His Office

Slowly, I turned. Damien filled the doorway, his tall frame cutting a dark silhouette across the dimly lit room. His eyes locked onto mine, sharp and heavy, and my breath stilled.

My hands shook as I sifted through documents. Contracts. Reports. Nothing.

I nodded and lowered myself beside Charlie. I let him climb into my lap, hugged him close, and played with him, clinging to his laughter as it soothed my restless wolf. Yet my thoughts refused to leave the worry gnawing inside me.

I slipped inside, closing the door softly behind me. My heart pounded as I scanned the office. Quickly, I pulled open the first drawer, searching for… I didn’t even know what. A letter? A file? Anything to explain why Rebecca’s last call had been to him.

So I lied.

“Nothing you can’t handle,” he murmured. His thumb traced the corner of my mouth, sending shivers down my spine. “Suck me.”

For a second, silence. Then–Click.

“How much?”

I froze, ice flooding my veins.

“I…” My throat tightened, but I forced the words out. “I came to steal money.”

I loved him. That truth was undeniable. But now a single question terrified me more than anything else. Had I been loving a man who might have played a role in my best friend’s death? The thought alone nearly broke me.

He stepped inside, shutting the door with a slow, deliberate snap. “Tell me, Sofia… ” His gaze swept over the open drawer before pinning me again. “What are you doing in my office?”

I froze.

I stood there chewing my lip, questioning what I was even doing.

What if the Damien I once loved wasn’t the same Damien who sat across the table from me today? Panic wrapped around me tighter.

The nanny looked up politely. “He’s out, ma’am.”

That voice. Low. Calm. Commanding.

My eyes widened, breath catching.

I lowered my gaze, swallowing hard. “Things have been… hard for me. And I needed money. So I thought… maybe…” My voice faltered, shaky, my wolf growling at me for spinning such a pathetic excuse.

Then–Click.

For the past thirty minutes, I sat frozen on the edge of my bed, my mind spiraling endlessly, my chest tight with panic. The investigator’s words replayed like a haunting echo: Her last call was to Alpha Damien… they spoke for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes.

“Where’s Alpha Damien?” I asked, my voice calm though my pulse raced.

I turned to leave, but his voice stopped me like a command.

His hand lifted, fingers brushing across my lips, slow and deliberate. My heart hammered as his eyes darkened, trapping me in place. I should have pulled away, but I didn’t. In truth, heat tingled across my skin, betraying me.

Slowly, I looked back at him. His gaze pinned me, still unreadable. My lips parted before I could stop them. “Thirty thousand.”

He hadn’t changed it. After all these years, after all that stood between us, the code was still the same.

Sofia’s POV

My wolf scoffed, her voice sharp inside my head. “Stop it, Sofia. Damien would never hurt you. You know this.”

But something inside me urged me to try anyway. My hand trembled as I pressed the digits.

My breath hitched. “What… what do you mean?”

His eyes narrowed, sharp and searching, as if stripping away every layer of my lie.

His Office

Then, to my surprise, his tone softened.

When Charlie’s attention fixed on his toys, I slipped away quietly. My heart pounded as I walked the hall toward Damien’s home office.

“Looking for something?”

The words almost sounded reasonable. But instead of relief, they twisted inside me like a blade.

My breath lodged in my throat.

“I’ve missed this mouth, Sofia,” he whispered, his gaze fixed on my lips, thick with hunger. “And now I want you to remind me just how good you are.”

His brows drew together, confusion flickering in his eyes.

I didn’t know what to think. Should I confront Damien? Demand answers? But what if he denied it? What if he realized I was prying behind his back, digging into Rebecca’s death? What if he believed I no longer trusted him? And worse… what if he decided to silence me to protect his secrets? The thought churned my stomach.

He nodded once, as if the number meant nothing. “I can give you that.” He stepped closer, his presence thick and suffocating, his voice dropping lower. “But since you didn’t ask, you’ll give me something in return.”

Silence pressed between us, heavy and suffocating. His expression was unreadable, impossible to decipher.

At the door, I already knew it was locked. Damien never left his office unlocked when he was gone.

I forced myself out of the room before I drowned in that storm. My feet carried me downstairs, each step heavy, my wolf whispering warnings and doubts that tangled in my chest.

In the living room, Charlie laughed on the rug as his new nanny rolled a ball back and forth with him. His little face glowed with innocence, so carefree, so untouched by the shadows crushing me.

The sound of the door unlocking.

Panic surged through me. I couldn’t admit the truth. I couldn’t tell him I was

His Office

investigating him, not when I didn’t even know what he was hiding.

The lock released.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I lifted my chin, forcing a bitter laugh. “Asked you? You and I are enemies, Damien. We hardly even speak. Don’t pretend otherwise.”

“I don’t keep cash here anymore,” he said. “It’s in my room. Third drawer. If you needed money, Sofia, you should have just asked me.”

Still, my fingers reached for the keypad. I wondered if I still knew the code. Back when Damien and I had been together, the numbers were the date we first met. A bitter smile touched my lips at the memory. Surely he must have changed it by now. Why wouldn’t he?

I wanted to believe her. I truly did. But now, staring at the ugly truth pressing in around me, fear twisted everything I thought I knew.