It's over.Damien couldn't quite believe his eyes when he received the encrypted letter from Herbert telling him that everyone wanted to get together and resolve this once and for all. He anticipated this, but he wasn't expecting it to happen so soon.Everything will go back to normal, he can't wait for that to happen. He can go back to managing his businesses, in fact he plans on moving back to The Lounge as soon as possible. He preferred it there, the only problem is he'll have to find a secretary to resume the normal duties. He might ask Penelope. All he knows is he isn't going to risk Amelia's life ever again. He put her in harm's way many times before.That can all be taken care of later.He agreed to meet them, he's anxious to put this behind him. These past months haven't been lucrative, but at least he got something valuable out of this fucked up mess."What's going on?" Ethan asks as he closes the door. "You're smiling like a creep."He slides the letter towards him. They've
Ethan can't believe that he's finally doing this.He checks the rear-view mirror for the tenth time in thirty minutes. He wants to make sure that he isn't being followed. He knows how Damien can be, especially when it concerns their safety. He didn't give any specifics and he's certain that his brother's trying to figure out what the hell is going on.He'll never guess, though.He grips the steering wheel and keeps his eyes in the road ahead. It's a long drive, but worth it. He needs to get everything off his chest in order to move on, there's no going around it. He's been living with this shit his entire life. He never felt wanted and that's something everyone around him—including Damien—takes for granted. Of course he wouldn't relate, he wasn't the one who grew up with Jasper for a fucking brother and those assholes for parents. He didn't know what it was like living with them, sensing how much they despised him but not knowing why.The truth is he'd always been comfortable at his u
"I already told you," Theo says once again. "I really have no idea where he is. He didn't tell me anything about leaving, I'm as surprised as you are."Damien runs his fingers through his hair. "Why would he leave without warning? No one has any idea of where he could've gone?""Why didn't you question him?" Theo asks."All he said was that he'd be back in a couple of days, he didn't say anything else. You know how he is."I watch them with my lips sealed shut. If they don't know about Ethan's whereabouts, I have no clue. I'm the last person in the world who'd know. It is strange, though. It's strange to me that he'd leave without telling anyone a thing, especially after everything they went through the last few weeks. He's unaccompanied too."His phone isn't off," Theo comments. "That's a good thing, right? He's just ignoring our calls. He spoke to Penelope and he told her he's fine. He didn't tell her anything, but he promised to explain later. Maybe we're just exaggerating."Damien
We arrive at the place.It's a small house in an average neighborhood, the last place anyone would look. Anyone would assume that he'd be living in one of the best neighborhoods, but Ferdinand's smart. Damien's smarter, though. Thanks to that man, Colton, we're finally going to get rid of him.I'm a little dizzy. I was sure I wanted to do it, but now I'm having second thoughts. I know this is just my fear talking, there's nothing he can do to me while Damien is by my side. He squeezes my hand and I don't know how he felt that I needed the encouragement. I follow him out of the car and stare at the white house. There's a lawn and some rose bushes, a few daisies. I wonder if this is some kind of sick joke. If anything, it strengthens my resolve.Damien brought along reinforcement. I know I should be focused, but I can't help but think of Theo all alone in that apartment. We never even told her we were leaving, we just left. I hope she goes straight to bed, it'll save her the disappointm
Damien had to stop by the office to grab some things.I'm in the car, trying not to think about Ferdinand. Whenever I do, I feel like throwing up. I'm relieved that he's finally dead—and he is dead—but the scene was too gruesome for me. It was different when I saw those other men die, including Trevor. I don't know how, but it is. I blink again and try not to think about it. I thought watching him for would solve everything, but it's only made things worse.He returns after half an hour. His eyes are one the entire time. They're filled with concern. He asks, "Are you alright?""I'm fine," I say. I'm not fine, but that doesn't matter. He solved the problem, this shouldn't be happening. I should be fine.He calls my name. "Amelia.""I'm fine," I repeat. "I've just had a long day. I want to go home. I need to sleep this awful night away."He tells Roger to drive and he wraps an arm around my shoulder. I lean against him. I'm lightheaded and I'm struggling to stay awake. I don't want him
I knock on the door."Come in."Damien appears to be deep in conversation with Ethan. When he sees me, he furrows his brows. "You know you don't have to knock, Amelia.""I didn't want to interrupt you," I explain. "There's a message from Theo. She says she'll be back on Wednesday.""Wednesday?" Ethan asks. "Is she fucking crazy? She told us she'd be back by Tuesday. We had everything organized. Fuck that, I'm giving her a call." He jumps up from the chair and speeds past me. He slams the door, leaving Damien and I alone.I arch a brow. "Someone isn't happy.""You know how Ethan is," Damien begins, leaning back. "He's punctual and organized. He's losing his mind right now.""There's nothing he can do," I tell him. "She stopped in Vegas, met a couple of friends. She hasn't been there in months. She wants to spend the night.""There's no point in trying to convince her otherwise," he says. "She's already made her decision."It's been a year since I lost my baby, a year since that dreadfu
"What do you think, Damien?"What does he think? He doesn't like the sound of this at all. Paul has lost his fucking mind. "I'm not going to spare you all these people for that kind of profit. You know that's not how this works."He knows his words won't please him, but he's not going to lower his standards in the name of friendship. Yes, everyone here is supposedly his friend. They weren't his friends when he was in need a year ago, but now that he's back on top everyone wants his friendship. Even Paul, who had abandoned him long before everything got out of control.Paul clears his throat. "I thought that you'd facilitate things for us. This year's crisis hit us hard, we're all having a hard time coping."Everyone looks at him expectantly. Anyone else would sympathize, but not Damien Keller. Why? He'll never forget what they did to him. He knows these people. No one would do the same for him. He leans forward and says, "Do you think I haven't been understanding enough?"His eyes wid
"And you're sure you're alright?" My mother asks me. "You're telling me the truth, aren't you?"We started talking again. In the past year, I've visited her about six times and she came here once. She doesn't like this city and I don't blame her for it. If it weren't for Damien, I'd hate it too. I told her about Ferdinand and how he hadn't really died and she was spooked for weeks. But I assured her that this time he was dead, that I watched his face practically fall apart. There was nothing for her to fear, it was all over. Nothing else would threaten us, Damien took care of everything.About Ethan, well, she never told me what they talked about. She didn't want to and I stopped pushing after a while. I didn't want to upset her, but sometimes it makes me wonder if he was rude to her. I wouldn't like that one bit, so maybe that's why she didn't tell me? She doesn't want me to argue with him? In any case, that was a year ago. It's been too long."I'm sure," I say. I won't talk to her a