Romances de OPEY

Damien’s PovThe second half of the hearing began with Adrian trying a different angle entirely, one I should have seen coming the moment he stopped attacking Gabriel and started smiling again.“I’d like to submit something for the board’s consideration,” he said, sliding a folder across the table toward Whitfield. “Financial records showing a series of transfers between Ms. Hart’s personal accounts and Cross Industries over the last three months. Rather substantial ones, given how recently she’s known Damien at all.”I felt Selene go rigid beside me before I even understood what he was implying.“Say what you’re actually trying to say, Adrian,” I said flatly.“I’m simply asking the board to consider,” Adrian said, all false reluctance, “whether Ms. Hart’s sudden and considerable interest in this company’s affairs might be motivated by something other than justice for her father. The optics, gentlemen, are difficult to ignore.”The room went quiet in that particular way that meant peo

Selene’s PovChairman Whitfield’s gavel hadn’t even finished its second knock before Adrian was on his feet, papers in hand, that same practiced smile fixed in place like it had been surgically attached.“Before we begin,” he said, “I’d like to raise a procedural concern. Given last night’s security breach at the Cross estate, I think it’s fair to ask whether Ms. Hart is in any state to participate in a hearing this significant.”“I’m fine, Adrian,” I said, before Damien could answer for me. “Thank you for your concern.”“Are you?” Adrian tilted his head. “Because from what I understand, someone broke into your mother’s room. That doesn’t sound like a night that leaves anyone fine.”I felt Damien shift beside me, the tension coiling through him even as his face stayed perfectly still, every instinct in him clearly screaming to step between me and Adrian’s veiled threats. I understood exactly what it cost him to let me answer this one myself instead of stepping in front of it, and I lo

Damien’s PovThe hearing room filled slowly, board members finding their seats with the particular quiet of people who already knew something was about to go wrong. I stood near the back with Selene beside me, her hand brushing mine every so often, not quite holding it, both of us aware of how many eyes would read too much into anything more obvious than that.“You look like you’re about to walk into a war,” she said under her breath.“I am.”“Then walk in like you’ve already won it.”I glanced at her, and for a moment the noise of the room fell away, the way it always did when she looked at me like that, steady and certain even with everything stacked against us. Six hours ago she’d been kneeling in broken glass beside her mother, shaking almost as badly as Naomi had been.Now she stood in a dark blue dress with her chin lifted, betraying nothing, not the exhaustion, not the fear, not the raw edge of last night still humming somewhere beneath her skin, and I understood in that instan

Selene’s PovThe security room smelled like dust and old electronics, six screens glowing along one wall showing empty hallways, empty grounds, a house pretending nothing had happened an hour ago. My mother was asleep on the cot in the corner, finally, exhaustion winning out over fear. Gabriel and Marcus had gone to sweep the east wing again. For the first time since the glass shattered upstairs, it was just Damien and me.He stood by the monitors, arms crossed, watching the feeds like he could will Helena’s man to reappear on one of them. I watched him instead. The cut on his palm had stopped bleeding, but he hadn’t bandaged it, and something about that small stubbornness undid me more than anything that had happened tonight.“Sit down,” I said. “You’ve been standing for an hour.”“I’m fine.”“You keep saying that like it makes it true.” I nodded at the chair across from the monitors, the only real seat in the room besides the bench where my mother slept. “I mean it, Damien. You’ve

Damien’s PovEthan’s voice tore through the house like a gunshot, and every second before I moved felt like it lasted an hour.“Naomi’s room,” I said, already running. “Now.”Selene was faster than me. She hit the staircase two steps at a time, heels abandoned somewhere in the hallway, and I had never loved her more than in that instant, terrified and refusing to let fear slow her down. I caught up to her at the landing and grabbed her arm, not to stop her, just to keep her from getting there alone.“Stay behind me,” I said.“No.”“Selene—”“She’s my mother, Damien.” Her eyes met mine for half a second, and everything in them, the fear, the fury, the years of losing people she loved, hit me at once. “I’m not staying behind anyone.”There wasn’t time to argue. I let go of her arm and ran beside her instead.The door to Naomi’s room was open, spilling broken light into the hallway. Glass littered the floor, catching what little illumination came from the shattered window, and for one ho

Selene’s PovAdrian’s smile made my skin crawl. “What terms?” I asked before Damien could speak.“The board met an hour ago,” Adrian said, stepping further into the hall like he owned it. “Emergency session. Given tonight’s security breach, they’ve decided the hearing moves up. Six a.m. Not nine.”“That’s not your call to make,” Damien said.“It’s not mine,” Adrian agreed. “It’s the chairman’s. I’m just the messenger.” His eyes flicked to Marcus. “Though I am curious why Helena’s former security chief is standing in your foyer at midnight.”Marcus didn’t flinch. “Just delivering something Selene needed to see.”“Is that so,” Adrian said slowly, his gaze shifting to me. “And what exactly did he deliver, Selene?”“Nothing that concerns you,” I said.“Everything concerns me,” Adrian said. “I have a company to protect.”“You have a company you want to steal,” Damien said. “Let’s not pretend otherwise in front of everyone.”Adrian’s smile didn’t waver, but something colder passed behind hi