Chapter 7 - The Trap Cleared
Natalie walked deep into the pine tree trails, her tears running cold down her cheeks. The pain of being suspected by the man she was giving her heart to was agonizing.
Meanwhile, back at the cabin, Damian slammed his fist down onto the mahogany desk with enough force to crack the wood.
"Find the real leak, Thomas! Now!" Damian roared. "If you ever insinuate she is a traitor again, I will personally strip your rank."
"Boss, look at this," Thomas said suddenly, staring at his laptop screen as a trace route finalized. "Wait... the access code wasn't from your personal computer. It was routed through the main security hub's secondary server."
Damian leaned over the screen. "Who had remote administrative access to that hub?"
Thomas’s eyes went wide. "Julian. Your senior accountant in Chicago. The one who urged us to hire Bellamy & Stone's former property management firm last year."
Damian’s eyes narrowed into slits of pure ice. Julian had been paid off by the Morettis months ago. The incident at the boutique, the breach, the financial leaks—it was all part of a coordinated plot to dismantle Damian’s legitimate transitions and force him into a trap.
Natalie was completely innocent.
"Get Julian," Damian commanded, his voice cold enough to freeze water. "Hand him over to the federal authorities with every piece of evidence tying him to Moretti’s money laundering. We blow Moretti’s operation out of the water legally and structurally. End them."
"Right away, Boss."
Damian didn't wait. He sprinted out of the lodge into the woods, calling Natalie’s name. Panic surged through his veins. He had let his dark, paranoid world cast a shadow over the purest thing that had ever happened to him.
"Natalie!" he called out into the dense pine forest. "Natalie, please!"
He found her standing on a high rocky bluff overlooking the crashing waves of Lake Superior. Her shoulders were shaking, her cardigan wrapped tight around her frame.
Damian approached slowly, stopping a few feet away.
"It was Julian," Damian said softly, his voice trembling with rare vulnerability. "My senior accountant. He was paid off months ago. You were completely innocent, Natalie. I... I never should have let Thomas speak those words in front of you."
Natalie turned around slowly, wiping her wet eyes. "It’s not just about Thomas, Damian. It’s about your world. How can we ever have a life if every moment is filled with suspicion, guns, and shadows?"
Damian took three large steps, closing the distance between them. He took her hands in his, ignoring the cold wind.
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"Because I am done with that world," Damian declared fiercely. "I spent the last three weeks watching you bring light into my daughter's life and into mine. Today, my legal team is handing over all evidence to dismantle the Morettis completely. I am stepping down from the logistics council. I’m signing over control to a public trust."
He looked into her eyes, his tears mixing with the mist from the lake. "I don't want to be a boss anymore, Natalie. I just want to be Ava’s father... and the man who loves you."
