LOGINChapter 64Elena’s POVThe penthouse was quiet when we returned from the restaurant.Maria had already gone to her quarters. The lights were low. Damien closed the door behind us, and for a moment neither of us moved. The empty restaurant still clung to my skin in the wine, the private dance between tables, the way he had looked at me like the rest of the world could wait.“I meant what I said,” Damien murmured, brushing his thumb along my jaw. “That was only the beginning.”I rose onto my toes and kissed him once, soft and lingering. “Good. Because I already want another night like that.”His mouth curved. He was leaning in again when my phone rang on the console table.I almost ignored it. Then I saw the name.Mom.A small knot formed in my stomach. I answered.“Elena?” My mother’s voice was warm. “Please tell me you’re home.”“I just walked in. Why?”“Because we’re downstairs.”I froze. “What?”“Your father, your sister, and me. We wanted to see you. It’s been long enough. The secu
Chapter 63Damien’s POVI locked the phone without answering her.“It’s nothing important,” I said. “Work. It can wait.”Elena searched my face for a second, then nodded. She had learned when to push and when to let me hold something. Tonight I needed her to let me hold this. Whoever had sent that message did not get to sit at the table with us.I pulled back into traffic and drove to the restaurant.I had booked the entire place for the evening, every table, every corner, every member of staff instructed that the night belonged to one couple only. No other diners. No interruptions. No audience. After weeks of shared hallways, false claims, and family pressure, I wanted Elena to have a room that contained only us.When we arrived, the front entrance was quiet. A manager opened the door personally and led us through an empty dining room lit with low, warm light. Elena slowed, looking around.“Damien… where is everyone?”“There is no one else,” I said. “Not tonight.”She turned to me, e
Chapter 62Elena’s POVMaria held me just as tightly as I held her.For a long moment neither of us spoke. The kitchen was quiet except for the soft hum of the refrigerator. When I finally pulled back, her eyes were warm.“I needed the break,” Maria said softly. “Rest. Time to myself. These walls can become heavy if you never step away from them.”“I’m glad you took it,” I whispered.She cupped my face the way she sometimes did when she forgot formality. “You look tired. But lighter.”I let out a shaky breath. “I feel both.”Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Damien appeared in the doorway wearing only sleep pants, hair still disordered from my hands. He stopped when he saw Maria.“You’re back,” he said.Maria straightened slightly. “Yes, Mr. Kane. I rested. I’m ready to return to my duties.”Damien’s gaze moved from her to me, taking in the fact that I was wearing only his shirt, then softened. “Good. Welcome back.”Damien’s POVSeeing Maria in the kitchen again made the house feel com
Chapter 61Damien’s POVHer whisper undid the last of my restraint.Then stop talking.I kissed her hard, one hand at the back of her neck, the other already pulling her flush against me. Elena made a soft sound into my mouth and gripped my shirt like she needed the anchor. The quiet house, the finished war, the empty hallway all of it narrowed to the heat of her body and the way she opened for the kiss.I backed her toward the bed without breaking contact. When the backs of her knees hit the mattress, I eased her down and followed, bracing myself over her as her legs shifted to make room for me. My mouth moved from her lips to her jaw, then lower, tasting the soft skin of her throat while her fingers slid into my hair.“Damien…”“I’ve got you,” I muttered against her skin. “I’m right here.”Elena’s POVThere was no desperation in him tonight only intent.That made it more intense. Every kiss felt chosen. Every touch felt deliberate. I pulled his shirt up and he helped me drag it over
Chapter 60Damien’s POVBy morning, the last of the legal pieces were in place.Marcus called early.“Sierra’s plea is finalized,” he said. “Reed’s admissions are locked into the record. The false DNA trail, the payments everything is documented. Restrictive conditions are being processed. Neither of them has a clean path back into your life.”I stood in the kitchen with the phone at my ear and let the words land fully.“So it’s finished.”“Yes. Sierra and Daniel are done.”When I ended the call, Elena was watching me from the other side of the counter.“They’re both contained,” I said. “Legally. Formally. It’s over.”She closed her eyes for a second, then opened them with quiet relief. “Say that again.”“It’s over.”Elena’s POVI walked into his arms without saying anything else.For weeks the house had lived under a false pregnancy and a man who used women as doors into the Kane family. Now both doors were shut. Sierra was out of our home. The nightmare that had pressed into every
Chapter 59Damien’s POVMy mother’s question stayed with me all the way out of the hospital.Did your father know?Elena walked beside me to the car and waited until we were inside before she spoke.“You’re going to ask him,” she said.“Yes.”“Tonight?”“Tonight.”She turned in her seat toward me. “Don’t go in there only to fight. Go in there to get the truth.”“And if the truth is ugly?”“Then at least it will be honest.”I nodded once and started the car.Elena’s POVAt the penthouse, Damien barely sat down before he was ready to leave again.I stopped him at the door with a hand on his arm.“Listen to me,” I said. “Victor is your father. He will try to turn this into a lecture about boundaries and divorce and what he no longer owed her. Don’t let him talk around it. Ask him directly.”“I intend to.”“And when he answers, come home still yourself.”That made him pause. He lifted his hand to my face, thumb brushing my cheek.“I’ll come back,” he said.Then he left.Damien’s POVVicto







