Chapter 16 - The Phantom's Whisper
|
Six months passed in beautiful, unbroken peace.
Damon and Naomi were married in a small, private ceremony in the estate gardens. Zuri was the flower girl, proudly dropping petals everywhere except the aisle.
The darkness of Silas’s betrayal seemed like a distant memory, locked away in the underground cell where the traitor was serving his endless sentence.
But in the world of power, peace is always an illusion.
It started on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. Damon was in his study, reviewing shipping contracts, when Zuri wandered in, dragging her stuffed rabbit.
She walked over to the golden lion on his desk, patting its head.
“The sad lady says hello,” Zuri announced casually.
Damon froze, his pen pausing over the paper. Zuri hadn't mentioned the "sad lady" since the night she found the ring. The psychologists had assured Damon that the imaginary friend would fade as the trauma healed.
“Does she, little lion?” Damon asked carefully, trying not to alarm the child.
“Yeah,” Zuri nodded, looking up at him with enormous, serious brown eyes. “She says you did a good job putting the snake man in the dark.”
Damon’s blood ran cold.
“But she says you have to be careful,” Zuri continued, turning to walk out of the room. “She says the snake man wasn't the real bad man. The real bad man wears a silver crown.”
Zuri skipped out of the study, leaving Damon completely paralyzed.
The real bad man. A silver crown.
Damon slowly set his pen down. He stared at the golden lion. Elena’s spirit—or Zuri’s deeply buried subconscious memories—was trying to warn him. Silas had poisoned Elena, yes. But Silas was a blunt instrument. He didn't have the genius to orchestrate the cover-up alone.
Someone else had pulled the strings.
Damon hit the intercom button on his desk.
“Vance,” Damon said, his voice dropping back into the lethal, terrifying register of the mafia king.
May you like
“Boss?”
“Prepare the car. I need to have a conversation with my brother in the holding cell. It seems he forgot to mention his partner.”
