All Chapters of HIS SECRET ADDICTION: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Damien's POVThe cemetery was quiet at eight in the morning.Chen had arranged for minimal personnel, just the exhumation team, a forensic specialist, and two officers. James had requested privacy and Chen had honored it. Alex stood between his brother and me, hands in his jacket pockets, watching the process with the careful stillness of someone who'd decided in advance not to fall apart.I stood close enough that our arms touched.There wasn't much to witness, practically speaking. The work was methodical, professional, and impersonal in the way these things had to be. James watched with his lawyer's eye, tracking procedure. Alex watched like he was saying something privately that didn't require words or witnesses.It took forty minutes. Then the forensic team moved in and Chen walked over."We'll have preliminary results within ten days," she said. "I'll call you directly.""Thank you," Alex said.She hesitated. "For what it's worth, what you did. Finding all of it. Most people wou

Damien's POVThe rebranding campaign launched on a Thursday.Alex had been building toward it for weeks, quietly, alongside everything else. While the legal situation unraveled and the board postured and the press ran their cycles, he'd kept his team moving. The new brand identity for Ross Industries went live across all platforms at nine in the morning with a precision that made me understand, not for the first time, exactly why I'd hired him.By noon the coverage was positive. By three the social response had outpaced projections by forty percent.I watched it from my office and felt something uncomplicated, which was rare enough to notice.Alex appeared in my doorway at four, jacket off, looking like someone who'd just finished a long run."It worked," he said."It worked.""Jordan's team handled the rollout without a single problem. I'm going to have to tell him that directly and it's going to be insufferable.""He'll recover."Alex dropped into the chair across from my desk. "Sop

Damien's POVAlex had been quiet all week.Not the bad kind of quiet. The kind where he was turning something over in his mind, working through it methodically, and would tell me when he was ready. I'd learned the difference. Took me longer than it should have.I watched him across the breakfast table Thursday morning. Reading something on his phone, coffee going cold because he always forgot about it when he was thinking. Small thing. I noticed it every time."You're staring," he said without looking up."I know."He looked up then. Almost smiled. "What?""Nothing. Just looking."He held my gaze for a second longer than necessary, then went back to his phone. But the corner of his mouth stayed lifted.That was enough.The gala was three weeks away.I'd agreed to Alex's plan. Not because I'd stopped being afraid of the exposure, but because he was right and I knew it. Richard was going to manufacture a crisis either way. Better to remove the ammunition before he loaded it.Marcus appr

Damien's POVSophie sent the draft statement Monday morning.Short, factual, unambiguous. Damien Cross, CEO of Cross Industries, and his husband Alex Carter have been married for one year. The company continues to perform at record levels. No further comment.I read it three times."It's good," Marcus said over the phone. "Clean. Doesn't invite questions.""It invites every question.""It answers the only one that matters. You're married, it's not new, the company is fine." He paused. "Richard can't manufacture scandal around something you've already named publicly.""He'll find another angle.""He always does. But this removes his best one." Marcus was quiet for a second. "How's Alex?""Steady. Steadier than me.""He usually is."I didn't argue with that.Alex had spent Sunday evening reviewing every Cross Industries consulting contract his firm had touched, building a clean paper trail so thorough that Sophie had called him directly to say she wished she'd hired him years ago. He'd

Damien's POVRichard made his move at nine forty-five.I saw him cross the room with the unhurried confidence of someone who believed the ground was already prepared. He was probably right about that. He'd spent thirty years learning how to walk into conversations that were already half won.Alex saw him coming before I did."Here we go," he said quietly."Stay," I said."I wasn't planning to leave."Richard arrived with a drink and a smile that didn't reach anything above his mouth. "Damien. Wonderful evening.""Richard."His eyes moved to Alex. Brief. Assessing. "Alex. Glad you could make it.""Wouldn't miss it," Alex said. Perfectly pleasant. Perfectly unreachable.I watched Richard recalibrate slightly. He'd expected Alex to be the softer target in person the way he had been on paper. Alex was giving him nothing to push against."I've been thinking about our conversation last week," Richard said, shifting back to me."Which conversation?"A small pause. "The board meeting. The mot