The merger gala had been a straight-up performance—smiles, cameras, and me standing at his side like the perfect image consultant while Sophia watched Noah back at the penthouse. But the second we got back, the mask cracked.
Damien poured two glasses of whiskey and handed me one without asking. I took it but didn’t drink, watching him warily from across the living room. The city lights painted long shadows across his face, making him look almost human.
“You’ve been quiet since the car,” he said, loosening his tie with one hand. “Speak.”
I set the untouched glass down. “Why bother? You’ll just twist whatever I say.”
He watched me for a long moment, then totally caught me off guard by sitting on the couch instead of crowding my space. “Sit.”
I stayed standing.
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Please.”
The word sounded foreign coming from him. I sat on the opposite end of the couch, crossing my arms like armor.
Silence stretched between us, thick and heavy. Finally, Damien exhaled and ran a hand through his dark hair, totally messing up the perfect style.
“That night,” he started, his voice low. “Five years ago. At the Eclipse. With Isabella.”
My stomach twisted into knots. “I don’t want to hear more lies.”
“It wasn’t what you think.” His gray eyes met mine, raw in a way I’d never seen before. “My father set it up. He gave me an ultimatum—prove I wouldn’t let a woman become my weakness or he’d destroy everything I’d built.
He wanted to test my loyalty to the empire. Isabella was… convenient. Willing. I staged it knowing you might find out.”
I stared at him, my heart hammering against my ribs. “You’re telling me you let me walk in on you f–/king her as some kind of test?”
“I thought I could explain afterward,” he said, his voice rough. “I had a plan. Get you out of the line of fire, neutralize my father’s threats, then come for you. But you ran too fast. Too completely. By the time I realized what I’d lost, you were gone.”
The confession hung in the air like smoke. For a split second, something vulnerable flickered across his face—the man beneath the monster, exhausted and haunted.
“I tore the city apart looking for you,” he continued quietly. “Hired every investigator.
Drank myself unconscious more nights than I can count. The hairpin you left behind? I kept it on my nightstand for months like a freaking talisman. I was destroyed, Elena. You broke something in me I didn’t know could break.”
Tears burned my eyes. Part of me wanted desperately to believe him. The other part—the survivor who had raised Noah all on her own—refused to buy it.
“I don’t believe you,” I whispered, even as my voice cracked. “It’s too convenient. Another mind game. Another way to make me doubt myself so you can keep me here.”
Damien moved then, sliding across the couch until he was right beside me. He didn’t grab me. He simply took my hand, turning it over in his much larger one, tracing the lines of my palm like he was memorizing me.
“I know it sounds like a lie,” he murmured. “I’ve given you every reason to think the worst of me. But look at me, Elena.” He tilted my chin up gently. “I’ve never lied to you about wanting you. About needing you. Even when I pushed you away, it was because I couldn’t stand the thought of my world breaking you.”
Our eyes locked. The air grew charged, heavy with five years of pain, anger, and something deeper that refused to die.
“I hate what you did to me,” I breathed, tears finally slipping free. “I hate how much I still—”
He kissed me before I could even finish the sentence.
This kiss wasn’t like the others. Not punishing. Not purely possessive. It was desperate. Raw. Full of cracks in both our armors. His hands cupped my face like I was something precious and breakable at the same time. I clutched his shirt, pulling him closer even as a part of me wanted to push him away.
We leaned into each other on the wide couch, the tension between us finally breaking. Every word was whispered between kisses. All our half-formed apologies and bitter accusations completely dissolved, replaced entirely by a sudden, overwhelming need to close the distance. His hand traced my jawline, pulling me close in a way that felt entirely grounding, yet completely overwhelming.
“You’re mine,” he murmured against my skin. “You’ve always been mine.”
“And you’re poison,” I replied, even as I arched into him.
The world narrowed down to the intense, overwhelming pull between us—a connection wrapped in years of unresolved pain. Every look and every touch felt like both a surrender and a battle, until the walls we’d built up completely shattered.
When the storm finally settled, we lay close together, catching our breath. Damien pulled me against his chest, locking one arm tightly around my waist like he was terrified I’d disappear again.
“I’m not asking you to believe me tonight,” he said quietly into my hair. “Just… stay. For now.”
I closed my eyes, listening to the steady beat of his heart. I didn’t answer.
I still didn’t fully believe him.
But for the first time in five years, a dangerous crack had formed in the walls I’d built around my heart.
And Damien Voss was already slipping through it.
To be continued…