Chapter 106 Tainted
His blue t-shirt wrinkled beneath the suit jacket he had thrown on earlier. There were shadows beneath his eyes he didn’t remember having that morning.
The elevator chimed softly as it reached the top floor. When the doors slid open, the quiet of the penthouse greeted him. The lights in the living room were still on. The television screen had gone dark, leaving the room washed in the soft glow of a single lamp beside the couch.
The movie Jasmine had been watching earlier was paused, the remote lying forgotten on the coffee table.
Damien walked slowly through the living room.“Tesoro?” he called quietly.
No answer.
His chest tightened slightly. He already knew where she would be. Damien moved down the hallway, his footsteps softened by the thick carpet beneath him. When he reached the bedroom door, he pushed it open carefully.
The room was dim, illuminated only by the faint glow of the city lights spilling in through the floor-to-ceiling windows
.
And there she was.
Jasmine lay curled beneath the covers on his side of the bed, his bed. Damien paused in the doorway for a moment, just watching her. The tension that had been sitting in his chest all night slowly eased at the sight. She had fallen asleep on top of the blankets at some point, clearly waiting for him before exhaustion claimed her.
One arm was tucked beneath the pillow.
The other rested loosely against her chest.
Her long hair spilled across the pillow in soft waves, dark strands catching the faint silver light from outside.
A few loose pieces had fallen across her face while she slept. Her breathing was slow.
Peaceful.
Completely unaware of the world Damien had stepped into only hours ago. He stepped into the room quietly and moved toward the bed. The mattress dipped slightly beneath his weight as he sat beside her.
For a long moment, he simply looked at her.
His gaze traced the soft curve of her cheek.
The delicate slope of her nose.
The gentle rise and fall of her chest as she slept.
His chest tightened painfully.
Carefully, Damien lifted his hand.
His finger brushed softly along her cheek, tracing the outline of her face as though memorizing it.
“You deserve better than this,” he murmured quietly.
His voice was barely more than a whisper.
Jasmine shifted slightly in her sleep, her brows knitting faintly before relaxing again.
A lock of her hair had fallen across her eyelids.
Damien gently brushed it away, tucking the strand behind her ear with careful fingers.
His hand lingered there for a moment, resting lightly against her temple.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
The words felt heavier than anything he had said all night.
Sorry for the lies.
Sorry for the secrets.
Sorry for the darkness he kept dragging back into their lives.
He leaned forward slowly and pressed a soft kiss against her temple. “I love you, tesoro,” he breathed against her skin.
Jasmine stirred again.
Her lips parted slightly as she shifted beneath the blankets. Her eyelids fluttered open halfway, though she was clearly still caught somewhere between sleep and waking.
She yawned softly.
“Damien…?” she murmured, her voice thick with sleep.
He smiled faintly despite everything. “I’m here.”
Her eyes blinked slowly as she tried to focus on him.
“You came back early…” she murmured, barely lifting her head from the pillow. Damien brushed his thumb gently across her cheek.
“I came back for you.”
A small smile tugged at her lips.
Even half-asleep, the words reached her. “Mmm…” she hummed softly.
She shifted under the covers, moving slightly to make space beside her. “Come to bed,” she mumbled sleepily. Her hand reached out lazily, touching the sleeve of his jacket before dropping back onto the mattress.
Damien’s chest tightened again.
For a moment, he almost gave in.
Almost.
But the weight of the night still clung to him.
His hands.
His conscience.
Everything. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said gently.
His fingers brushed through her hair again.
“Go back to sleep.”
Jasmine made a small sound of protest, but exhaustion quickly won the battle.
“Okay…” she murmured faintly.
Within seconds, her breathing steadied again.
She had already drifted back into sleep.
Damien stayed there a moment longer, watching her. Then slowly, he stood. He left the bedroom quietly, pulling the door halfway closed behind him.
The hallway felt colder now.
The penthouse too quiet.
He walked to his office at the far end of the apartment and stepped inside.
The desk lamp cast a soft pool of light across the dark wood. Damien sank heavily into the chair behind it. For a long time, he just sat there.
His elbows rested on the desk as he looked down at his hands.
They felt wrong.
Tainted.
Like something dark clung to them no matter how clean they looked. Those same hands had touched Jasmine’s face only minutes ago.
Held her.
Promised her things he wasn’t sure he deserved to promise. Damien leaned back slowly in the chair, staring at the ceiling. “You don’t deserve her tonight,” he muttered quietly to himself.
He could still hear her sleepy voice asking him to come to bed.
The soft smile she had given him.
The trust in it. And Damien knew he couldn’t lie beside her tonight pretending nothing had happened. Not after what he had done.
His eyes drifted closed slowly as exhaustion finally crept in. The chair beneath him was uncomfortable.
The desk hard beneath his arms.
But he didn’t move.
He stayed there.
Alone in the quiet office.
While down the hall, Jasmine slept peacefully in his bed, completely unaware that Damien Blackwood had chosen to spend the night sitting at his desk because he no longer felt worthy of lying beside her.
~
Morning came quietly.
Soft light spilled through the tall windows of the penthouse bedroom, painting pale gold streaks across the sheets. The city outside was already awake—distant traffic murmuring somewhere far below—but inside the room everything remained calm and still.
Jasmine stirred slowly beneath the covers.
Her body shifted instinctively, rolling toward the other side of the bed, seeking the familiar warmth she had grown used to.