I saw him every time I closed my eyes.
The way Damian had looked at me. How hard his gaze had lingered, dark and unreadable.
It was dangerous. He was dangerous.
And yet there was something about him that drew me in like a moth to a flame.
I rolled over onto my side, looking out at the soft glow of the city lights outside the huge windows. The bedding underneath me was too soft, too alien.
I didn't belong here.
I needed to leave.
I couldn't wait for the morning to come.
When I finally walked into the dining room, I had assumed Damian would already be gone.
I was wrong.
He was there.
Sitting at the head of a long glass table, drinking coffee as if he hadn't almost set my whole world on fire last night.
The moment I entered, his dark eyes snapped to me.
"Elena." His voice was smooth, overcontrolled. "Sleep well?"
I struggled for a neutral expression. "Like a baby."
A ghost of a smirk. "Liar."
I took a seat across the table from him, and did not react.
A servant set a plate in front of me perfectly arranged toast, eggs and fruit. It was the sort of breakfast I normally only read about in magazines.
I hesitated.
"I don't bite," Damian said quietly, sipping his coffee slowly. "Eat."
I grasped my fork, trying to tune out the sound of my heart hammering in my chest.
Silence stretched between us.
Heavy. Tense.
I should have just gone last night.
Staying had been a mistake.
And yet, I don't regret it, me part of me.
I didn't like that part.
"You are starting today," Damian finally said, filling the silence.
I swallowed. "Right."
"For the first week, you're going to shadow me. Watch. Listen. Learn."
My brows furrowed. "Shadow you?"
His lips twitched. "Problem?"
Yes.
It would be a problem to be this close to him.
But I was not going to say that.
"No," I said evenly. "No problem."
His eyes had a flickering look I couldn't identify.
"Good," he said. "Then let's get started."
By the time we got to his office, my nerves were too tightly wound.
Damian Blackwood was everything that was powerful.
As soon as we walked in, his employees stood at attention, their eyes focused, their moves crisp.
They feared him.
They respected him.
And when I followed him into his huge office, I understood why.
"Sit," he commanded, waving at the chair across from his desk.
I hesitated but obeyed.
Damian leaned back in his seat, paying me too much attention.
"Tell me," he murmured. "Why did you actually take this job?"
The question threw me off. "I needed it."
His gaze darkened. "Not a good enough reason."
I frowned. "Excuse me?"
His fingers drummed on the desk, slow and purposeful. "People like you don't just show up to deals like this. There's always a reason."
My pulse spiked.
I had reasons, all right.
Ones I couldn't share.
I forced a smile. "Perhaps I just enjoy a challenge."
Damian's smile was slow, conspiratorial.
"Careful what you wish for, Elena."
The warning chilled me to the marrow.
And yet I couldn't tear my eyes away.
It was a blur of tense meetings, clipped orders, the weight of Damian hovering over me.
By evening, I was wiped out.
But there would be worse still to come.
I jumped at a knock at the door.
Damian didn't even glance back up from his paperwork. "Come in."
The door swung open.
And my blood ran cold.
Nathan.
He marched in, his smirk is sharp, predatory. "Well, well. So did not expect to see you here, sweetheart."
My stomach churned.
I made myself sit up straighter. "Nathan."
Damian's eyes darted between us, sharp and inscrutable.
"You two know each other?" he asked.
Nathan's smirk deepened. "Oh, we go way back."
I clenched my fists.
This wasn't happening.
This couldn't be happening.
Damian's face did not change. But the air in the room changed — dangerous, electric.
And just like that, I knew.
I wasn't the only one in the dark.
The silence in the office was deafening.
Nathan leaning against the door, arms crossed, amusement flashing in his little cold eyes. He had the same look sharper than ever, smug, dangerous.
My hands balled underneath the table. Breathe, Elena. Don't let him see you break.
Damian reclined back in his seat, dark eyes inscrutable as they darted between us. "You didn't also answer my question." His voice was steady, but something lethal simmered beneath it.
Nathan smirked. "Elena and I? We go way back. Don't we, sweetheart?"
The manner he said this made my skin crawl.
I made myself look him in the eye. "Not long enough."
His smirk dropped for an instant but before long he laughed, shaking his head. "Still got that fire. And I always did like that about you."
Damian didn't change in any way that I could see, but I could feel the energy in the air shift. The pressure among the three of us twisted tighter, claustrophobic.
Nathan's eyes returned to Damian. "I didn't expect her to be here at all. I didn't think she was your type."
Damian tapped his fingers on the desk. Slow. Calculated. Dangerous.
"She is my employee," he said flatly. "I don't care about what happened in the past — unless it business.
Nathan grinned. "Oh, trust me. "She has a tendency to complicate things."
I sucked in a sharp breath.
He was trying to provoke me. He's trying to pull me into his sick little game.
I wouldn't let him win.
I reached for Damian, controlling the quavering in my voice. "Nathan and I have no discussion."
Nathan let out a low chuckle. "Is that right?"
My nails dug into my palms. Why was he here? Why now?
Nathan wasn't the sort of man who meandered into places on a whim. He wanted something.
And that terrified me.
Damian held my gaze for a long time before finally saying. "If you have business here, Nathan, speak."
Nathan sputtered theatrically, falling a hand on his chest. "So impatient. Fine. I came to discuss our deal."
Damian didn't move. "We don't have a deal."
Nathan grinned. "Not yet."
An unspoken something passed between them. A silent battle.
I wasn't supposed to be in this room.
I didn't want to be in that room.
But leaving would be an act of weakness.
And I literally can't afford that right now.
Nathan leaned forward just a touch, hands folding on the desk. "Let's be real, Blackwood. We both know I have something you need.
Damian didn't blink. "And what would that be?"
Nathan's grin sharpened. "Leverage."
I frowned.
Leverage? Over what? Over who?
Damian's jaw tensed, the first crack in the edifice of his carefully crafted demeanor.
I saw it for the first time since Nathan had arrived uncertainty.
I didn't know what Nathan had on him, but I knew something for sure.
It was dangerous.
Damian exhaled slowly. "We'll talk. But not here."
Nathan's smirk widened. "Now that's more like it."
I sensed his eyes flick over to me and hold.
I willed the expression on my face to stay blank. Don't react. Don't give him anything.
Damian finally stood. "Elena, leave us."
I waited half a second too long.
Nathan noticed.
He chuckled. "You heard the man. Run along, sweetheart."
I wanted to slap him.
But instead I made myself stand, chin up, and walk toward the door.
I didn't look back.
I couldn't.
As soon as the door closed behind me, I exhaled abruptly and pressed my back against the cool wood.
My hands were shaking.
Nathan wasn't actually here to annoy me. He was here for Damian.
And that?
That was even worse.
I inhaled deeply, hoping to calm my jitters.
I needed to think.
Nathan's arrival meant only one thing my past wasn't done with me.
And if I wasn't careful?
It would destroy me.