All Chapters of RISE OF THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Her lips taste like sin and defiance.The kind of temptation I’ve spent years mastering the discipline to ignore. And yet here I am, shattering every line I swore I’d never cross.I hadn’t planned this. Hell, I hadn’t even planned to follow her. But when she didn’t come back after excusing herself, something inside me shifted. Possessiveness, jealousy. Whatever it was, it dragged me straight through those doors and right to her.Now, my hand is buried in her hair, my mouth on hers, and for the first time in years, control feels like a foreign concept.She clings to me like she hates herself for wanting me, but she wants me all the same. I can feel it in the way her fingers curl into my suit, in the way she parts her lips just enough to let me deepen the kiss.Dangerous.Reckless.Addictive.I pull back, but only just. Our foreheads touch, our breaths mingling. I should walk away. I should put the mask back on and pretend this never happened.Instead, I whisper, low and rough, “You dr

Damien doesn’t move away, he doesn't even flinch. He just turns his head slightly, still close enough that his breath brushes across my mouth. “Come in,” he says, voice low and steady, dangerous.“Damien!” I scold. “Are you crazy!” I try to scurry off his lap, but he gives me a look that has me reconsidering my actions. The door creaks open and a junior staff member steps inside, arms full of files. His eyes flicker to us, then drop instantly to the floor, like he’s seen too much already. “Mr. Moretti… the documents you requested for the board meeting.” He sets them on the desk with stiff, nervous movements.Damien’s hand tightens at my hip, hidden from view, possessive. “Leave them,” he commands.“Yes, sir.” The worker nods quickly and almost bolts from the room, shutting the door behind him.“Relax,” he says, typing something on his computer. “Mark won't say anything. He's one of the few employees I trust.” I finally pull in a shaky breath. Damien trusting people as frequently a

I carry her back to the bedroom, her body heavy in my arms, still trembling faintly from the intensity of the night. She’s utterly exhausted, lips parted, hair falling messily across her face, and every instinct in me screams to keep her close, never let her go.I give her a quick warm bath before taking her back to the bedroom. I lower her onto the bed, tucking the sheets around her like she’s fragile porcelain. Her head finds its place against my chest, and I let her settle there, listening to the soft, uneven rhythm of her breathing. The scent of her; warm, sweet, uniquely hers, fills me completely, tugging at every nerve, every dark, possessive desire inside me.“You’re safe,” I murmur, pressing a lingering kiss to the crown of her head. Her tiny sigh against my chest is enough to melt the last edges of control I’ve managed to cling to.She curls closer, limbs draping over me almost instinctively, and I can feel the heat of her skin radiating into mine. Her hair tickles my neck,

Amy’s eyes go round at the sound of that voice. Damien’s voice has a way of filling a room, smooth and cool but edged with steel. She stumbles back from my desk like a child caught sneaking candy.“Uh… Mr. Moretti.. sir…” she stammers, clutching her folder like a shield.Damien is already striding in, jacket off, shirtsleeves rolled to the elbow. His presence is a wall of heat and authority. His eyes flick once to Amy, then lock on me. “Who,” he repeats quietly, “is meeting who?”Amy looks at me like she wants to disappear. “I…I was just leaving.” She dips a bow and bolts for the door. The click of it closing leaves a heavy silence behind.Damien crosses the office slowly, a predator closing distance, and stops at the edge of my desk. “Talk,” he says. “Who was on the phone?”I lean back in my chair, deliberately calm, even though my heart is hammering. “Mason Westwood.”The name lands like a gauntlet. His jaw flexes. “Westwood. Of Westwood International. The Mason who believed the lie

“You didn’t tell me you were going to be here,” I say as we head to his car. I pull my blazer tighter around my body, the evening breeze biting at my skin.“I wanted to see how you handled your father,” Damien says, voice smooth but tinged with amusement. He falls into step beside me, hand brushing mine occasionally as we move toward the sleek black sedan waiting curbside.I smirk, trying to keep my tension from showing. “Well, I survived. Barely. He still thinks I’m reckless and naïve and don't know anything, but he'll soon realize I’m not the same girl he humiliated years ago.”Damien chuckles, a low, warm sound that sends a shiver down my spine. “I knew you’d make him squirm. You always had that fire. And today? You didn’t just make him squirm, you made him respect you, a little.”I glance at him. “I don't want his respect. I want my revenge.”He grins, that mischievous glint in his eyes. “Honestly, I half expected you to explode the minute you see him.” I laugh softly, the tensi