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
"Fuck you," Ethan says, pointing a finger in Paco's face. "I did what you wanted, so why won't you leave me the fuck alone? I'm not your slave, asshole.""You are as long as I have something against you, and you know what it is," he spits. "So quit complaining. You're not giving me what I want!""That isn't up to me!" Ethan hisses. "You think I have total control? Damien has an eye out on everything. He was suspicious that last time, so there's not much I can do. My hands are tied, I've told you this before.""That doesn't interest me," he says through gritted teeth. "I have people who need this information. They're going to fucking kill me.""How is that my fucking problem?" Ethan asks. "Tell your boss that there's nothing I can do anymore."Paco takes a gun out of his pocket and presses it against Ethan's cheek. "Watch it, asshole. You've got a lot of attitude for someone who fucks their family right in the ass on a daily.""Shut the fuck up," Ethan says, giving him a menacing look.
I'm on edge.There's a lot of tension in the air. This Damien-Ethan feud needs to come to an end, but how's that going to happen when it hasn't even been acknowledged? Technically, everything is normal. Theo doesn't suspect anything. I know because she would've mentioned it by now. I also know that this isn't just my imagination; I see the way they're looking at each other, the way they rarely speak when they're home. Ethan always ends up leaving and spending the night at Penelope's and Damien will stare at the ceiling the way he always does when there's something on his mind.It's Theo's birthday and they've invited anyone who can be called a friend. Damien made sure to exclude anyone he deems 'dangerous' from the guest list. I'm sure he only did that because of me and I'm not complaining. I'm friendly with everyone here, but there are a few exceptions. Herbert, for instance. I don't like him. There's just something about the way he looks at people that gives me the creeps. Damien gu
He was right.I've been working non-stop all day. I've been organizing meetings, answering calls, typing up letters. Penelope has her hands full today do I really had to step in. It's a good thing I left at six, a lot had to be done.When he has a meeting, I leave the building for an hour and a half or so. I go to the café nearby, where I used to meet up with Devon. I'm a regular customer now and everyone knows me by my name. I rarely think about Devon. He hasn't tried to communicate with me at all. The last time I saw him was the day I cut him out of my life, right under our apartment building. Sometimes I'm afraid I'll see him, but I never do. I don't know if he even lives in this city anymore and honestly, I don't care. I'm just glad that he's in the past.I have my coffee and my cream cheese and smoked salmon bagel and I read through a few documents. He wanted me to proofread them. Actually, he wanted Penelope to do that, but I intervened and told him I could take care of it. She'
Gillian Davis.Where do I begin? There's something about her smile that irks me. She's trying so hard to be this demure person and I feel it in my bones that she isn't like that. At all. Her almond-shaped green eyes are constantly searching and they're too curious. I don't like the way her full lips curve upwards at the end of every sentence. She's wearing dark jeans and a red loose top that matches the color of her hair. She constantly shifts from one foot to the other and why is she nervous? It reminds me of how I felt when I first met Damien and it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.It's been five minutes. We should've left by now, we should be talking about what I found out concerning Paco. Instead, he's asking this woman questions about her previous job and how many years of experience she has and he's being too nice. He wasn't as nice to me, but that's in the past. It's not like I'm going to bring it up. That doesn't necessarily mean that I'm not bothered. I am and I wish I wasn
Her back is turned to him.Damien knows she's angry, but there's not much he can do to placate her. She didn't like Gillian, at all. She tensed up as soon as she walked in with Penelope and her mood changed. He should've talked to her about it, but that wouldn't solve the issue. She'd be furious regardless. She wants to keep working there and the truth is that he doesn't want her involved in his business. End of story. It's not safe, he has a lot of enemies. It'd be much easier to get to her there.Why can't she see that?The truth is that he has no choice but to hire Gillian. She's Penelope's recommendation. Penelope is someone he trusts with his life and that woman is her friend. Saying no would cause unnecessary strain in their relationship and that's the last thing he wants. But agreeing to hiring her means he'll be at war with Amelia and he doesn't want that either.The solution should be simple; keep looking. It's clear that Amelia has a problem with her and he should probably f