All Chapters of SEDUCTION AND ASCENSION: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Damian POVThe first stranger approaches me on a Tuesday.I am walking out of a coffee shop near the warehouse district, a paper cup warming my hands against the cold morning air. The street is busy with delivery trucks and workers heading to their jobs, and I am thinking about nothing more complicated than the meeting I have in an hour.Then a man falls into step beside me.He is older than me, maybe fifty, with grey hair and a coat that costs more than my monthly rent. His shoes are polished. His hands are bare despite the cold; he looks like someone who has never carried his own groceries."Damian Caldara," he says.Not a question. A statement. He knows my name the way you know the name of a restaurant you have been meaning to try.I keep walking. "I do not know you.""You do not. But I know of you." He matches my pace easily, his longer legs eating up the sidewalk. "The man who took down Vinnie. The one who runs shipments through Devon's network. Mark's protégé."The list of my ac

Damian POVHe froze when he saw the cash spread across the desk. His eyes lingered on the stack of bills, and I watched him count it without touching it, his fingers twitching at his sides. He thinks I left it there by accident, and I still trust him enough to leave money out in the open. He can have his illusions while he reports to whoever is on the other end of his phone calls. I want them to think I am careless. The cash is bait, and he just swallowed it.The meeting was supposed to be simple.That is what Preston Cole told me when he set it up. A potential partner, someone with deep pockets and wider connections, someone who could take my operation to the next level. All I had to do was show up, shake hands, and let the money talk for itself.I have been in this game long enough to know that nothing is ever that simple.The meeting is scheduled for eight o'clock at a restaurant in the financial district, a place with white tablecloths and waiters who speak in hushed tones. I arri

Damian POVThe morning after meeting Jerald, I wake up to find Caleb already standing by the window.He is still wearing the same clothes from last night. The shirt is rumpled, and his hair sticks up on one side like he has been running his fingers through it for hours. He did not sleep, or he slept in his clothes and forgot to change. The second possibility seems unlikely. Caleb never forgets small things. He remembers every detail, every date, every lie he has ever told me."You are up early," I say.He turns around, and his eyes look raw, like he has been rubbing them or staring at the ceiling all night."Could not sleep."I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed. The floor is cold beneath my feet. The morning light through the curtains casts long shadows across the room, stretching toward the walls like fingers."Something on your mind?"He shakes his head and looks away. His throat moves like he is swallowing something hard."Just thinking."I wait for him to say more,

Damian POVThe phone rings at eight in the morning.I am sitting at the kitchen table with the notebook open in front of me. The pages are half full now. Names. Dates. Times. Things I know and things I suspect. Caleb is in the shower. The water runs through the wall, a steady sound that covers everything.I pick up the phone. The number is not saved."Yeah.""Damian Caldara."The voice is flat. No warmth. No threat. Just a statement of fact, like he is reading a name off a list."Who is this?""The man whose shipment you lost."I lean back in my chair. The wood creaks. The notebook stares up at me."I am aware.""Being aware does not return what I paid for.""I know.""And knowing does not fix it."I close the notebook and slide it into my jacket pocket. The weight presses against my chest."What do you want?""I want what is mine. Or I want my money back. Every dollar.""The money is gone.""Then find it."The water in the bathroom stops. Caleb will be out soon. I have minutes."I ne

Damian POVMark's information was short and detailed with a name, an address, and a time when the scarred man drinks alone.The bar is on the south side, tucked between a pawnshop and a laundromat. The sign is broken, the windows are dirty, and the music inside is loud enough to cover conversations. I arrive at nine, when the crowd is thin and the bartender is too bored to watch the door.I spot him in the back corner. A booth with a view of the entrance. A bottle of dark liquid in front of him. His scar catches the light every time he lifts his glass.I walk toward him and slide into the booth across from him.His eyes widen for a fraction of a second. Then they go flat."You are either brave or stupid," he says."Hmm… both." He looks around the bar. The few other customers are lost in their own drinks. The bartender is wiping the same glass he has been wiping for ten minutes."If Jerald finds out I am sitting with you...""He will not find out from me."He studies my face. His scar