The alley was still cloaked in fog, damp air pressing against Elijah's skin. Somewhere in the distance, sirens wailed, faint but growing louder.
Luca leaned against the brick wall, his chest rising and falling in sharp, uneven breaths. His shirt clung to him, damp with sweat and streaked with dirt. But it was his eyes—haunted, almost hollow—that made Elijah's heart twist.
"You wanted the truth," Luca said at last, his voice low. "Fine. But once I tell you, you won't be able to unhear it."
---
Elijah crossed his arms, though the movement did nothing to hide the tremor in his hands. "After what just happened, I deserve nothing less."
Luca's gaze fell to the wet pavement between them. "Six years ago, the night I disappeared, I got a call. It wasn't from Adrian—it was from someone higher. Someone who runs the kind of business that makes even the most powerful people afraid to speak their name."
Elijah's pulse quickened. "Who?"
"I don't know their real name," Luca admitted. "All I know is they called themselves The Broker. They had files—photos, bank statements, documents—that could send your father to prison for the rest of his life. And… they had something else. Pictures of you."
---
Elijah felt his stomach drop. "Pictures of me?"
Luca's jaw tightened. "Taken without your knowledge. In your apartment, in the street… even when you were asleep. They weren't just watching your family, Elijah. They were watching you. And The Broker gave me two options—hand over insider documents from Reyes Enterprises to Adrian… or watch you disappear."
Elijah's throat went dry. "Disappear… as in—"
"As in no one would ever find you," Luca said, his voice cracking at the edges. "I believed them. They weren't bluffing. So I went to Adrian. I made the deal. I gave him everything he needed to crush your father's company. And the same night… I left you. Because if I stayed, they'd use me to get to you again."
---
Elijah's chest tightened with a painful mix of anger and grief. "So you destroyed my family to save me."
"Yes," Luca said without hesitation. "And I hate myself for it every day."
The confession hung between them, heavy and suffocating.
Elijah took a slow step forward, his voice shaking. "You could have told me. We could have faced it together—"
"No," Luca cut in, his tone sharp. "You think I could risk it? The Broker isn't someone you face. They don't lose. They vanish people like smoke. If you knew, you'd have fought me, and I couldn't… I couldn't watch you die because of me."
---
For a moment, the only sound was the drip of water from the rooftop above.
Elijah didn't know whether to scream or… just sink to the ground and let the weight of it all crush him. His hatred felt blurred now, tangled with something far more dangerous—understanding.
"You still should have trusted me," Elijah whispered, his eyes wet. "You still should have stayed."
Luca's expression softened, but the pain there was raw. "I never stopped staying, Elijah. I've been protecting you from the shadows for six years. And now… The Broker is back. And they want something even worse than before."
---
Elijah's blood ran cold. "What do they want?"
Luca's answer was a whisper, but it cut through him like ice.
"They want you. Not your company. Not your father. Just you."
---