Chapter 1

    

     The house is cold. Not because of the lack of warmth but also the lack of life. Sited at the kitchen counter was Damien, his dirty blonde hair falling over his face as his head was bent forward. Unmoving in that position. He had nothing else to live for, no fight left in him Everything he loved, cherished, and cared for was gone. His first love, Lauren was now married to his ex-best friend Nathan, his fiancée, Jane was now dead because of him.

     He sits upright, only to pick up his glass filled with alcohol as he lets it slide down his throat. He needed to not feel, that was all he wanted now. He slammed the glass on the table just as his phone rang. It was Luke, his private investigator, who connected the call on the last ring.

     “Tell me you found something,” said Damien, with his voice rough and around the edge.

     “I found something,” Luke said over the phone “And even more” he completed. Damien’s breath stopped for a minute in anticipation.

     “Just sent the photos to your email, you might want to check those out,” Luke said, his voice distracted like he was looking for something”.

     “Anything else?” Damien asked.

     “Yes,” Luke answered like he was out of breath “It was Nathan that tried to kill you” He whispered, afraid of what Damien might do.

     “You’re sure it was him?” Damien asked again, disbelief smearing his thoughts.

     “Yes sir, I’ve sent the CCTV clip, you can confirm for yourself.”

     Damien nodded absentmindedly, hanging up in the process. They might not be friends anymore, but Nathan wouldn’t intentionally want to hurt him. He was about to find out otherwise.

     The first thing Damien check was the black and white video that showed Nathan entering his beach house in Malibu where Jane had been staying for the weekend. He watched masked men go in after him and, in a few minutes, they were all out. He shouldn’t have left Jane alone, Damien would never forgive himself as he watched the house blow up with Jane in it.

     What caught his eye was the picture that was underneath the video. It was a picture of Lauren carrying a little boy with a smile on her face. He hadn’t even known she had been pregnant. But that was the problem.

     It was the bright green eyes of the boy that stared back at him that were unsettling, down to the dirty blonde hair that was curly and sat at the top of the boy’s head. It couldn’t be. Damien was peering down at a little version of him, this had to be some trick. He traced the boy’s face and saw the mark he currently possessed. It was like a small crescent moon, burned close to his ear, the little boy had the same birthmark. This only meant one thing, Lauren had a child, and it was definitely his.

     At that moment something woke up in Damien. He had to save his child from Nathan. If he had the mind to want him dead, then there was no telling what he could do to his son that was under the same roof with him. Or to Lauren even. He had to save the only thing that he had left in this world. It was time to pay his parents a visit.

     In a couple hours, Damien’s private jet touched down in Seattle. He was torn between staying at his parent's condo and renting an apartment where he could keep an eye on them. He chose the first one as his driver turned towards the home where he grew up as a child.

     He watched the buildings pass in a blur, his mind wandering back to the past when he was happy, and Lauren was right there in his arms where she belonged. He thought of her jet-black straight hair that would billow in the wind whenever they went for their evening walk in the park.

     His memory went down to the time she had asked him to leave and to never see him again. It had been the worst day of his life. Lauren that loved and adored him so much had nothing but hatred towards him. It tore at his heart, how all the had could be crashed with just a few words.

     He wondered if she would welcome him with open arms, he doubted it. She had made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. All he had to do was, get custody of his son and he would be out of her life, for good this time. He didn’t dream of coming back here since the last day he saw Lauren. Everywhere had a memory of them, each too painful to dwell on now. It was almost a year and he hated to admit he was still very much in love with her.

     The car pulled into the large gate of his childhood home. He could tell his parents were home from the country music that was faint in the air and the scent of soup that wafted into his nose as he walked through the front door.

     His father was spinning his mother as they danced to one of their favorite songs, so lost in each other they didn’t notice Damien walk to the burner and put it off. It wasn’t until the song finished that his mother jumped when she turned and saw Damien sitting there, with a smug smile on his lips.

     “Damien! How did you get in here?” His mother asked, startled but walked towards him anyway, engulfing him in a warm hug. Damien didn’t realize just how much he missed his parents until now.

      “I just got in” he answered brightly before shaking his father in greeting. The old man smiled at him but that was all, he didn’t show his emotions too much.

     “I thought you would never come back here again,” his mother said, still holding unto his hand like he was a little boy, and she was afraid that he would try to leave.

     “I thought so too” Damien muttered to himself. “Let’s have lunch first before I bore you with my story,” He said instead.

     “Oh! I had something on the fire” she said, suddenly remembering she had been cooking before her husband whisked her away.

     “Thank you!” Damien said laughing as his mother put the stove back on. She laughed as she continued cooking, at least they didn’t burn their house down.

     Damien turned to his father who motioned for them to go outside. Damien followed him obediently until they reached the gazebo, away from his mother’s hearing. His father turned, looking at him with his piercing eyes.

      Damien pulled up the photo on his phone and showed it to his father. He expected shock, disbelief, anger on his father’s face but he got none. Instead, the old man was quiet, like there was nothing out of the ordinary in the picture.

     “You knew,” Damien said quietly, realization dawning on him. Of course, they would know, they lived in the same city as her. His father nodded, regret the only thing that filled his eyes.

     “Why did no one tell me?” Damien asked betrayal and tears lacing his voice. He couldn’t believe his own parents would leave him in the dark like that.

     “She doesn’t know the child is yours,” His father said.

     Damien shook his head not believing a single word his father was saying. “How can she not know? I wasn’t sure at first but, he has the same mark that I do, at the same place just beneath my ear, we have the same eyes, the hair…how can she not know that?”

     “She hasn’t been the same since she got married to Nathan, something is wrong with her Damien, but I don’t know what it is”.

     “Did he hurt her?” Damien asked, fear suddenly taking over his senses.

     His father looked at him for a while, contemplating his answer “Physically…no. Mentally, I’m not so sure, there’s something off about her”.

     “I have to see them, they’re not safe with Nathan,” he said

     “Why?” his father asked

     “He tried to kill me” Damien answered, “He blew up my house thinking I was there and only succeeded in killing Jane”.

     “You can’t be sure about that” his father argued. “I’m sorry about Jane,” his father said after a while.

     Damien said no more. He had to figure out something on his own. He also didn’t want to get his parents involved, it was the only way he could protect them.

     “I’ll be going in before your mother comes out here wondering why we’re taking so long” His father pat his shoulder as he walked past him back into the house. Damien looked around the house, he couldn’t leave his parents alone here, not while Nathan was around. He could pull anything.

     The problem was his parents would never leave this house even if he tried to persuade them. He called Luke who answered on the first ring.

      “I want you to send a few men to watch my parents all day, discreetly, the last thing I want is for them to find out. Increase the security inside the house and always have men on standby” he said into the phone and hung up before he could hear Luke’s reply. He had to think of something really fast before Nathan knows he’s around and decides to make a move.

     Damien walked back into the house as if nothing had happened so his mother would not be suspicious. He sat at the table as she began to lay out the dishes, his father helping her with the process.

     “Now tell me why you’re back here,” His mother said.

     Damien exchanged a glance with his father before he cleared his throat “Just here to handle a few businesses, that’s all. I bet you’re happy to see me” He teased her.

     His mother blushed, letting the pink stain her cheeks “You know I am. Why didn’t you come with Jane?” his mother asked.

     He was still for a while not sure how to answer the question. His mother had been fond of her, she wouldn’t take the truth very well.

     “She’s fine, you know how she is. Always traveling…” He said, with the most smile he could force out.

     “I’m glad to hear that,” his mother said, “She should come to visit one of these days, I’ve not seen her bright face in a long while” She finished and sat down beside her husband at the table.

     “I’ll let her know,” Damien said before stuffing food in his mouth so she wouldn’t question him further.

     Damien was about to take another bite when he heard the front door open and somebody knocks making him alert. He saw his mother’s face freeze but paid no attention to it. He excused himself from the table to see who it was.

     Straight black hair was the first thing he saw as the door opened before bright brown eyes stared into his green ones. The air around him suddenly came to a standstill. His heart-stopping for a moment, unable to process the person standing in front of him.

     In all his plans, he hadn’t prepared himself for when he would see Lauren again. He willed for the anger that he felt towards her to consume him but there was none. It was like all he felt for her these past months came a thousand times more to him.

     Lauren said nothing as she stared at Damien. The weight of the grocery bags she was carrying finally weighed in on her and she walked past him into the kitchen. She put them down on the counter and began putting everything away into the fridge.

     Damien stared after her, following her every move as she walked around the kitchen until she was done putting the grocery away. She turned then to face him and just like lightning she ran to him and hugged him with everything she had.