Damon’s POVI glared into a pair of red-rimmed, furious eyes, my jaw ticking loudly.Why did they seem familiar?The stranger had seemed to be brimming on the edge of a volcanic eruption of rage earlier on when he’d bumped into me. But now he seemed calmer, surprised as he stared at me.And what did he fucking say to me?We stood that way for a moment, glaring at each other, Luca silently watching from the sidelines.Then I took a step back from him and adjusted the leather jacket I had on.I had other worries to tend to, so I wouldn’t let a walking snob piss me off or cut into my time.I mean, he did already. Luca and I were just on our way out of the VIP section of the hospital when the stranger bumped into me, the pills in his hand clattering to the floor.So yes, he cut into my time already. But I would let it slide, just this once. There was stuff more important than him.“Let’s go,” I directed at Luca, although I still had my eyes fixated on the slightly familiar face.As I took
Damon’s POVThe sleek black car pulled up to the curb as soon as we stepped out of the hospital, and walking up to it briskly, I pulled the door open and got in.Marcus, who was just getting out of the driver’s seat to move over to the other side and hold the door open for me, paused in his steps as he saw I had already slid into the backseat.He kept his gaze fixated in curiosity, on Luca, who walked over to the other side and got into the backseat with me.“Marcus,” I bit out, glaring at him in the rearview mirror. “Back to the manor,” I added, and he quickly strapped on his seatbelt and ignited the engine.As the car rolled onto the highway, I leaned forward and tore off the jacket, feeling hot all over, despite the air conditioner blasting cold air inside the car.“You shouldn’t have done that,” I started after a while, breaking the heavy silence in the car, and Luca, as if sensing I was referring to him, and almost like he’d been waiting for this moment, whipped his gaze to me.“
Damon’s POVTwenty-six years agoThe loud popping sound of the confetti popper exploded in my ears as I stepped through the doors, and throwing my backpack to the side, I slapped my palms over my ear, the confetti foams falling everywhere around me. In my hair. On my face. In my mouth.“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear sweet boy, happy birthday to you!”The two maids clapped cheerfully, their faces all smiles, and I looked around for the one face I always looked forward to seeing every day I came from school.And seconds later, I heard her voice. Loud, cheerful, and smooth.“Hooray!” She screamed, appearing from behind the curtains with a large box in her hand. Her face all smiles.“Mom!” I shrieked excitedly, sprinting towards her, and setting the box down on the table, she scooped me into her arms.“Happy birthday, Bambino,” she whispered, smiling down at me, then she leaned in and brushed my hair away from my eyes. “Let’s go cut your cake, shall we?
Zach’s POV“Fucking hell!” I yelled, gripping both sides of my head as sharp, blinding pain zinged through it, teleporting to my heart and squeezing hard.The fucking pills, again. It did this to me.But this pain, the whole of it, couldn’t be attributed to just the pills alone.Damon Vyon. He had riled me up pretty badly at the hospital.I hadn’t expected him to recognize me after all these years. We’d grown into adults, after all.But still, I’d had the tiniest bits of hope when our eyes collided back at the hospital. Hope that he will recognize me, even if it was a little bit.But that was completely impossible. I wasn’t the same boy I was back then.I’d grown in ways no one would have expected and altered my looks also. I’d been on a revenge mission from a very young age, and it was all targeted towards one person—well, right now.Before, I’d had a long list of people I held a grudge against. And Damon was at the top.I’d made sure to end the lives of everyone that had contributed
Iris’s POVI paced about Damon’s private library, from where I could see Luca’s house clearly, reading the texts on the screen repeatedly.The ones Luca had sent.What exactly was his deal?I couldn’t understand what he wanted with me. I had a hunch he was interested in me, but could he not see who I was dealing with?Was he simply fearless or outright stupid?He should know who Damon was, and how fiery he could be. Or did he just like to play with fire?I thought back to the first time I’d set my eyes on Luca, and the stir I’d felt in my chest.For a short while, when I’d harbored hatred for Damon in my heart—or so I thought—I thought I’d fancied those baby blue eyes and charming smile of Luca’s. But I’d realized later on that it was only an infatuation, as it couldn’t even match up to what I felt whenever I looked at Damon.It couldn’t match up to how Damon made me feel.But I had no perfect word to describe that feeling.Damon confused me. On some days, he was cold like the Hudson
Damon’s POVI slammed the door shut and adjusted my jacket, my eyes immediately trailing to Iris’s window.She should be home by now, right?Gary had called earlier with a report on how she’d abducted the car, together with the other woman—her name was forbidden in my thoughts and on my lips.“You can go,” I said to Marcus, who curtsied slightly and bolted.Taking deep and slow breaths, I strode into the house.“Welcome, sir,” Ryder greeted as soon as I stepped through the main doors, scurrying to take my jacket, and I rolled my eyes upwards, wondering if he was ever going to drop the honorifics.I was honestly tired of being referred to as a sir, by a man that was certainly twice my age.“Where’s Iris?” I asked, moving towards the liquor cabinet.I needed a drink, and badly.“Upstairs, in her room,” Ryder replied, trudging behind me.I nodded, reaching for a glass cup, and just as I uncorked the bottle of liquor I’d picked out, someone snatched it from my fingers. To my surprise, I w
Iris’s POVI stood in the doorway, my arms folded across my chest as I glared up at him, trying to mask the surprise I felt.Did he just apologize to me? He never did that. Ever. This was his first.“What exactly are you sorry for?” I queried, trying to keep the rage in my tone. “For embarrassing me back at the hospital, or for embarrassing my teacher? Which is it?”He sighed, pushing his fingers through his hair. “I said I’m sorry, okay?” He murmured, blowing hot air through his nostrils. “It took me a lot to say that.”Of course, I knew that.But I kept glaring at him, refusing to let him off so easily, and he sighed again, obviously agitated.“Okay,” he said, squaring his shoulders. “For everything? I’m sorry for everything if that’s what you’re looking to hear—““If you’re going to apologize, do it right!” I suddenly yelled, throwing my hands up in the air.Did he have to be corny about it?“I was just worried about you, you know. And look at you, you’re a mess,” I added, shaking
Damon’s POV“W-what?” She stuttered, a deep frown tainting her beautiful features. “Why?”I shrugged, trying to ease the heavyweight that pushed down on my chest, taking me back to those very dark times.Why was all this happening at the same time? Why had that woman shown up now? All these emotional nuances were the only distractions I didn’t need at this point.I was too busy for them.“Like I said,” I replied, clearing my throat, “it’s a long and sad story I don’t want to get into right now.” She looked offended, more disappointed, and I was forced to add a few more words. “The details are sorta provoking, trust me.”“How did you get separated from her?” She pushed on, unwilling to let the matter rest, and I waved my hand dismissively.“All that isn’t important right now, Iris,” I insisted, watching her carefully. “But the bottom line is, she never cared to look for me after we got separated, never came for me. And even when I went to look for her, she sent me away in the coldest w
Damon’s POVThree months earlier“So, you got a new tattoo?”The voice of the therapist pulled me out of my thoughts, and I pulled my gaze away from the window facing the garden, looking down at the still-fresh tattoo on my arm.“Yeah..” I murmured, tracing a finger across the face on the tattoo, lingering around the eyes that stared back at me.“When?” The female therapist asked, and I shrugged, not taking my eyes off the tattoo.“Just a few weeks back, I guess.”“Really? Can I see?”“Sure,” I mumbled, heaving a sigh.She rose to her feet and moved around her desk, coming over to where I sat and leaning forward behind me.“Wow,” she exclaimed quietly, a little amazement in her voice. “That’s a unique face. A pretty one, at that.”“Yeah, I know right?” I replied, the corners of my lips tilting up in a small smile. “It’s a face I keep seeing in my dreams, Andrea.”Andrea, my therapist, stood back then and observed me closely, almost lik
Iris’s POVA year laterI stood at the floor-to-ceiling window on the balcony of the condo, admiring the beautiful night view, my mind a melancholic mess.It had been that way since that night after Damon had fallen off that cliff.And we hadn’t seen him since.There was nowhere we hadn’t looked.But Damon was nowhere to be found.I’d cried and cried for months, but to my greatest despair, that was all I could do.Sometimes I wished Luca hadn’t showed up with Gary when he did, because then I’d have been killed too, and I wouldn’t have to deal with this pain.At least I’d be dead and buried, probably alongside him.It was as I’d seen him falling off that cliff that I knew I was in love with Damon Vyon, my heart falling right out with him.And I never got a chance to tell him how I felt…“What are you thinking about?”I whirled around to see Luca standing at the balcony door, watching me with a sober expression on his face.He too, had not remained the same ever since Damon disappeared
Iris’s POVThe gun fell out of my trembling hand, clattering to the floor.Did he just ask me to shoot Damon?No, no. I couldn’t.Sighing and pushing his fingers through his hair, Zach bent down and picked up the gun, approaching me menacingly. “Don’t piss me off, pretty girl,” he snapped, his tone laced with derision, as he pressed the gun into my hand again. “Shoot him, I said.”“No!” I screamed now, intentionally throwing the gun far from me, and as it tumbled over the cliff, Zach let out a deep growl and whirling around, he struck me heavily across the cheek.“Fucking bastard!” Damon yelled, struggling viciously to break free of his chains, and tears blurring my vision, I stared down at him, knowing very well that this would end badly.How could we possibly get out of this?What miracle could happen?“Hey you,” Zach snapped his fingers at one of his men, “get me another gun.” They quickly came forward, presenting him with a new gun, and he took it, observing it closely.“Now,” he
Damon’s POVI stared up at the chief coward—Zach, was it?—my vision blurring.Ah. So it was him? The one I’d replaced?This story he recounted.. triggered the memory of a day I’d kept buried and locked up, unconsciously, the pain coming right back and whipping me emotionally.That little boy from back then. I stared at the scar on his chest, remembering how I’d felt seeing him bleed out on the floor that day.“You seem to be getting your fucking memories back, don’t you?” Zach spat, his eyes growing darker than they were already.Of course, that day had been a fucking bloody day. So how could I forget?*****Fifteen years ago“W-what are you doing here?” The man who called himself my father stuttered, staring at me with a fear I’d never seen in his eyes before.We stood facing each other on the rooftop of his new law firm, a stick of cigar in his hand, dark circles underneath his eyes.Had he even been sleeping? Well, how could he sleep, after he sold me off to that maniac of a mafia
Damon’s POVHe glared at me for a long time, saying nothing, his eyes taking on a distant look. Then rising to his feet, he cleared his throat.“It’s your money, quite alright,” he started, shoving his fingers in his pocket, alongside the flash drive, “but this money is nothing compared to what you stole from me, Damon.”What the heck was he talking about? What exactly would I steal from a stranger like him? Someone I knew nothing about?He stopped pacing for a while, staring down at me. “You might have forgotten,” he scoffed, “seeing how fucking clueless you look right now.”“Look,” I started, frustration climbing into my tone, against my will, “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, or how you got your hands on that. But if it’s the money you want, you can keep it.” “Just let her go,” I added, nodding in Iris’s direction. “She has nothing to do with any of this.”He looked back at her for a moment, then threw his head back in a maniacal laughter, shaking his head.“Who sai
Damon’s POVThe slap of the wind on my face was what woke me up this time. Slowly, I peeled my eyes open, every part of my body aching, my head throbbing painfully.Where was I now?Fuck…Iris..There was no time, and here I was..lying around, letting that weird woman keep putting me down.Looking around, I slowly realized where I was. On a cliff? How come? How did I get here? That weird woman couldn’t have carried me here all alone, right?This was a cliff..had to be. That was one explanation for this much breeze and open space.Grunting, I tried to move around, and I was a bit disappointed to find that I was still bound by wrists and ankles. What was I expecting?I tried to turn around then, and someone’s foot pressed into my back, pushing me back to the ground.“Well, well,” an unfamiliar voice rang out from behind me, cold and rusty, and excited, “look who we have here.”I tried to turn around, to see who had joined us, but the person that had their stinky foot on my back pressed i
Iris’s POV“Where the fuck have you been?”I was jammed in the backseat of the moving car, between a woman who smelled heavily of putrid blood, and the man who had slapped me earlier, my hands and feet still bound very tightly, the ropes cutting into my flesh.I had no idea where we were headed.“Well,” the woman cleared her throat, “is that how you thank me for making this fucking easy for you?”Sighing, the man leaned back in his seat and pulled the woman into his lap.“Unlock the windows, Dante,” he ordered, twisting his nose upwards, “it smells so fucking rotten in here.”Then he turned his attention to the woman in his lap. “I’m sorry, my beautiful Anna,” he murmured, stroking her hair. “I was just carried away with all that’s happening, you know. Everything’s happening all at once, and I mean, it’s good. Trust me.”She smiled, reaching into her pocket and retrieving a pack of cigarettes. “Okay..” she murmured, “what do you have to say about my performance?”“I’m duly impressed,
Iris’s POVI’d thought this vile-looking man could be bluffing when he’d insinuated that he had Damon, but from the way his eyes sparkled right now, I feared it wasn’t just an insinuation. He’d meant it.And what was that he said? He wanted me to kill Damon? Why would I do that? Why would he want that? I mean, it was clear now that this man was an enemy of Damon’s, but why would he want me to kill Damon?As I glared up at him, my eyes burning, my heart ramming hard against my chest, I tried to regulate my breathing. Tried to mask the fear that now clouded my senses, making my tongue as heavy as lead.I swallowed hard, wincing from the pain of my hair being pulled right down to the scalp. “You want me to do what?” I demanded, my tone laced with that same fear I tried so hard to mask.Scoffing, he let go of my hair and rose to his feet. “You try to hide it,” he started, “but you seem to be quite distressed by what I’d just said.” He paused, shoving his palms into his pockets and glaring
Zach’s POV“Anna did all of that?”I stood with my back to Dante, staring out the floor-to-ceiling window, the corners of my lips turned up in a satisfactory smile.“Yes, boss,” Dante replied. “We were just on our way to send a message across to Damon Vyon when she called with the information.”Throwing my head back, I let out a small chuckle, clapping my palms dramatically. “She’s a real vixen, isn’t she?” I muttered, shaking my head. “It baffles me, you know, how very alike we seem.”“So,” I continued after a few moments of silence passed, “we have Damon Vyon in our hands right now? Is that truly so?”“Yes, boss,” he replied. “He’s currently at the warehouse we’ve prepared. We await further instructions from you.”“Great,” I murmured, thumbing my beard.I didn’t think it would be so easy to capture Damon Vyon. I’d spent all these years planning, envisioning, dreaming, wishing. Seeing how deadly he was. And now, Anna had pulled it off like it was a fucking walk in the park.I was dul