DAMIEN’S P.O.V “Oh shit,” I cursed under my breath, realizing too late that I’d given myself away. Her eyes widened, her lips parting slightly as she stood there, frozen in the doorway. “You’re… standing,” she repeated again, her voice barely carrying across the room. I didn’t say anything. My first instinct was to grab the desk for support, pretending like it was nothing, pretending like I hadn’t just exposed my years of carefully guarded truth. “Yeah,” I muttered after a pause, forcing a steady tone that sounded even fake to my own ears. “I can try just for a minute. The doctor said I could try to stand once in a while.” I blurted out confidently, eyes staring deeply into hers. It was a lie and I knew from the way her brows furrowed that she wasn’t buying it. Her eyes darted down to my legs, then back up to my face, as she tried to piece together what she was seeing. “Damien,” she called out slowly, “You told me you couldn’t...” “Don’t,” I snapped, cutting her words shar
DAMIEN’S P.O.VI didn’t reply to Marcello's words. My hand tightened around the phone as I allowed the silence stretched so long that I could almost hear him grinning on the other end.He was waiting, feeding off the tension, not wanting to like the bastard he was.Instead of giving him the satisfaction of a word, I pulled the phone from my ear and ended the call.The line went dead, and with it, something inside me snapped.My fingers curled angrily around the whiskey glass on the desk until I thought it would shatter in my grip. I didn’t even realize I was holding my breath until it left me in a harsh exhale, with my chest rising and falling too fast.Marcello wanted to play games. He thought he could drag me into his little circus, just because he had lended a hand. He wanted to bite mine instead. "He must have underestimated me like always." I scoffed chewing the gums of my teeth.“Boss—” Skylo’s voice cut in, snapping my thoughts short. I raised my eyes to him slowly as he rem
DAMIEN's P.O.VSkylo lifted his hands in a mock surrender. “Just saying what I see, boss. Don’t bite my head off.”The silence stretched between us. I leaned back in my chair, mind wandering to a few days back.Everyone knew old Marcello was an asshole and I had no choice but to reach out to him for help. Now, I had an unsettled score with him and it was all because of the mysterious son of a bitch. I hissed, lost in thought as I glared at the glass in my hand."what's that, boss?" Skylo frowned like I was talking drunk but, I knew exactly what I was saying. I swirled the glass in my hand, eye drifting up to him. “Found anything about the mysterious Mr. S?" Skylo eyes darkened at the name. I could read his thoughts. He had nothing. no clues. no ideas...“Fucking coward used Tracey as bait,” I muttered. “He knew I’d come for her. he knew I wouldn’t stop until I found her.”Skylo stared at me, eyes cautious. “You realize what you’re admitting, right? You didn’t just go after her bec
DAMIEN’S P.O.VWe were back home. To the old house.Everything was arranged and fixed to the point it felt like nothing had happened over here.But, hell….my heart wasn't at rest. Not when the traitors who had dared to play with me were out there roaming.I sat in my study, the curtains drawn, the amber glow of the lamp as the only source of lightening in the room with a glass of whiskey held high in my hand. I’d lost count of how many I’d poured tonight, but it didn’t matter. Nothing at this point mattered except for the girl lying in that room down the hall….Tracey.Her face wouldn’t leave my mind. The way she’d looked when I held her earlier, weak, pale, and clinging to consciousness.The doctor’s voice echoed in my head. “She’s been through hell. The human mind can only carry so much before it breaks. If she remembers every detail, from days back she won’t survive it, Damien.“ He had relayed and I knew exactly what he meant because this wouldn't be the first time we would do this
TRACEY’S P.O.VI stared at him, my mind spinning. “Damien…” My voice was small, broken, but demanding something I couldn’t even name. “Why.....Why would you...”He didn’t let me finish when he simply moved into his wheel without a single jump and wheeled away, slamming shut.My chest tightened. “Damien...” I whispered to myself, but he was already gone, leaving me in a whirlwind of emotions.I sighed, sitting upright, replaying his words in my head. Was he really being honest about his feelings for me? or was this his ego trying to play a trick. I blinked, confusion striking when I felt a sharp pain in my head.“Ouchhhhh” I yelled out in pain, shutting my eyes. With my eyes shut, and despite the pain, I could see a blurry figure of him standing close , before everything went black. I swore I’d seen him upright, moving , not the Damien bound to that chair.Or was it all in my head?The more I tried to piece it together, the more my temples pounded. The memories slipped through taunti
TRACEY’S P.O.V His lips were still on mine when my mind finally caught up with what was happening. Damien Russo was kissing me. Not out of pity, not out of some forced circumstance, but because he wanted to. I froze, eyes shut, indulging the taste of his lips to linger onto mine for longer. My heart beat was so loud it drowned out every bit of my rational thought. His mouth moved with a heat I wasn’t ready for, a hunger that told me he knew exactly what he was doing. By the time he pulled back, my lips were trembling, and I was short of breath. My eyes were still shut but, I knew his forehead was still rested against mine, and not for once, did he look away. “That’s your answer,” I finally hear him say. I blinked at him, opening my eyes with a stunned expression plastered across my face. My throat felt dry, words fighting to leave but stumbling out clumsy. “You… you kissed me.” I managed to mutter but he simply smirked slightly at my words, his eyes still not leaving mine even