the table turning it idly in his hand, not even looking at it.
"I gave you everything," he continued calmly. "A name. Protection. Power."
He stopped walking and turned.
"And you sold me."
Damien shook his head rapidly. "No no, it wasn't like that—"
The sound of metal hitting flesh echoed in the room.
Damien screamed.
Vincenzo didn't react didn't flinch, didn't raise his voice.
"Names," he said flatly. "Who are you working with?"
Damien gasped, shaking, tears mixing with sweat.
"I can't—"
Another strike, time slower deliberately.
"You can," Vincenzo said softly. "Or you will wish you had."
Damien broke into sobs. "They have my sister… they said they'd kill her if I didn't"
That made Vincenzo pause just for a second. Then he crouched again, quieter now but somehow even more dangerous.
"And you thought," he said, voice barely above a whisper, "that betraying me would save her?"
Damien didn't answer.
Vincenzo exhaled slowly, almost like disappointment.
"You should have come to me."
"I protect what's mine."
His eyes darkened.
"And now… I don't know if you still are."
The room fell silent again. Damien whispered, broken, "I'll tell you everything just please"
Vincenzo stood up, turning away.
"Start talking," he said.
Then colder "Because right now your life depends on how useful you still are to me."
Damien's breathing came out in sharp, broken bursts.
"I… I don't know all of them," he stammered. "They don't show their faces. It's.. it's structured. Layers."
Vincenzo didn't turn around.
"Start with what you do know."
Damien swallowed, his voice trembling.
"There's a middleman. That's who contacted me first. Calls himself Luca but I know that's not his real name."
Vincenzo's head tilted slightly.
"Go on."
"He's the one who gave the order for the wedding attack. Said it was a message not the end."
"They wanted you alive." That made Vincenzo turn.
His expression didn't change, but something darker settled behind his eyes.
"Alive?" he repeated.
Damien nodded weakly. "Yes… they said killing you would be too easy. They want to dismantle everything you've built. Piece by piece."
Vincenzo walked closer again, each step echoing like a countdown.
"Why?" he asked quietly.
Damien hesitated.
Big mistake.
Vincenzo grabbed his collar, dragging him upright just enough for their faces to be inches apart.
"Why?" he repeated, sharper this time.
Damien's lips trembled.
"Because of your father."
Silence dropped like a blade even the air felt heavier. Vincenzo's grip tightened slightly but his face remained eerily calm.
"Explain."
"They said your father didn't just make enemies… he destroyed families. Empires. Someone survived. Someone who's been waiting."
Damien's voice cracked.
"They've been planning this for years. Watching you. Waiting for the right moment to strike where it hurts the most. The person set up Nathan to act as your close to get information from you."
Vincenzo's jaw flexed.
"Who."
Damien shook his head desperately. "I swear, I don't know the name! I only heard one thing just once Luca mentioned a title"
Vincenzo leaned in. "What title?"
Damien's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Il Fantasma."
The Ghost.
The room went still for the first time, Vincenzo stepped back. Not in fear but in thought Because names like that weren't given lightly. They were earned. And they meant one thing Someone who had already died once and come back with nothing left to lose.
Vincenzo turned away again, slower this time.
"Where is Luca?" he asked.
Damien hesitated again but only for a second.
"Warehouse. By the docks. He's supposed to report back tonight, if I don't show up, they'll know something's wrong."
Vincenzo nodded once, already calculating.
"Good."
He started walking toward the door.
Damien's voice cracked behind him. "Wait what about my sister? Please you said"
Vincenzo stopped. "For your sake," he said coldly, "I hope everything you told me is true."
"Because if it is I'll find her and if it isn't"
He finally looked back eyes empty of mercy.
"Then there will be nothing left of you to save."
The door opened.
Closed.
And just like that Damien was alone with the consequences of his choices.
⸻
THIRD POV
Outside, the night air was sharp.
Vincenzo adjusted his cuffs, his mind already ten steps ahead.
A ghost, hidden enemy, a war that had started long before him.
He pulled out his phone.
"Prepare the cars," he said calmly. "We're going to the docks, bring everyone."
He ended the call, slipping the phone back into his pocket. if Il Fantasma wanted to play games in the shadows Vincenzo was about to drag him into the light.