EIGHT MONTHS AGO

DAMIEN’S POV

When she was out of sight, I dazedly made my way to the door and closed it. Resting against the shut door, I placed my palms on my chest, trying to calm it down. Please be still, heart. Please be still. I shouldn’t feel this way. She was rash and wild and talked too much. Any other person who yapped half as much as she did would piss the hell out of me. 

So why the hell is my heart beating so fast when I’m near her? I can’t even reach a fifth of her outer radius and it was skipping many beats. The look in her eyes when she looked at me. Or as I felt her burn furious holes through the back of my head. God damn.

I undressed and got under the shower, letting the cold water wash all the many ways I was thinking of Elena out of my system.

Stop getting over your head, Damien. She’s your brother’s murderer. 

But she really wasn’t, I realized. That was why I looked for her and put her in a protection cell for months now. That was why I was on this revenge path with her, even going as far as changing her face. I could remember what had set me on the path to finding Lucas’ real killer.

EIGHT MONTHS AGO

It was warm outside as I took in the breeze. The company had just closed a major deal, and I felt good about the efforts we had put into closing the deal. I had called my secretary to clear out my schedule for a few days and book a flight to Bali. As I sipped on my cocktail, my phone chimed.

I took off my sunshade, frowning. I thought I told my secretary, Hilda to divert my calls till I returned? Looking at the screen for the caller, ready to end it, I noticed it was a private number. It got me even more confused.

Something, maybe curiosity got the better of me, made me to answer it. “Hello?” I said, placing the phone to my ear.

“It took me ten years to get across to you,” the voice, sounding like a woman, replied on the other end.

“Who am I speaking with?”

“Who I am is not really important, Mr Damien Vance.”

I was taken aback. This person knew who I was.

“What do you want?” I asked, ready to hear a blackmail, it wasn’t a new thing to me at this point.

“I don’t want anything from you, really. Only that you get revenge for your brother’s death,” she responded.

I scoffed, almost laughing at this incredulous woman. “I’ve gotten my revenge. My brother’s murderer is already rotting where she belongs. In jail. For the rest of her miserable life,” I spat. “So if you don’t have anything better to do than spew nonsense on my phone, I suggest you end the call right now. I’ve been patient with you long enough. And trust me, I’m not usually this patient.” I made to end the call when I heard her next words.

“Elena Carter didn’t murder your brother. Her boyfriend and her sister did.”

I was shocked. Beyond words. What was this woman talking about?

“What did you say?”

The line on the other end cackled with static frequency before it got clearer. “You heard me loud and clear. Your brother’s killers are still roaming the streets scot-free. In fact, they’re squandering the hard-earned wealth and making dirty money.”

Could what this lady was saying be true? As if she could hear my thoughts, she continued.

“I’d tell you everything right now, but I have reasons to believe that this call is wiretapped. I’ll be flying back to New York briefly tomorrow. Let’s meet up then. I’ll tell you everything I know,” she had said and the call ended.

I got out of the shower. If only I had been a couple of minutes earlier, she’d not have died. And I’d known the full story enough to start looking for evidence. Her sudden death was very suspicious in itself. I remembered I had it looked into, and it was confirmed that the other Carter sister ordered it and her husband executed it. It was like they knew who she was and what she knew. It was enough evidence that I needed to look for evidence.

And Elena was the starting point in all this.

She looked so frail, so cold and detached when I first saw her. She was looking malnourished and older. Like the past ten years aged her more than it should have. Her eyes told of years of pain and suffering in silence. 

My jaw clenched just remembering everything that brought us to this point. I’d make the people that murdered Lucas pay for their crimes, and she’d get her revenge for taking the fall for something she did not do. It was the perfect collaboration. It was also why I couldn’t have anything other than this contract to do with her.

Getting dressed in my sweatpants, I lay on my bed and soon sleep enveloped me.

In the early morning, after a short exercise, I got ready to make breakfast. Heading downstairs to the kitchen, I was greeted with the most shocking sight. The kitchen was turned upside down, like a cyclone I run through it multiple times. The tap was overflowing, water spilling everywhere. I could not recognize the room I was standing in.

I fumed.

This had one particular someone’s fingerprint all over it. That bitch.

Where was she, I wondered. My eyes suddenly caught a moving figure in the living room and I stomped towards it. Lo and behold, it was Elena, getting cozy on my couch. I called her, still pissed at the mess she made.

But she wouldn’t budge, sleeping very soundly, even snoring softly. The nerve of her, my nose flared.

I could do the only thing my mind could think of.

Yell.