Victor Crane made his move.
He went to the press.
He told them everything.
Or so he thought.
But Christabel had a secret weapon.
The truth.
And Damien had something else.
Loyalty.
---
The news broke on a Monday.
"Vance Industries: A Legacy of Lies?"
"Former Business Partner Exposes Christabel Moreau."
· "The Truth About the Vance Fortune."*
Christabel read the articles.
Her hands were steady.
Her face was calm.
Damien watched her.
"You're not angry?"
"I'm not surprised."
"You're not scared?"
"I'm not anything."
"That's not healthy."
"It's a desperate survival on their part"
Sterling arrived within the hour.
Eli was behind him, carrying a stack of files.
"This is bad," Sterling said.
"How bad?"
"Bad enough. Crane is telling stories that sound true. The press is eating it up."
"Can we stop him?"
"We can try."
"What do you need?"
Sterling looked at Damien.
"A retainer."
"How much?"
"Ten million."
The room went silent.
Jax whistled.
"Ten million? That's a lot of zeroes."
Sterling didn't look away.
"I'm not just your lawyer anymore. I'm your strategist. Your defender. Your shield. If I'm going to protect you, I need to be all in."
Damien was quiet for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"Done."
Sterling blinked.
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
"You're not going to negotiate?"
"I don't negotiate with people I trust."
Sterling smiled.
"I like you."
"I know."
That afternoon, Damien made another decision.
Not just a retainer. A commitment.
He called Sterling back to the penthouse.
"I'm not just paying you ten million dollars."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm putting you on retainer. Forever. You're my personal lawyer. No one else's. You work for me. Only me."
Sterling was quiet for a moment.
"That's a big ask."
"That's a big check,and lot of benefits and opportunities"
Sterling looked at Eli.
Eli shrugged.
"I'm in," Sterling said.
"Good."
"There's one more thing."
"What?"
"My family. They need to be protected. If I'm going to be your lawyer, if I'm going to be in your orbit, they need to be safe."
Damien nodded.
"I'll arrange it."
The villa was in Verona.
Not the old town square. The hills above it. A private estate with a view of the city.
Damien had bought it years ago. Had been saving it for something important.
This was important.
Sterling stood at the edge of the terrace.
Looking out at the view.
"You're giving me this?"
"I'm giving you a home."
"This is a villa."
"This is a home."
Sterling turned to face him.
"Why?"
"Because you're family now."
---
Eli was in the guest house.
Smaller than the villa. But still beautiful. Still private. Still safe.
He stood at the window.
Looking out at the garden.
"You didn't have to do this," Eli said.
"Yes, I did."
"Why?"
"Because you're family too."
---
That night, Damien called a meeting.
Not in the penthouse.
In the villa.
The council was small. Sterling. Eli. Marco. Cole. Jax.
"From now on, this is where we meet," Damien said. "This is where we plan. This is where we decide."
"Decide what?" Jax asked.
"The future."
Sterling raised his glass.
"To the future."
"To the family," Christabel said.
"To both."
---
After the meeting, Damien pulled Sterling aside.
"One more thing."
"What?"
"The council. Only elites can meet with me now. Only the people in this room. If anyone else wants access, they go through you."
Sterling nodded.
"I understand."
"I need you to sign an NDA."
"Of course."
"Not just you. Eli too. And anyone else who joins the council."
Sterling was quiet for a moment.
"You're building a fortress,hard enough for a lot of people"
"I'm building a family,a syayem that protects its own from harm amd as much as wr humanly can"
The NDA was ironclad.
Sterling read it three times.
Then he signed it.
Then Eli signed it.
Then Marco.
Then Cole.
Then Jax.
Christabel watched from the corner.
"You're building something," she said.
"I'm protecting everything we builted from people who eould want to steal it"
"What?"
"Us."
---
That night, Christabel put Lena to bed.
Not Damien. Her.
Lena was walking now. Everywhere. All the time.
"Da," she said.
"Dada."
"Da da da."
Christabel laughed.
"Your father is building a fortress."
Lena stared at her.
"He's building it for you. For me. For our family."
Lena smiled.
Then she fell.
Then she got up.
Then she kept walking.
Damien appeared in the doorway.
"She's getting stronger."
"She's determined."
"She's yours."
"She's ours."
He put his arm around her.
"Victor Crane is going to be a problem."
"Then we'll deal with him and show him we cant be messed with"
First Line of Chapter 153 (Teaser):
"The one hundred seventh week, Victor Crane learned the hard way that you don't threaten the family of Damien Moreau. He disappeared. Not dramatically. Quietly. The way people disappear when they've made a mistake."