Nice to Meet You
Damian's POV All of a sudden, the room felt too small. Too hot. Eliot stood next to my fiancée with the same smirk on his face that he had last night. He had a look of mischief on his lips that looked like it had always been there. "Nice to meet you," he said, putting out his hand. "I'm Eliot." My stomach turned. I clenched my hands together. I couldn't move. I tried to smile, but it hurt so badly that I thought my face would split open. My dad was watching me very closely with his eyes. It was the same for a hundred other people. I stretched out my hand and took his. "Damian," I whispered. It seemed like gravel was in my voice. He got close, close enough that I could hear him. "We meet again, birthday boy." I wanted to punch him. Or give him a kiss. Or run very, very far away. Lila, my fiancée, was smiling big. She looked perfect—just like every photo the media had ever taken of her. She didn't seem to notice that Eliot and I were getting tense. "You two will be seeing a lot of each other often," she stated. "Eliot is staying back for a while. For Family business." Family business. Of course. Eliot looked completely at ease. He put his hands in the pockets of his slim black pants. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up. He fit in with this world of sharp edges and deals that are muttered. Still, I remembered how his hands felt on my hips and how his breathing got rough when I kissed him on the neck. My head throbbed. Did I just thought about the previous night? “ Hey, Damian!” Behind me, I heard my dad's words. I blinked, jerking my attention to the figure that was standing next to me. He had his normal look on his face, which was a great mix of anger and determination. I took a deep breath. "Yes?" "I expect you to compose yourself," he said, nodding to the crowd who were closing growing around us. "Don't do any tricks. No bad mood. You are no longer a boy. Our legacy is on the line here.” Right. Legacy. Duty. Business. No space for love. I faked a smile at the other guests and then at her, Lila. She looked lovely. She is the perfect bride-to-be in every way. Then Eliot leaned in close and whispered something to her. She laughed. I tensed up. He looked at me, and I swear I saw the start of a smirk form on his lips. "Are you okay?" Lila walked up to me and asked. "Your skin looks pale." "I'm fine," I said too quickly. "I'm just... not used to all the attention." “Eliot flew in last night,” she said, completely unaware of the bomb she was dropping. “I wanted him here for this. He’s my best friend and favorite brother.” "How many brothers do you have?” I asked, my throat suddenly felt dry "Two. But he’s the one I trust with everything.” Yeah, I could see that. Eliot put out his hand again, but this time he was more sure of himself. I had no choice. I shook it. He held it for one second longer than he had to. As he let go, his fingers touched mine sending an electric through me. Lila moved closer. "My brother likes to flirt. Don’t take anything he says too seriously." "Right," I said in a low voice. "Of course." It was too late, though. There were already flashes in my head that I didn't want. His hands in my hair came back to me like lightning. When I was out of air and told him, "Don't stop," He groaned my name into the sheets with his voice. The way he moaned against my mouth. The way his chest pressed against mine, skin on skin. The way he pulled my hair back when I— I almost choked on air. I stepped back and jerked myself out of the memory. He laughed and tilted his head a little. While calling attention to himself, my dad said, "I should give a speech." The room was quiet. Glasses hit each other. In my chest, my heart beat like a drum. He put his glass up. "Finally, my son has decided to be responsible instead of rebelling. They are not just getting married, but we are also making an alliance. The future of our companies. The image we uphold. The legacy we pass on.” I could feel Eliot's eyes on me the whole time. My dad kept talking. “And in this world, image is everything. Loyalty isn’t a choice. It’s survival.” I had hard time breathing. Because across the room, Eliot was still watching me. Not judging. Not laughing. Just watching. I moved through the rest of the party like a man made of paper. Smiles, nods, congratulations here and there. People touched my arm and said I was lucky. It felt like someone else's skin was on me. I later went to the balcony to get some fresh air. I had to take a breath. I want to scream. I had to forget everything I put my hands together and leaned over the railing. Even though the city below sparkled, I couldn't get scenes from last night out of my mind. His laugh in the elevator. His smell. His hands. Why am I even thinking of this. A voice whispered behind me. "Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?" I turned around. It was him. Eliot stood in the dark with a drink in his hand. "I can't believe you ran away this morning," he said as he got closer. "I hoped to say goodbye." I took a breath. "I thought we wouldn't see each other again." He smiled and said, "Neither did I. But now we're pretty more like a family." "Yesterday was a mistake." He gave a shrug. "Didn't feel like one." Look, this can’t happen.” He took a step closer. "But it did already." I backed into the railing. “You're her brother.” He moved closer and said, "And you're about to marry her. But that didn't stop you from moaning into my mouth last night." My face turned red. He took a sip and said, "Don't worry. “Your secret’s safe. For now.” "Why are you here?" I asked. He smiled and said, "To watch you squirm. Plus for the free drinks." I turned away. "This is not funny." He said in a soft voice, "No. It's not it." I took a quick look at him. There was no longer fun in his face. He looked like he was hurt. "Why did you leave?” He asked. "Because it didn't mean anything." "Liar." He was right. And that scared me more than anything else. With I excused myself and went back inside. The party roared on inside. I kept doing what I needed to do. Smiled at people. Toasting and nodding as usual. But I couldn't keep my eyes off him. Eliot was always watching me, no matter what I did. As the night went on, the music stopped, and I finally went to my room. I sighed and dropped on the bed. My phone rang. The screen lit up with a message. Eliot: “Meet me. You owe me a goodbye kiss.” I stared at the screen, my heart pounding.The Real Puppet MasterDamian’s POVThere was more silence in the car than the one after hearing what Lila said. I kept staring at the steering wheel like it had answers I didn’t. His face before he walked away… it burned into my mind like smoke after fire. I should have known better, but I didn’t. Now the weight of what I just learnt sat heavy in my chest, making it hard to breathe.I sat in the car for a long time, not moving. My hands were still on the wheel, but I hadn’t started the engine. Th weather was cool with the streetlight above cast its cold yellow glow through the windshield. Eliot was gone, and so was the last piece of calm I had. All I had left were questions. And one name that kept digging deeper every time I thought about it. Aaron.Just like I had thought before, he wasn’t just some old friend from Eliot’s past. Something had been off from the beginning. That night at the party when he showed up with, the way he smiled too easily, spoke too carefully and Eliot stran
The Family TruthDamian’s POVThe bright red lights of the ambulance burned behind my eyes for a long time until I could no longer see it.Lila collapsing was something I didn't expect. One moment ago she was laughing politely with a champagne glass in hand, before her knees gave out her body went limp, and she fell to the marble floor like a feather.. I still remembered the loud gasp from the crowd, the sharp cry from one of the guests, and the sound of her wine glass breaking.As I rushed to her aid and held her hand as she fought to stay conscious. She tried to say something because her lips moved, but no word came out. Just a weak breath and then silence.I left the hospital after the nurse confirmed she was stable now. But I couldn't go home, for a reason I didn't feel home wouldn't provide the comfort I needed. So I went to a motel instead.As I sat on the edge of the motel bed, I couldn't get the picture out of my mind.The motel room smelled faintly of cleaning products an
Lila’s BreakdownDamian’s POVThe sunlight leaked in through the curtains of my small apartment, casting long slants across the tiles. The ceiling fan made noise as it turned slowly, doing little to cool the afternoon heat. My shirt stuck to my back, and the stuffy air clung to everything like a second skin. This wasn’t the world I grew up in, I missed the penthouse with panoramic views, the sparkling marble floors, the quiet hush of money. But this was my reality. And it pressed against me like a constant reminder of everything I had lost. A soft knock jolted me out of my thoughts.I dragged my tired legs off of the couch and blinked away the heavy feeling in my chest. I opened the door gently, and there she was—Lila. She seemed to be a paradox in flesh. Her lipstick was flawless with sharp heels. But her eyes were filled with something she was trying too hard to hide.“Hey,” she said quietly, not even offering a smile.“Hi,” I replied as I stepped aside. “Come in.”She came in
Eliot’s GhostDamian’s POVThe blinds let in some morning light, which fell on the wooden floor in long, pale gold streaks. I sat at the edge of the bed in my modest new apartment, a space I barely furnished. I had never lived somewhere so quiet like this before, but it wasn't the kind of quiet that made me feel better.It was the kind that reminded you someone was missing.I reached for my phone again, my fingers curling around it tightly as I stared at Eliot’s name on the screen. My thumb hovered over the call button. Again. Last night, I called him five times. Four times the day before. The line would ring once or twice and then go dead each time.It didn't even ring this time.“This number is no longer in service.”The robotic voice hit like a slap. I set the phone down next to me and rubbed my face with the heel of my palm. I was so tired that my skin felt tight. I hadn't been getting enough sleep. Dreams about Eliot slipping through my fingers scared me more than the headli
Love vs SurvivalDamian’s POVI stood by the hospital window and watched the morning light slowly move across the sky. The grey clouds above me made it seem like everyone else knew how empty I felt. The nurse just gave me my discharge papers and a quiet smile that I couldn't return. Freedom never felt so empty like this before.The white walls, the beeping machines, the scent of antiseptic, they had become a strange kind of safe place. But now I was being let back into a world that no longer had a place for me. I walked slowly toward the exit, with one hand clutching the discharge papers, the other dragging a bag Lila had packed for me.I got out of the hospital through the back exit instead of the front doors, where the press was waiting like wolves. My cap was pulled down. The collar of my jacket was turned up. Every step away from the building felt like walking deeper into someone else's life.I couldn’t return back to the penthouse. My name was messed up everywhere. My keycar
Facing the RuinsDamian’s POVThe morning light came in through the blinds in stripes. It felt warm and soft on the hospital bed's metal frame. But I didn't feel the sun. I didn’t feel much of anything anymore. The room was too quiet. Too clean. Too still.Eliot’s silence still echoed louder than any machine’s beep.I rolled over slowly on the bed, my body stiff, every muscle ache, but not from the fire, but from something deeper. Loss. The kind that didn’t bruise your skin, but made you feel empty inside.The time was the first thing I saw when I opened my phone: 7:46 a.m. Then the messages came pouring in, one after the other, like lights blinking across the screen. A dozen of them.Lila: "How are you holding up?”Rachel: “Mr. Vale, I’m still here if you need anything.”Cassian: “Dude. What the hell. Are those articles true?”Unknown Number: “Rot in hell, predator.”There are other messages, but I didn't bother to open the rest. I just scrolled through them all like they didn't ma