CHAPTER 05

DAMIEN DAWSON

The past few days had been chaos. Work was a mess, the company was panicking, and I had spent every waking hour assuring sponsors that Luca’s scandal wouldn’t drag us down with him. And in the middle of all that, I’d come home one evening to find Ophelia sitting on the couch, staring blankly at her phone like she’d seen a ghost.

When she broke down in front of me, completely, helplessly, I realized there was nothing I could say to make it better. Telling her about Charlotte Sky wasn’t my place. It wasn’t my story to tell, and I refused to be the one to shatter whatever hope she still had left in her so-called perfect man.

If she dug deeper, she’d eventually learn everything, the other woman, the lies, the fact that she had indirectly been the reason Luca crashed in the first place. She’d find all of it.

But it wasn’t my job to soften the blow.

The house had been painfully quiet since then. She was still around, but I barely saw her. The only glimpses I caught were when I walked into Grandma’s room just as she was walking out. Always slipping away. Always silent.

So when my phone buzzed with a message from her "please come pick me up at the liquor store" I didn’t even think. I just grabbed my keys and went.

And when I got there… she was sitting alone, back turned, shoulders heavy. I stopped in the doorway for a moment, just watching her. I’d never rushed somewhere so fast in my life, not even sure why. Maybe I’d been thinking about her too much. Maybe I’d been worried in ways I shouldn’t be.

Watching her knock back shots, one after another, made something tighten in my chest. I walked over and took the glass from her hand before she could drown herself any further.

She was drunk enough that her eyes were glassy when she looked up at me.

“Why would Luca do that to me?” she whispered.

I had no answer - only silence. Whatever she confronted Luca with, it clearly didn’t go the way she hoped.

My chest ached.

For her.

For the way she looked...lost and hurting.

She stood, or tried to, and stumbled right into me. I caught her easily, her body warm against mine. For a split second, her eyes lifted to mine,unsteady, vulnerable. I knew I should look away. I knew I should pull my hands back and just get her home.

But I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

I searched for anywhere else to look, her hair, the floor, the door, anything but her face. But the moment I finally looked at her, she leaned in and pressed her lips to mine.

Everything in my mind went blank.

I held still, waiting for her to pull back.

Waiting for reality to catch up.

Waiting for the part where I did the right thing.

But she didn’t pull back.

She kissed me deeper...soft, aching, tasting of liquor and heartbreak.

And God help me…

I leaned in.

Closer.

Pulling her against me as I kissed her back, letting myself get lost, just for one stolen moment, in the taste of her lips and the warmth of her body against mine.

OPHELIA COLE

As I pushed myself out of bed, I tried to piece together the events of last night. It was difficult, everything felt fuzzy, blurred at the edges. My head throbbed violently, pulling a groan from my lips. A hangover… perfect. Exactly what I deserved.

I dragged myself into the bathroom, splashed water on my face, brushed my teeth, tried to look and feel like a human being again. Then I headed to the kitchen for water,something, anything, to sober me up.

And right in the middle of drinking it…

my memory snapped back.

I froze.

The glass slipped from my fingers and landed gently on the counter as my hand flew to my mouth, my fingertips brushing my lips as if they might confess the truth for me.

“Oh my God…” I whispered.

What have I done?

I kissed Damien.

Damien...my fiancé’s older brother.

My future brother-in-law.

I kissed him like a madwoman and he—

Footsteps.

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Dropping the glass, I hurried out of the kitchen, heart racing as I rushed to my room. Please, not him. Please don’t let it be him. How could I face him? What was I thinking?

The instant I shut my bedroom door behind me, I snatched my phone and dialed Mary.

“Oh my— I did something stupid,” I blurted as soon as she answered, my voice shaking.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

“Damien,” I breathed out. “Mary, I… I kissed him last night.” My eyes fell to the floor as shame punched me in the chest. I explained everything..last night, the bar, the drinking, the breakdown, the kiss, the terrifying morning-after.

“Jeez, girl… that’s a move.”

“It wasn’t a move,” I hissed. “I wasn’t thinking straight. I mean,I wasn’t even that drunk. I can’t even lie to myself. I kissed him because I wanted to. Because I couldn’t stop myself.” The confession fell out of me like a weight. “And now I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Mary listened, then gently told me the truth: it was a mess, and I needed to fix it before it grew bigger.

She was right.

I couldn’t hide forever. So I left my room to check on Grandma, made her breakfast, helped her eat. But the moment I walked back to the kitchen to drop off her tray, I bumped straight into Damien.

My heart thundered painfully.

“Good morning, Ophelia. You slept well, yeah?” His tone was casual, unreadable. Too casual.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out..so I simply nodded.

He nodded back and began walking past me with his mug of coffee.

“About last night…” I forced out.

He paused. Turned.

“What about last night?”

“I… you know… last night.” I floundered, completely mortified.

“Which part?” he asked, face calm. “The part where you were drunk? Or the part where I had to drive you home so we don’t have another scandal on our hands?”

The kiss part!

I screamed it in my head.

But my lips wouldn’t move.

He watched me struggle for a second, then quietly cut me off.

“We didn’t…” He let the silence hang. Then he sighed. “You shouldn’t drink again, Ophelia. I might not be there next time to drive you home. I have work, if you haven’t noticed.”

And just like that, he walked away.

Leaving me standing there, dizzy with confusion.

We didn’t…?

Did I imagine it then?

Was it all in my head?

I touched my lips again, as if the answer might still be there, lingering on my skin.