Chapter 64DAMONThe house felt a lot quieter than usual after they had gone, leaving me and Kyle alone with the lingering scent of of Isabella's jasmine perfume and the echo of Lucas's boundless energy."Your kid has more stamina than most of my security team," Kyle observed, finally setting down the coffee pot and reaching for an actual mug to pour for himself before handing me the pot. "How do you keep up with him?""Practice," I replied chuckling a bit as I poured my own cup of coffee from what was left in the pot and dropped it on the counter and continued speaking, looking at him. "And accepting that children operate on a completely different energy frequency than adults.""Noted," Kyle said, as he settled into one of the kitchen chairs, with extreme care of someone whose body was protesting with the movement."So, what's the plan for today? More legal document reviews?"I was about to respond to his question when Thorne walked into the kitchen, his expression troubled, whic
Chapter 63DAMONThe sound of small feet running up the stairs at what felt like the crack of dawn jolted me from the deepest sleep I'd had in weeks. Isabella stirred against my chest as our bedroom door burst open without the decency of someone knocking first. My mind wondered if it was Kyle again doing some sort of deja vu from before."Mama! Papa!" Lucas's voice rang out with the kind of energy that only five-year-olds possessed at ungodly hours. "It's time for school! You need to get up already, you have been sleeping for forever. Grandmama says I'm going to be late if we don't leave soon!"I cracked one eye open and squinted at the alarm clock that was displayed by the bedside table—7:32 AM. My meeting wasn't until 9:30, but Lucas's classes started at 8:00, which meant we'd overslept by at least thirty minutes."Lucas, sweetheart," Isabella mumbled into my shoulder, her voice thick with sleep, not looking forward to rising up from the bed anytime soon. "what time is it?""Late t
Chapter 62DAMON"It was good," she said, but there was something in her tone made me look at her more closely as I could see that whatever it was, she seemed affected by it. "There were some... challenges, but James was very supportive, and I think the work is going to be exactly what I hoped for.""What kind of challenges?" I pressed, my protective instincts immediately rising to the surface, worried about her despite my exhaustion. I was worried because Isabella was someone who normally let others walk over her, just to keep peace and I did not want that for her."Just some things that needed to be worked out," she said diplomatically, shrugging her shoulders as she switched off the main light as we were heading upstairs "Nothing I couldn't handle, and it's all resolved now."I wanted to push for more details, but we'd reached our bedroom, and Isabella was already moving to help me out of my suit jacket. Her fingers were on me, helping me out with the buttons, and I realized how
Chapter 61DAMONThe clock that was on my dashboard read 11:47 PM as Kyle and I finally pulled into my driveway everywhere silent, as people had settled down for the night, both Kyle and I were running on nothing but caffeine and sheer stubbornness at this point, and it was a miracle that we hadn't caused any accidents because I didn't even remember driving. What should have been a straightforward day of paperwork had turned into a marathon session that involved untangling every business connection between my company and the Blackwood empire. I didn't dare leave this for another moment, before Amy or her parents would try to salvage or insist on the merge being kept despite the fallout."I never want to see another merger document for the rest of my life," Kyle muttered as he climbed out of the passenger seat, stretching his back with audible pops. "Twelve hours of reviewing contracts, and we're not even halfway done." I found myself smiling at Kyle's frustration because it mirrore
Chapter 60AMYExactly." Cassandra's smile widened, turning to that of a smirk now."Despite Isabella living with Lucas now, her attachment to my sons is deeper than anything she feels for Damon's child. She raised them from infancy, believing they were her only chance of pretending they were her babies. That kind of maternal bond doesn't just disappear because she's no longer living in the same house with them."So we use them to get to her," I said, the plan already forming in my mind. "If the boys were in danger...""Isabella would come running," Cassandra finished for me nodding her head as she continued speaking. "She wouldn't be able to help herself. And once she's separated from Damon's protection because she would not realize it is a trap , once she's in a vulnerable position trying to save children she thinks she needs to protect..."The implications hung in the air between us, heavy with possibility that this might be successful and we might pull it off. This could work. T
Chapter 59AMYI sat in my car outside Max's apartment building, my hands were gripping the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles had turned white from pressure, but it did nothing to soothe the rage that was coursing through my body. My whole body was twisted up in knots and for the first time in a while, I had no idea how to deal with this kind of situation. The engine was still running, the humming noise doing nothing to help me at all, but I couldn't bring myself to drive away yet. I needed a few more minutes to process the absolute humiliation I'd endured over the past twenty-four hours.The news had gone viral, barely an hour after Damon had commanded us to leave his company and I knew this was also because he had released it himself. Every supernatural news outlet, every gossip blog, every social media platform was buzzing with the story of how Damon Rodriguez had publicly dissolved our engagement and announced his intention to marry some nobody. The headlines were bru