Chapter 177

“You aren’t…” Any better, I wanted to say—but the rest of the words caught in my throat. My mouth tasted like rot, and my vision blurred. I felt like I might pass out right there in his car.

Damien scoffed and pressed down on the gas. He was speeding up, like he couldn’t wait to be rid of me.

I felt humiliated. Gwen—that was who I needed. Not him. How Damien ended up being the one to pick me up at one of the lowest points of my life was beyond me.

When the car stopped in front of the house, I rushed to get out—and that was a mistake. My legs gave out, and I landed hard on my hands and knees. From the corner of my eye, I saw him—the devil himself—leaning against his sleek black car with his arms crossed, watching me like I was some tragic scene in a poorly written drama.

I wanted to curse him out.

Instead, I threw up.

Sour beer and stomach acid hit the pavement. It was pathetic. I was pathetic. Petty human, he’d called me—and I was proving him right with every trembling breath.

Get yourself in order, Elizabeth. He’s judging you.

“Come,” Damien said, suddenly by my side. He grabbed my arm and tried to help me up.

I didn’t expect that. Somehow, his help made me feel even worse.

“No,” I snapped, yanking my arm away. I ran toward the house on my own. Unlocking the door was a pain. Climbing the stairs was worse. But eventually, I collapsed into bed, and the world stopped spinning.

Sleep swallowed me whole.

⸻

I woke to voices outside my door. Gwen’s was loud—furious. Damien’s was quiet, almost calm, like always.

“She wouldn’t do that,” Gwen insisted. “I know my daughter. She doesn’t do things like that.”

“You think so?” Damien’s voice was even, detached. Whether he was insulting me or now, arguing with Gwen, it always sounded like nothing ever truly touched him.

It made him… terrifying. And weirdly impressive.

But Mom wasn’t impressed. Not at all.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she hissed.

“There was no point. I brought her back safely, didn’t I?”

There was more. Gwen said something under her breath, and then I heard her footsteps retreating from my door.

Silence.

I closed my eyes, hoping to dull the pounding in my skull.

“Awake?”

“Ahh!” I flinched back and nearly fell off the bed. Damien stood inside my room—arms crossed, dark eyes fixed on me. Cold. Unreadable.

“How did you…” I started.

“Your mother doesn’t trust me with you,” he said, cutting me off.

I stared at him. I didn’t know what to say to that. He stepped closer, and I fought the instinct to jump out of bed and run.

“What do you think about that?” he asked. “Isn’t it thrilling for you?”

“If she really cared that much,” I spat, “she wouldn’t have brought you home in the first place.”

He smirked.

God help me, it looked good on him. For a second, he didn’t look like an immortal nightmare, but like a man in his prime—young, hot, dangerous. The kind of dangerous people fell for.

“I brought you home,” he said. “Don’t be a brat.”

“You must’ve had a reason.”

“You’re crazily paranoid.”

“No,” I said, locking eyes with him. “You’re just very bad at pretending to be good. So what do you want from us?”

He chuckled. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Then he walked out—this time, at least, he used the door.

⸻

Mom didn’t stay mad at Damien for long. The very next day, he had a truckload of roses delivered to the house. Gwen melted. I watched the whole thing like it was a trashy romance movie I couldn’t escape from.

Worse, I had to go back to school—and watch Evan and Daisy suck face in class like nothing had happened.

My life was truly, utterly fucked.

I was just about to leave the school building when Evan cornered me.

“I’m hosting a game night tonight,” he said casually. “Just a few friends. Thought you might want to come.”

Of course he did. Evan always wanted to play the hero. He didn’t want anyone thinking he was the villain for dating my best friend—so now he was trying to rope me into some sad version of damage control.

“No, thank you,” I said flatly.

“I know you’re still mad, Liz. You have strong feelings for me, and—”

“Had feelings for you. Had.”

“Liz… can you just—”

“Fuck you, Evan.”

⸻

If there was one upside to school, it was not being at home. After classes, I went straight back to the park, hoping—just hoping—I’d find Aaron.

I did.

He was sitting on the same bench, looking like he’d never left.

“You know, I meant it when I told you to stay put yesterday,” he said, shooting me a disapproving look as I sat next to him. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“You were taking too long.”

“Yeah, my bad. But you don’t just go wandering off after drinking like that, Elizabeth.”

“It’s Liz. And I wasn’t wandering. He came to get me.”

Aaron didn’t need me to explain who he was.

“Charming,” he muttered.

He didn’t press for details, and I was grateful. The last thing I wanted was to rehash that embarrassing mess.

We talked for a while. Aaron was funny, grounded, and somehow just easy to be around. I felt like I could tell him anything, and he wouldn’t judge me. That kind of peace was rare.

Eventually, I had to go. Before we parted, he put his number in my phone and asked me to text him when I got home.

I promised I would.

⸻

I took a cab back, but my thoughts stayed stuck on yesterday’s conversation with Damien.

“Your mother doesn’t trust me with you.”

If that was true… then maybe Gwen wasn’t completely gone. Maybe she did care. Maybe deep down, she still had doubts about Damien.

And if she did… Maybe I could use that.

I ran into Damien just as he was heading out. He looked at me, unreadable, then turned and walked to his car without a word.

He could have any woman he wanted. Any woman at all.And Gwen… Gwen was nothing if not protective of me.

And that’s when the idea hit me.

It was reckless. Risky. Dangerous.

It crossed a line I probably shouldn’t even be standing near.

But it might be the only thing that could work.

“Liz? Are you home?” Gwen’s voice called from the kitchen.

“Yeah. I’ll be down in a sec.”

I ran to my room, yanked open my bag, pulled out a pen and notebook, and wrote down the only plan that came to mind:

Plan A: Seduce Damien West.