Chapter 11

I hadn’t seen Damien in weeks. It was strange, almost unbearable, how much he occupied my thoughts despite the distance between us. The transfer to a different department had been my choice, a clean break to avoid complications. But I just couldn’t stop thinking about him, I wasn’t haunted by the feel of his touch and warmth of his body against me.

I couldn’t get over how much I had miss seeing his confident aura and in the room filled with people or the way he dominated and commanded people to do what he wanted. And no matter how much I tried to bury myself in work, I just couldn’t get him out of my head. Every time I closed my eyes, he was there wiring for me, looking so real and calling on to me.

I refused to give in to my thoughts so I threw myself into work and tried to get back on track. I even made sure to avoid the floor where he office was located on and I took the stairs instead of the elevator to make sure I didn’t mistakenly run into him by any means.

For the first time in weeks, I felt like myself, felt like I could work and breathe better but it still wasn’t good enough. I still wasn’t fully me because my mind was occupied by a man- a man that was dangerous and also didn’t care about me.

I hated myself for it. And yet, I refused to let myself give in. I avoided him, avoided any mention of him, and told myself that eventually, he would fade from my thoughts.

On the bright side, my move had its advantages. My focus had shifted back to gathering intel on Ryan, the man who had ruined me and taken everything I had seemed. I’d been following leads, piecing together the puzzle of his network, his operations, and his weaknesses. But Ryan was elusive, his trail meticulously covered. I needed a break, something tangible to work with, and fast.

That morning, I was going through a list of potential information that was needed to nail Ryan and ruin him when the office buzzed with chatter. I walked out of the room where all the files were kept and tried to listen and figure out what the noise was about.

“There’s a dinner party at the office tomorrow night,” I heard a woman say and I rolled my eyes.

A party? That was what all the noise was about?

I shook my head and walked away from them, making my way for my office.

As I thought about my next step and how to get more files that held more information than the ones I’ve been seeing, Ryan approached me, his steps deliberate, his presence commanding as always.

“Amanda,” he called, his voice was light, smooth and had an underlying edge that I just couldn’t seem to place my hand on. My heart dropped into my stomach and I stopped in my tracks. “There’s a dinner here tomorrow, would you like to go with me?”

His question took me off guard and my words caught in my throat. “I… no…” I stammered as I couldn’t form a proper sentence.

“Don’t say no,” he said again as he moved even closer to me- it was too close for comfort so I stepped back but he didn’t take the hint and he moved closer again.

“I can’t c-“ I started to say but he interrupted me.

“I know you don’t have a date,” he said, his voice filled with amusement. “So you can just go with me.”

I blinked, caught off guard. “I wasn’t planning on going.”

His lips curved into a smirk. “Oh, but you should. And since you’re going, why don’t you just go with me?”

I opened my mouth to reply him but no words came out. The audacity that he had, he wasn’t asking me, he was telling me to go with him. His confidence was suffocating, like a net tightening around me. I needed a way out, and fast.

As if hearing my prayers, I saw Andrew walking towards us from the corner of my eyes. He was the perfect person I could use to lie and get out of the uncomfortable discussion with Ryan. So without thinking twice, I walked towards him, calling out his name. “Andrew.”

He turned, surprised, but smiled when he saw me. “Hey, Amanda. What’s up?”

I stepped closer to him, my heart pounding. “Ryan was just asking about my date for the dinner party,” I said, forcing a casual tone. “And I told him I’d already asked and would be going with you.”

Andrew’s eyes widened briefly before he caught on. “Oh, right. Yeah, of course.”

Ryan’s smirk vanished, replaced by a cold glare that sent shivers down my spine. He stared at Andrew as though calculating a thousand ways to eliminate him. Andrew, to his credit, held his ground, though his smile wavered under Ryan’s scrutiny.

“Wow. That a good choice,” he said sarcastically, his voice cold and dangerously low. His eyes left Andrew and focused on me and I forgot how to breathe, he then turned around without saying anything else and walked away.

The way he had looked at me made me scared but I pushed it away and let out a sigh of relief as soon as he disappeared down the hallway.

Andrew chuckled nervously. “What was that about? Care to explain?”

“I’m so sorry,” I apologized to him sincerely as I turned to look at him, raising my hand to hold my head. “I panicked.”

“No kidding. Do you have any idea how much Ryan hates me now?”

I winced. “I promise that I’d make it up to you.”

“Of course you would,” he said and I looked at him in confusion.

“What do you mean?” I asked him, voicing out my thoughts.

“You already used me to lie, you might as well just go to the party with me,” he said to me and I just stared at him

My first thought was how inconvenient it would be to put on a dress and fake small talk. My second thought was more calculated. A dinner party meant an opportunity- a chance to slip away unnoticed, to search the offices upstairs while everyone was distracted so I nodded.

“Okay. I’d go with you,” I replied him she he smiled.

“I’d pick you up tonight then?” He asked and I nodded. “Okay, good luck with… whatever this is.” He added, walking away from me