The Devil's Daughter

The Boy I Trusted

The most dangerous betrayals don't come from enemies.

They come from the people you would have trusted with your life.

Damien Blackwood stood frozen in the doorway, his blue eyes locked on mine.

"I can explain."

Three words.

Three simple words.

Yet they shattered something inside me.

Because innocent people didn't usually need to explain themselves.

The room had gone deathly silent.

The security guards were already moving.

Slowly.

Carefully.

Like predators circling wounded prey.

One wrong move from Damien and they'd be on him.

But Damien wasn't looking at them.

He was looking at me.

Only me.

As if my reaction mattered more than the armed men standing around him.

My father spoke first.

"Leave."

His voice was cold enough to freeze hell itself.

Damien's jaw tightened.

"No."

The room immediately tensed.

Nobody said no to Vincent DeLuca.

Nobody.

Yet Damien had just done exactly that.

My father's eyes darkened.

"I wasn't asking."

For a moment, neither man moved.

The atmosphere became unbearable.

Then Damien slowly stepped inside.

The guards instantly reached for their weapons.

"Stop."

My father's command echoed through the room.

The guards froze.

Vincent DeLuca never acted without reason.

And right now, he wanted answers.

Just like I did.

"Talk," my father said.

Damien looked exhausted.

Not guilty.

Not afraid.

Exhausted.

As though he'd been carrying a burden for years.

"I didn't attack you."

His voice was steady.

"I know what the footage shows."

"Then explain it."

Damien looked toward me.

The sadness in his eyes made my stomach twist.

"Because I was there."

The admission hit the room like a bomb.

One of the guards cursed under his breath.

I felt my heart sink.

Damien closed his eyes briefly.

Then continued.

"I was following someone."

My father laughed.

A humorless sound.

"And who exactly were you following?"

Damien's gaze hardened.

"The man who pulled the trigger."

The room went silent.

Every muscle in my body locked.

"What?" I whispered.

Damien looked at me.

"I knew there was a threat."

My pulse skyrocketed.

"You knew?"

His expression filled with regret.

"Not enough."

The answer wasn't good enough.

Not even close.

"You knew someone wanted to kill my father and you didn't tell anyone?"

Pain flashed across his face.

"It wasn't that simple."

I laughed bitterly.

"It sounds pretty simple to me."

The words struck him harder than I intended.

For the first time since he'd entered the room, Damien looked genuinely hurt.

Good.

Because I was hurting too.

"Isabella"

"No."

My voice cracked.

"I trusted you."

The room blurred.

I hated how emotional I sounded.

Hated how vulnerable I felt.

Damien took a step forward.

"I was trying to protect you."

The statement only made me angrier.

"By keeping secrets?"

His silence answered the question.

A terrible silence.

The kind that reveals more than words ever could.

My father suddenly spoke.

"Who hired the shooter?"

Damien immediately looked away.

And that told us everything.

My blood ran cold.

"You know."

My father had reached the same conclusion.

Damien remained silent.

The tension inside the room became unbearable.

Finally, he spoke.

"I don't know who ordered it."

A lie.

Everyone knew it was a lie.

Even him.

My father leaned back against his pillows.

Watching.

Calculating.

Dangerous.

Then he smiled.

The sight sent chills through me.

Because Vincent DeLuca only smiled when he already knew the answer.

"You've always been terrible at lying."

Damien's face hardened.

The smile vanished from my father's face.

"What are the Romanos planning?"

The question stunned me.

Romanos?

My head snapped toward Damien.

"No."

The word escaped before I could stop it.

Damien immediately looked at me.

"Isabella—"

"Tell me he's wrong."

Silence.

My stomach dropped.

The silence lasted too long.

Far too long.

Then Damien finally spoke.

And every word felt like another crack in my heart.

"Ethan Romano isn't who you think he is."

The room froze.

My father's expression became murderous.

I couldn't breathe.

"What does that mean?"

Damien's jaw tightened.

"It means he's dangerous."

A familiar voice interrupted from the doorway.

"That's funny."

Every head turned.

My heart stopped.

Ethan Romano stood there.

And judging by the darkness in his eyes...

He had heard everything.

The atmosphere instantly became explosive.

The two men stared at each other.

Years of hostility flashing between them.

Damien looked ready to throw a punch.

Ethan looked ready to welcome it.

Neither looked away.

Neither blinked.

Then Ethan smiled.

A slow.

Dangerous smile.

"Considering what you've been hiding."

The smile disappeared.

"I wouldn't be calling anyone dangerous."

The words hit Damien like a slap.

My pulse quickened.

Because for the first time...

Damien looked nervous.

Not angry.

Not frustrated.

Nervous.

Ethan noticed it too.

And he pounced.

"You haven't told her, have you?"

The color drained from Damien's face.

A terrible feeling settled in my chest.

"What hasn't he told me?"

Nobody answered.

I looked at Damien.

Then Ethan.

Then my father.

And suddenly I realized something horrifying.

All three men knew something.

Something about me.

Something important.

Something I didn't know.

The realization made my skin crawl.

"What is it?"

Silence.

Again.

I was starting to hate silence.

My voice rose.

"What is everyone hiding from me?"

For a moment, nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Then Ethan looked directly into my eyes.

His expression softened.

Only slightly.

But enough for me to notice.

When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter than before.

"Because if you learn the truth..."

My heart pounded.

Every instinct screamed that my life was about to change.

Forever.

Ethan's gaze shifted briefly toward my father.

Then back to me.

And the next words shattered the room.

"You'll discover that the DeLuca-Romano feud started because of you."

The world stopped.

And for the first time in my life...

I wished I didn't want answers so badly.