I didn't get any sleep that night. Unlike the restless nights before, I wasn't drowning in emotions this time. No tears, no screams, just a quiet mind and a steady focus.
Damian always thought that control meant ownership. But I've learned that true power doesn't come from being owned; it comes from being feared.
By morning, I had a plan.
I dressed with intention. A sleek black dress, a high collar, minimal jewelry, nothing soft about it. I was wearing armor disguised as elegance. Let them underestimate me.
Let Damian underestimate me. He wasn't the only one who could think long-term.
Downstairs, the penthouse was eerily quiet. A tray of untouched breakfast sat on the marble table. I wasn't surprised by Damian's absence. When he needs space, he vanishes into the shadows. Always observing, never at ease.
Perfect. I needed him to not be watching for once.
I walked into the sitting room, where Vera, his second in command, was buried in files.
She looked up at me with her usual cool indifference. Tall and curvy, dressed head-to-toe in tactical black, she rarely spoke unless ordered to. But I'd been keeping an eye on her for weeks.
Unlike others in Damian's circle, Vera didn't have blind loyalty; she had quiet competence.
I stepped closer.
I want a favor.
She blinked once. "Mr. Cross didn't authorize…"
I didn't say he did. Leaning on the table, I said, I want it.
"What kind of favor?"
I want to meet someone, privately. Someone Damian wouldn't approve of.
She raised an eyebrow. "You're asking me to go behind his back?"
I'm asking you to remember I wear his ring, and that gives me power, whether he likes it or not.
She closed the files and stood.
"Who?"
Two hours later, I entered the back room of a high-end gallery on the Lower East Side. Sure, the art was real, but this back room was known for secret deals, weapon trades, and discreet meetings.
But today, it was home to a different kind of danger.
Marina Vescari.
Once an ally of Damian's, now she was a ghost. No one had seen her in nearly a year not since Lucien tried to have her killed.
She was perched by the window, a glass of red wine in hand, smirking like someone who knew every man's secrets.
"You've got guts coming here alone."
I took a seat across from her, holding her gaze steady. I don't have the luxury of fear anymore.
Her smile widened. "You're Damian's little bride. I've heard things."
I'm not his anything, and that's exactly why I'm here.
She took a sip of her wine. "Let me guess, you want to destroy him."
No, I want to destroy Lucien.
That made her pause.
"And you think I'll help you?" she asked. "What makes you so sure I haven't already sold my soul to the highest bidder?"
I lean on this,* I said, *because you don't serve kings you bury them.
She glanced at me, a flicker of interest in her eyes. "You've changed."
I had to. Survival doesn't leave much room for softness.
Another pause.
"Lucien's planning something," she finally admitted. "A trade. Not drugs, not guns, not information. About Damian. About you."
My heart raced. What kind of information?
"The kind that burns legacies down."
She slid a small encrypted USB across the table.
"I intercepted this a week ago. It's not decrypted yet, but I know what it contains. Bank transactions tied to Damian's offshore accounts. Whispers about your father's real debts. Evidence that someone inside Cross's circle is feeding Lucien every step you take."
I stiffened. A mole.
She nodded. "Someone close, trusted, quiet."
I closed my hand around the drive. *Why give me this?*
"Because you're not Damian, and for the first time, you're not weak anymore."
Back at the penthouse, I slipped the USB into my personal safe before Damian returned. No one noticed not even the cameras. Vera had made sure of that.
That night, Damian came home late.
"I saw Vera today. She said you went for a walk."
Is that a problem?
"No, I just like to know who you talk to when I'm not around."
I faced him, tilting my chin up. *If you don't trust me, why keep me here?*
He leaned in, his lips just grazing my jaw.
"Because I trust myself."
But I didn't kiss him back. Not tonight. Not when I've got secrets of my own.
I'm not yours to control, Damian.
He pulled back a bit, and I could see something icy flicker in his eyes. "You're mine to protect."
I held his gaze. Then protect me from the truth. Who's the one betraying us?
Silence hung between us.
"I don't know yet."
I turned away, trying to mask what I was feeling.
Liar.