Chapter 5

“Vito.”

Damon’s voice stopped his cousin before he could follow Lyra into the elevator.

It was not an invitation.

It was an order.

Vito watched the elevator doors close, hiding Lyra from his view. When he turned, Damon was standing outside his office.

Neither man spoke.

They did not need to.

Vito had just discovered that Damon was involved in Lyra’s disappearance six years ago.

Damon had seen the fear in his cousin’s eyes when Lyra asked if he was worried.

Now both men wanted answers.

Damon walked into his office without looking back.

Vito hesitated before following him and closing the door.

Damon returned to his desk. “What do you want?”

“I saw Lyra leaving your office.”

“I know. You followed her to the elevator.”

“I wanted to speak to her.”

“About what?”

Vito frowned. “That is between Lyra and me.”

Damon’s eyes turned cold.

“There is no Lyra and you.”

The answer came too quickly.

Vito studied his cousin with new interest.

For years, journalists had tried and failed to secure a personal interview with Damon Blackwood. Yet Lyra had returned after six years and walked directly into his office.

Now Damon was defending her as if their past were personal.

“How long have you known her?” Vito asked.

“That isn’t your concern.”

“She was supposed to become my wife.”

“But she didn’t.”

Vito’s jaw tightened. “Because she disappeared.”

Damon leaned back in his chair.

“You keep saying that as though you don’t know why she left.”

For the first time, Vito’s confidence slipped.

Only slightly.

But Damon noticed.

“She never gave me a reason,” Vito said.

“Maybe you gave her one.”

Silence filled the office.

Vito forced a faint smile. “How much did she tell you?”

Damon’s expression sharpened.

“I never said she told me anything.”

Vito realized his mistake too late.

Damon leaned forward.

“So there is something she could tell me.”

“You’re imagining things.”

“That is exactly what Lyra said when I asked about her daughter.”

Vito’s face changed.

The reaction lasted less than a second, but Damon saw it.

“Her daughter?” Vito repeated.

“Yes.”

“I didn’t know she had one.”

“Neither did I.”

Vito studied Damon’s face. “Why are you questioning Lyra about her child?”

Damon did not answer.

A troubling possibility entered Vito’s mind.

Lyra had disappeared six years ago. Around the same time, Damon had stopped attending family gatherings and buried himself in work.

No one had understood the change in him.

Now those memories felt different.

“Did something happen between you and Lyra after she left me?”

Damon’s expression became unreadable.

“You betrayed her. She canceled the wedding. Whatever happened afterward was none of your business.”

The answer revealed more than Damon intended.

Vito slowly sat across from him.

“You were with her.”

Damon said nothing.

“You saw her after she left the wedding.”

Still, Damon refused to answer.

Vito’s pulse quickened.

“What happened between you?”

Damon held his gaze. “Ask Lyra.”

“I did.”

“And?”

“She told me it was none of my business.”

“For once, she and I agree.”

Vito’s expression hardened.

Damon had not confirmed anything, but his refusal to deny it told Vito enough.

Something had happened between Damon and Lyra.

Something important.

And now Lyra had returned with a daughter.

Lyra stepped out of the elevator and crossed the lobby without slowing down.

Damon’s words followed her.

If there is even a chance that Gail is my daughter, I have a right to know.

Lyra hated that she could not dismiss him.

Damon had never known about her pregnancy. He had not chosen to abandon Gail.

Lyra had made that choice for him.

Six years ago, fear had convinced her that leaving was the only way to protect her unborn child. Now, after seeing Damon with Gail, she was no longer certain.

Her phone rang as she reached the sidewalk.

Her editor at Empowered Magazine was calling.

“Lyra, how did the proposal meeting go?”

“He accepted it.”

Her editor gasped. “Damon Blackwood agreed to the full company profile?”

“Yes.”

“That’s incredible. Journalists have been trying to get that access for years.”

Lyra looked back at the glass building.

“Who was originally supposed to meet me?”

“The public relations director, but his office called early this morning. Mister Blackwood decided to handle the project personally.”

Lyra’s suspicion was confirmed.

Damon had taken control of the assignment after meeting Gail.

This was no longer only about the company profile.

“Is there a problem?” her editor asked.

Lyra thought about Damon’s questions.

“No. I can handle it.”

After ending the call, she stared at the executive floors above her.

Working with Damon would give her the greatest opportunity of her career.

It would also allow him back into her life.

Sooner or later, he would ask the question directly.

Is Gail my daughter?

Lyra still did not know how she would answer.

Back inside Damon’s office, Vito remained seated.

Damon had no intention of discussing Lyra any further.

“What else do you want?”

“I need a favor.”

“That usually means I’m going to hate it.”

“You probably will.”

“What is it?”

“The Thorne family is holding an anniversary celebration.”

Damon’s expression hardened. “No.”

“You didn’t let me finish.”

“I don’t need to.”

“They’re celebrating twenty-three years of marriage.”

“That has nothing to do with me.”

“I told them I would try to bring you.”

“That was your mistake.”

Damon turned toward the papers on his desk.

“Ask me for something else.”

Vito did not move. “I want you there.”

“Why?”

The question made him hesitate.

Damon noticed.

“Does the Thorne family still mean something to you?”

“I was almost part of it.”

“You almost married their daughter. Then you betrayed her.”

Vito’s eyes sharpened.

“You keep saying that. What exactly did Lyra tell you?”

“Enough.”

The single word changed the tension in the room.

Vito sat straighter.

If Lyra had told Damon everything, Damon would already know about Ruth and the plan to gain control of the Thorne inheritance.

Yet he was still asking questions.

That meant Lyra had not revealed the entire truth.

Not yet.

“What did she say?” Vito asked.

“You’re not in a position to question me.”

“And you’re not in a position to interfere in my relationship with her.”

“There is no relationship.”

“You seem very certain.”

“I watched her leave you without looking back.”

Vito froze.

“You were there.”

Damon said nothing.

“You were outside the Thorne house on our wedding day.”

Again, Damon remained silent.

Realization slowly crossed Vito’s face.

“You were the man in the black car.”

Damon’s eyes turned colder.

“You should be more concerned about why she needed to get into it.”

For several seconds, neither man moved.

Vito had spent six years believing Lyra disappeared alone.

Now he knew Damon had taken her away.

“What happened after she left with you?”

“That is between Lyra and me.”

The words echoed Vito’s earlier answer.

He leaned back, struggling to hide his anger.

Damon had protected Lyra while both families searched for her. He had also been with her long enough to form a bond that still existed six years later.

Yet Lyra had eventually disappeared from Damon too.

Something had driven her away from both men.

Vito needed to discover what it was.

Damon returned to the anniversary celebration.

“Why is my presence so important?”

Vito hesitated again.

“The Thorne family wants to repair its relationship with Blackwood Corporation.”

“Through me?”

“Yes.”

“That sounds like their problem.”

“They would consider your presence a sign of respect.”

Damon did not believe that was the full reason.

Perhaps Vito wanted to prove he still had influence over the Blackwood family.

Or perhaps he expected Lyra to attend.

“I’ll think about it,” Damon finally said.

A small smile appeared on Vito’s face.

“That’s all I’m asking.”

“But don’t make promises for me again.”

“I won’t.”

Vito stood and headed toward the door.

Before he reached it, Damon spoke.

“What happened on the night before the wedding?”

Vito stopped.

The question told him exactly what he needed to know.

Lyra had not told Damon what she overheard inside the villa.

Vito slowly turned.

“Ask her.”

“I did.”

“And?”

“She refused to answer.”

A faint smile touched Vito’s lips.

“Then perhaps she doesn’t want you to know.”

“That wasn’t my question.”

“And I’m not giving you an answer.”

Vito left the office.

The moment the door closed behind him, his smile disappeared.

Damon knew too much, but not enough.

Lyra was hiding something from both of them, and Vito needed to discover it before Damon did.

There was only one person who might know where to begin.

Ruth.

She had been closer to Lyra than anyone six years ago.

Vito entered the elevator and called her.

Ruth answered on the third ring.

“Vito?”

“Lyra is back.”

Silence came from the other end.

Then Ruth whispered, “What?”

“She returned yesterday.”

“That’s impossible.”

“I saw her.”

Vito glanced toward Damon’s office before stepping into the elevator.

“And she knows Damon.”

Another silence followed.

This one lasted longer.

When Ruth finally spoke, the fear in her voice matched his own.

“How much does Damon know?”

“I was hoping you could tell me.”

“He can’t find out what we did.”

Vito tightened his grip on the phone.

“You told me Lyra never heard us.”

“I thought she didn’t.”

“What if you were wrong?”

Ruth did not answer.

The elevator doors closed.

Inside his office, Damon remained at his desk.

Gail’s blue eyes stayed in his mind.

Lyra had disappeared six years ago after spending weeks with him. Now she had returned with a five-year-old daughter who looked like him.

If Gail was his, Lyra had not only disappeared.

She had taken his daughter with her.

Damon picked up his phone and called his head of security.

“I want everything you can find about Lyra’s disappearance.”

“Where should we begin?”

“With Vito and Ruth. Investigate what happened before the canceled wedding and during the weeks Lyra stayed with me.”

“How far should we go?”

Damon’s gaze settled on Gail’s photograph in the hotel security report.

“Until I know why Lyra ran from me.”

He ended the call.

This time, Lyra would not disappear before he uncovered the truth.