Matteo continued.
"The similarities are there. The same absence of clues. The same inability to identify the real direction of the threat."
"No accomplice then," he exhaled deeply, the facts fully shown from his explanations. "But this time, there's an accomplice."
One junior in the crowd finally stated "And I feel there's a plotter distracting us from something we can feel but couldn't quite grasp." A slow breath of annoyance huffed out of seeing the whole truth. "Something that is literally right in front of us"
The previous investigation had never truly been closed, even after months, it remained active. And now, another attack had been added to it.
One of the agents in the background suddenly spoke while scrolling through the previous surveillance footage on the screen in his hand.
"Yes, Boss." His eyes remained fixed on the screen, everyone turned towards him.
"We checked the obvious connections."
He swallowed, still looking down."But we didn't consider that he might have gone there directly."
Nikolas looked at him, He displayed up another file.
"If he knew we'd search his associates."...he might have chosen the one place we wouldn't expect."
Silence. Complete silence filled the tensed room that a pin could drop and the sound would be loud in everyone ears.
Then..CRACK!! Nikolas' fist slammed into the table. The thick wood split beneath the impact.
Blood appeared across his knuckles, adding to the earlier injury and it was nothing compared to the force that had created it
He didn't even look at it. Instead, his jaw tightened hard.
The muscle near his cheek moved beneath his skin.
His throat worked as he swallowed, his Adam's apple rising slowly before dropping again as he swallowed the anger burning inside him.
His breathing was heavy, controlled. Perhaps, it was barely controlled.
Several agents immediately straightened.
Nobody dared move.
Nobody dared fill the unending silence.
Slowly— Nikolas rose from his chair. His face was expressionless and that was worse. Far worse than anger because it was the same expression he had worn months ago.
The same coldness.
The same deadly look in his eyes like he could do anything to hunt the person that dared caused this pain, this anger.
The same feeling that something had slipped through their hands again.
His eyes were terrifyingly cold while his fingers curled slowly into fists. This was rage that had burned beyond shouting. "It was never about the accomplice."
His voice was calm way too calm and everyone listened, drawn to the timbre of his voice and the raw emotion underneath it.
"This wasn't an accident."
The room seemed to grow colder and nikolas' jaw tightened again, his fists slowly clenched.
His face was marked with anger at something he could hunt and the consequences would be undesirable.
His gaze swept across every person present. "They didn't threaten Leonardo's life."
A dangerous silence followed. "They came to take it."
The words settled heavily over everyone.
A few gasps escaped, followed by small whispers that moved through the room.
One agent looked at another, exchanging surprised glances in shock, Another slowly lowered the screen in his hand.
Someone near the back simply stood frozen, his mouth slightly open as the truth finally settled inside him.
Because suddenly, everything made sense.
The crash.
The timing.
The fake lead.
The nervous behavior.
The warehouse.
The disappearance.
Every single part had been planned; Carefully, patiently. To be exact it was deliberately.
Nikolas slowly looked down at the files spread across the table. Then his lips curved into a smile.
A smile completely devoid of warmth. Asmile that made even his own men uneasy.
"This wasn't some random attack."
His voice dropped lower. "It was an assassination attempt."
His eyes darkened with murderous intent. "And whoever planned this..."
A chilling pause followed. "...planned every single detail from the beginning."
He looked toward the senior analyst. "And I think it's related to the investigation last year."
The room remained silent. Nikolas' gaze moved around the room, his features marked with rage and no one dared to interrupt, because they all understood the weight of the truth now.
Someone hadn't wanted Leonardo injured.
Someone had wanted him dead. Because everyone knew who Leonardo was.
Leonardo wasn't simply one of the wealthiest billionaires in Italy.
He was power himself. One of the richest billionaire tycoons in Italy.
His wealth stretched across industries and borders. companies carried his name or operated under his influence. He had private buildings, estates, luxury properties, private jets, investments and businesses spread across different parts of the world.
His empire was massive. Had built an empire so vast that spending millions barely made a difference to his fortune.
Money had long since stopped being a measure of his power. Influence. His connections were.
His information network was.
The kind of influence where one phone call could change the direction of a deal.
His name alone could open doors.
His influence could close them.
Leonardo possessed enough wealth to acquire things most people could only dream of, yet the sheer scale of his fortune had made even money itself seem almost insignificant beside his influence.
His presence could make powerful men go cold.
Men who entered a room confidently could suddenly find themselves searching for their breath when Leonardo looked their way.
No one came close to Leonardo without knowing exactly who he was.
No one crossed him without thinking twice. He owned more than most men could dream of owning in several lifetimes.
Wealth.
Influence.
Authority.
Connections.
The kind that didn't need to be announced but from one blink it commanded attention.
And a name that could make people shake before he had even spoken.
Yet someone had dared.
Someone hadn't wanted Leonardo injured.
Someone had planned to take his life.
Nikos walked past them. His anger was still burning beneath his skin.
He wasn't calm.
He wasn't controlled.
That was never who he was.
But now—his rage had somewhere to go.
A direction.
A connection. A name waiting to be uncovered.
A person hiding behind the shadows.
And whoever had helped that man disappear...
Whoever had planned this attack...
And whoever was responsible for what happened months ago, was about to find out exactly what happened when they crossed.
LEONARDO ONE OF THE TOP BILLIONAIRE'S.
(Back to Present)
The memory of that night flashed through Nikolas's mind again.
The orders, Investigation, the face caught on surveillance and just one lead that disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The promise that they would find every person responsible.The flashback only added fuel to the rage already burning beneath his skin.
Find them...The words seemed to hang in the air like a verdict already sealed and even in hell, he would find them.
Most importantly, the media had not caught wind of what had happened that night.
The accident had occurred in a remote area.
Few people had witnessed it.
Fewer had gathered around.
And those who had seen enough to understand how terrible it was had been quickly silenced by circumstances, authority, and fear.
The entire incident had been sealed away from the outside world.
As though it had never happened, but Nikolas knew better. Someone had caused it, had planned it and someone was going to FUCKING pay.
Slowly.
Painfully.
The air around him seemed to grow frighteningly heavy.
Deadly.
His gaze sharpened, He could still see Leonardo lying motionless, still remember the blood.
The machines. The desperate urgency in the doctors' voices and the thought that his best friend could have died.
His fingers curled again. No! Leonardo was strong.
There was nothing that man hadn't survived.
He had survived things that would have broken ordinary men and this wouldn't be the thing that took him.
It couldn't be.
A faint, grim smile finally touched Nikolas's lips. His friend would wake up, He had to.
And when he did, Nikolas would already have the answers waiting for him.
Every name.
Every face.
Every person who had dared to lay a hand on what belonged to Leonardo De Caruso.
Or so Nikolas believed.
Because somewhere behind him, beneath the quiet rhythm of the machines, a pair of eyes had been closed, or at least what they still believed.
Celina had heard them, not everything. But enough.
She had been trapped somewhere between trying not to show she's awake and faking unconsciousness ever since.
For some time, she had heard only fragments because the men had spoken in low tones.
Only fragments she could understand, most expecially.
"You heard the news from the fire teams. It was because he shielded her. So the impact was worse on him."
The words had reached her with horrifying clarity.
Her heart had lurched. Her handsome stranger. The thought clawed painfully through her chest.
She tried to move. Nothing! She tried to speak but her throat burned. The way her fingers twitched weakly against the sheets.
Then the realization struck her.
He shielded me! A sharp ache spread through her chest.
Her eyes stung.
Tears threatened to gather beneath her lashes as memories came rushing back in fractured piece, the violence of the impact, the sudden movement, the sensation of being pulled against something warm and solid.
Hee handsome stranger had always been there. He had protected her and now he was the one fighting for his life.
Her breathing became uneven.
The monitor beside her immediately responded.
Beep.Then another. Beep. Beep.Faster.
Celina desperately tried to force her eyes open wider.
She needed someone, A doctor or A nurse. Anyone at all, she needed to know whether he was alive or worse, not.
She willed her heart not to go there, not to imagine him being dea..Pain lurched through her chest at the very thought.
But she couldn't draw attention to herself.
Not yet. She couldn't let them know she was conscious.
With what little strength she had, she tried to ease her body once again against the sheets, even though the pain still lingered deeply in her chest.
She needed to listen.
She needed to know.
But before she could gather enough strength to make a sound, the men's voices were still lowered as before.
It was as though the atmosphere had shifted immediately after the professor's statement. "You heard the news from the fire teams...
Their conversation dissolved into deep, indistinct murmurs, she could no longer make out the words, only the tone.
Even when the imposing man's fist had struck his opposite palm not once but twice, the sharp sound almost made her flinch.
The atmosphere had changed. What had initially been a tense conversation suddenly became something heavier.
Something darker, dangerous in that moment. She couldn't hear what they were saying anymore, but she didn't need to.
The man's presence alone told her enough. The frightening stillness in his posture.
The way his jaw remained clenched.
The slight rise and fall of his chest.
The way his fingers flexed as though he was physically restraining himself from doing something violent.
Even the warm doctor seemed to understand the danger radiating from him.
Celina swallowed painfully, Her heart pounded beneath her ribs, slowly and a little bit not alarming.
Whatever had sparked this fury, whether it was a person, an event, or something connected to the accident was in grave trouble.
She watched Nikolas from beneath her lashes.
It was crystal clear.
Whatever had awakened that darkness in him...was about to regret existing.
And yet one thought wouldn't leave her alone.
It was because of me. The impact had been worse on my handsome stranger because he had shielded her.
The realization hurt more than any physical wound.
But the way she felt the man had looked at her made her heart thump in fear
She couldn't understand him, perhaps he couldn't understand them either.
And somewhere beneath all his suspicion, anger, and hostility, there seemed to be one undeniable truth.
He was closely connected to her handsome stranger.
Close enough to be furious with anyone who had caused him harm.
Celina's eyelids grew heavy again and the room blurred.
Across the room, Nikolas straightened. His expression hardened once more and he turned toward the door.
There was nothing left to discuss, Their men were searching and he had already made his decision.
He would find them.
Then he would make certain they understood one thing. They had not merely caused an accident.
They had touched the One man a person shouldn't dare to. A faint, merciless smile curved across his lips.
The door opened.
His controlled, measured footsteps disappeared into the corridor, each step carrying the weight of a promise.
And inside the silent room, the machines continued their steady rhythm.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep. The steady monitor of the fragile woman beneath the sheets continued to pulse.
Was she part of the accident? Or merely a victim?
And was she, perhaps, far more important to Leonardo De Caruso than anyone had yet realized—important enough for him to risk his very life for her?