Chapter 38
The First Tear
As Lucius opened his eyes, the heavy fog of sleep cleared to reveal Tessa sitting right beside him. She placed her cool palm against his forehead, her fingers lightly brushing through his hair in a gentle wave.
"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice soft with worry. "You fell asleep in the living room. You need to take care of yourself."
Lucius lifted his head, his gaze locking onto hers. He reached up, cupping her cheek in his hand, feeling the warmth of her skin.
"As long as you are well, I will be well," he murmurs the words heavy with a quiet promise.
He noticed the maid had already arrived. The woman stood a respectful distance away, informing them that breakfast was ready to be prepared.
"Sandwich and pancake, or something else, sir?" she asked.
"Just a sandwich and black coffee for me," Lucius replied.
Tessa offered a small, rare smile. "My favourite. Oatmeal and black coffee, please."
Across town, Lucius’s phone buzzed sharply on the table. It was a message from Kael. It’s already 8:15 a.m. Jet isn't here yet.
Lucius typed back a quick, calm response. Wait two minutes. The captain is late.
At the airfield, Kael paced the tarmac, his patience wearing thin.
Fear and anxiety twisted tightly in his chest.
Every passing second felt like a threat.
If they delayed any longer, a major catastrophe could unfold before they even arrived.
They desperately needed that information before it was too late.
He had already heard rumours about the safe house being set ablaze.
Kael turned to the man beside him. "Do you know why he trusts us so much with this?"
Kai looked up, his expression grim. "I know. We have other hackers in the network, but none of them are capable of handling this. Besides, you’ve known Lucius since his college days. A bond that old means unbreakable trust."
Before the conversation could go any further, Captain Jet taxied the aircraft onto the runway. The jet was a striking sight—finished in a sleek, classic matte black with sharp gold detailing along the wings.
Kael quickly shot another text to Lucius: We are boarded. Ready when you are.
Back at the manor, Lucius ignored the flashing screen. He sat quietly with Tessa, completely immersed in their private world, stretching out the silence. He looked at her, his voice dropping to a softer note.
"Tessa," he said gently, breaking the quiet. "Do you want to talk to your grandmother?"
Hearing the sudden mention of her grandmother, Tessa’s eyes welled with tears instantly. The rush of emotion overwhelmed her, and a flurry of desperate questions spilled from her lips before she could stop them.
"I want to, but when will she call?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Does she even remember my face? Will she even want to speak to me after more than fifteen years?"
Lucius held her gaze, his expression steady and reassuring. "You share a blood relation, Tessa. She will absolutely recognize you. Don't overthink it. When she calls, just speak from your heart."
Unable to contain the weight in her chest, Tessa pushed herself up from the chair. She threw her arms around Lucius, burying her face into his chest. In this quiet moment, he was her only anchor. Tears soaked through the fabric of his T-shirt, leaving damp patches as she held onto him tightly.
"If it weren't for you, Lucius," she whispered against his chest, "I might never have had the chance to speak with my grandmother again."
They remained in that quiet embrace as the morning slipped away, the clock ticking forward until it struck exactly 10:56 a.m.
The heavy, aggressive roar of motorcycle engines shattered the silence of the morning.
Down in the penthouse parking lot, the unmistakable rumble of high-performance machinery vibrated through the structure.
Victor had arrived on his classic BMW S1000RR, while Teajun rode his ferocious Kawasaki Ninja H2R.
The sleek, powerful bikes came to a halt right below.
Within moments, the two men stepped into the private elevator, ascending straight to the main floor of the penthouse.
A faint, respectful knock sounded at the main entrance.
Lucius didn't look up from Tessa, his voice commanding but calm as he addressed the staff. "Open the door."
The maid hurried forward and pulled the heavy door open. Victor and Teajun stood tall in the doorway, their presence filling the space.
"Welcome, sirs," the maid said softly, stepping aside to let them pass.
As Victor and Teajun crossed the threshold, they found Lucius still seated at the dinner table. Teajun did not waste time with pleasantries. He immediately began speaking, his voice tight and urgent as he laid out a massive influx of new intelligence regarding Alessio.
Tessa froze. The foreign name cut through her thoughts, sharp and unsettling. "Who is Alessio?" she asked, looking directly at Teajun.
Teajun glanced at Lucius before answering, his tone blunt. "One of the biggest bastards out there. Alessio Gambino. An Italian Don."
The words struck a hidden wire deep inside her mind. Without a single thought, her lips moved on autopilot, her voice dropping into a flat, robotic monotone. "Oh. My father worked under his father."
She sat frozen, completely blank. Her brain failed to process the weight of the confession she had just made, or the sudden silence that gripped the room.
Instead, a violent wave of buried memories broke through the surface.
Fractured images and forgotten voices from her past flashed behind her eyes in rapid, agonizing succession.
The sheer force of the flashback hit her like a physical blow.
Tessa reached up, gripping her head as the room spun violently.
Her vision went entirely black, and her body collapsed, losing consciousness for a terrifying, split second.
Lucius and Victor surged forward at the exact same fraction of a second. Their instincts tore through the room, catching her dead weight before she could crash into the floor.
The maid rushed into the dining room, her hands shaking so violently the glass rattled against her teeth as she forced water down Tessa's pale lips.
The cool water brought a desperate fraction of awareness back to Tessa's eyes.
Leaning heavily on the maid, she allowed herself to be guided out of the tense room and toward the penthouse's balcony garden.
The maid kept a frantic, white-knuckled hold on her, one hand bracing Tessa's shaking shoulder while the other locked around her waist.
They reached the garden, and Tessa sank onto a seat, but the fresh air offered zero escape.
The past refused to let her go. Flashback after flashback crashed over her in relentless, terrifying waves, pulling old trauma into the present.
Her entire body began to shake uncontrollably.
Her chest locked tight, completely trapping the air in her lungs.
She was drowning on dry land, a full-blown panic attack seizing her chest.
The maid completely lost her nerve. She abandoned her post by the bench and sprinted back inside through the open glass doors, heading straight for Teajun.
"She isn't breathing!" the maid gasped out, her eyes wide with raw terror. "Teajun, she's suffocating—you need to come right now!"
Teajun did not dare to scoop Tessa up himself. He had managed her health ever since she was first admitted to Lucius’s personal hospital, so he knew the strictly enforced boundaries. He threw a sharp, urgent look at Lucius instead.
Understanding the silent command, Lucius strode out to the garden. He lifted Tessa effortlessly into his arms, carrying her trembling body down the hallway and into the quiet safety of the bedroom.
Meanwhile, Teajun sprinted out of the penthouse. He bolted down to a nearby medical clinic, quickly purchasing the exact sedative and anti-anxiety medication she needed. He ran all the way back, his breath ragged as he burst through the penthouse doors and hurried straight into her bedroom.
Tessa took the medicine with a few gulps of water. Within minutes, the heavy sedatives took effect, and she fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.
Teajun stepped back out into the corridor, pulling the door shut behind him. He called the maid over, his voice a low whisper. "Do not leave her side. Stay in the room with her."
Outside the bedroom, Lucius stood paralyzed in the quiet hallway. He raised a shaking hand, trying to cover his eyes, his shoulders violently tense.
Seeing Tessa Struggling like that—gasping desperately for air, utterly broken, and suffocating right in front of him—had flipped a dark, lethal switch in his mind.
The terrifying image of her helpless body triggered an agonizing, buried trauma from his own past that he had spent a lifetime trying to bury.
The parallel hit him like a physical blow, completely crushing his icy composure.
Before he could fight it, a single, heavy tear escaped from Lucius's right eye, tracing a slow path down his cheek.
Victor watched his friend, shocked to see the rare fracture in his armour. Without a word, Victor surged forward and pulled Lucius into a firm, silent hug. Teajun joined them instantly, wrapping his arms around his brothers. They knew the exact ghosts Lucius was fighting.
"Don't cry," Teajun muttered softly, his own voice tight with anxiety.
Lucius pulled back, his throat burning. "This is the first time I have cried since my mother died."
Teajun let out a soft, breathless laugh, trying to ease the suffocating tension. “Its love, mate. Pure love. She is going to be fine."
Lucius wiped the tear from his face, his expression hardening instantly as the emotional vulnerability vanished. The cold mask was back in place. "Let's talk about Alessio."
"In your study," Victor said, gesturing down the hall.
They walked toward the heavy oak doors of the study. The moment Victor threw the gate open, a stray draft caught the loose stacks of cash inside. Hundreds of dollar bills caught the air, fluttering and flying across the room like paper leaves.
Teajun stopped dead in his tracks, a low whistle escaping his lips. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who on earth leaves cash scattered around like this?"