CHAPTER ONE

The house was cold. Not because of a lack of warmth, but because of a lack of life. Seated at the kitchen counter was Damien, his dirty blonde hair falling over his face as his head bent forward, unmoving. He had nothing to live for, no fight left in him. Everything he had loved, cherished, and cared for was gone. His first love, Lauren, was now married to his ex-best friend Nathan. His fiancée, Jane, was now dead because of him.

He sat upright only to pick up a glass filled with alcohol, letting the burning liquid slide down his throat. He needed to not feel. That was all he wanted now. He slammed the glass on the table just as his phone rang. It was Luke, his private investigator, on the other line when Damien picked up the call on the last ring.

“Tell me you’ve found something,” said Damien, his voice rough around the edges.

“I’ve found something,” Luke said over the phone. “And more,” he continued. Damien’s breath stopped for a minute in anticipation.

“I just sent the photos to your email. You might want to check them out,” Luke said, his voice distracted, like he was looking for something.”

“Anything else?” Damien asked.

“Yes,” Luke answered, out of breath. “It was Nathan who tried to kill you,” he whispered, afraid of what Damien might do.

“You’re sure it was him?” Damien asked again, disbelief smearing his thoughts.

“Yes, sir. I sent the CCTV clip. You can confirm it for yourself.”

Damien nodded absentmindedly, hanging up in the process. They might not be friends anymore, but he never thought Nathan would intentionally try to hurt him. He was about to find out otherwise.

The first thing Damien checked was the black-and-white video. It showed Nathan entering his beach house in Malibu, where Jane had been staying for the weekend. He watched masked men go in after him, and in a few minutes, they all came back out. He shouldn’t have left Jane alone. Damien knew he would never forgive himself as he watched the house blow up with Jane in it.

What caught his eye was the picture underneath the video. It was a picture of Lauren carrying a little boy with a smile on her face. He hadn’t even known she was pregnant. But that was the problem.

The bright green eyes of the boy staring back at him were unsettling, along with the curly dirty blonde hair that sat atop the boy’s head. It couldn’t be. Damien was peering down at a little version of himself. This had to be some trick. He traced the boy’s face and saw the mark he too possessed. It was like a small crescent moon, burned into the skin close to his ear. The little boy had the same birthmark. This could only mean one thing: Lauren had had a child, and it was definitely his.

At that moment, something awoke in Damien. He had to save his child from Nathan. If he had wanted him dead, then there was no telling what he would do to his son, who was now under the same roof. Or to Lauren, for that matter. He had to save the only thing that he had left in this world. It was time to pay his parents a visit.

****

In a couple hours, Damien’s private jet touched down in Seattle. He was torn between staying in his parent’s condo and renting an apartment where he could keep an eye on them. He chose the first option as his driver turned towards the home where he’d grown up as a child.

He watched the buildings pass in a blur, his mind wandering back to when he had been happy, when Lauren had been right there in his arms, where she belonged. He thought of her straight jet-black hair, which would billow in the wind whenever they went for their evening walk in the park.

His memories continued to the time she asked him to leave and never see her again. It had been the worst day of his life. Lauren, who had loved and adored him so much, now had nothing but hatred for him. It tore at his heart how all the had could be crushed with just a few words.

He wondered if she would welcome him with open arms now. He doubted it. She had made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. All he wanted to do was get custody of his son, then he would be out of her life. For good this time. He hadn’t dreamed of coming back here since the last day he saw Lauren. Everywhere he looked held a memory of them, each too painful to dwell on now. It had been almost a year, and he hated to admit he was still very much in love with her.

The car pulled past the large gate of his childhood home. He could tell his parents were home from the faint country music in the air and the scent of soup that wafted into his nose as he walked through the front door.

His father was spinning his mother around as they danced to one of their favorite songs, so lost in each other they didn’t notice Damien walk to the burner and turn it off. It wasn’t until the song finished that his mother jumped as she turned and saw Damien sitting there with a smug smile on his lips.

“Damien! How did you get in here?” his mother asked, startled, but she walked towards him anyway, engulfing him in a warm hug. Damien didn’t realize just how much he had missed his parents until now.

“I just got in,” he answered brightly before shaking his father’s hand in greeting. The old man smiled at him, but that was all. He didn’t show his emotions very often.

“I thought you would never come back here again,” his mother said, still holding onto his hand like he was a little boy and she was afraid that he would try to leave.

“I thought so too,” Damien muttered to himself. “Let’s have lunch before I bore you with my story,” he said instead.

“Oh! I had something on the stove,” she said, suddenly remembering she had been cooking before her husband had whisked her away.

“Thank you!” Damien said, laughing as his mother turned the flame back on. She laughed as she continued cooking. At least they hadn’t burnt their house down.

Damien turned to his father, who motioned for him to join him outside. Damien followed obediently until they reached the gazebo, out of his mother’s earshot. His father turned, looking at him with piercing eyes.

Damien pulled up the photo on his phone and showed it to his father. He expected shock, disbelief, and anger on his father’s face, but he got none. Instead, the old man remained quiet, like there was nothing out of the ordinary in the picture.

“You knew,” Damien said quietly, realization dawning on him. Of course they would know. They lived in the same city with her. His father nodded, regret the only emotion filling his eyes.

“Why did no one tell me?” Damien asked, betrayal and hurt lacing his voice. He couldn’t believe his own parents would leave him in the dark like this.

“She doesn’t know the child is yours,” his father said.

Damien shook his head, not believing a single word his father was saying. “How can she not know? I wasn’t sure at first, but he has the same birthmark I do, in the same place just beneath my ear. We have the same eyes, the same hair…how can she not know?”

“She hasn’t been the same since she got married to Nathan. Something is wrong with her Damien, but I don’t know what it is.”

“Did he hurt her?” Damien asked, fear suddenly taking over his senses.

His father looked at him for a while, contemplating his answer. “Physically…no. Mentally, I’m not so sure. There’s something off about her.”

“I have to see them. They’re not safe with Nathan,” he said.

“Why?” his father asked.

“He tried to kill me,” Damien answered. “He blew up my house thinking I was there and only succeeded in killing Jane.”

“You can’t be sure about that,” his father argued.

“I’m sorry about Jane though,” his father said after a while.

Damien said no more. He had to figure out some things on his own. He also didn’t want to get his parents involved; it was the only way he could protect them.

“I’m going to go back in before your mother comes out here wondering why we’re taking so long.” His father patted his shoulder as he walked past him back into the house. Damien looked around the house. He couldn’t leave his parents here alone, not while Nathan was around.

The problem was his parents would never leave this house, even if he tried to persuade them. He called Luke, who answered on the first ring.

“I want you to send a few men over to watch my parents all day. Discreetly. The last thing I want is for them to find out. Increase security inside the house, and always have men on standby,” he said into the phone, hanging up before Luke could reply. He had to think of something really fast before Nathan found out he was around and decided to make a move.

Damien walked back into the house as if nothing had happened so his mother would not be suspicious. He sat at the table as she began to lay out the dishes, his father helping her with the process.

“Now tell me why you’re back here,” his mother said.

Damien exchanged a glance with his father before he cleared his throat. “I’m just here to handle some businesses; that’s all. I bet you’re happy to see me,” he teased her.

His mother blushed, letting the pink stain her cheeks. “You know I am. Why didn’t you come with Jane?” his mother asked.

He was still not sure how to answer that question. His mother had been fond of her; she wouldn’t take the truth very well.

“She’s fine, but you know how she is, always traveling…” he said, with the most convincing smile he could force.

“I’m glad to hear that,” his mother said. “She should come to visit one of these days. I haven’t seen her bright face in a long while.” She sat down beside her husband at the table.

“I’ll let her know,” Damien said before stuffing food in his mouth so she wouldn’t question him further.

Damien was about to take another bite when he heard the front door open and somebody knock, putting him on high alert. He saw his mother’s face freeze but paid no attention to it. He excused himself from the table to go see who it was.

Straight black hair was the first thing he saw as the door opened, then bright brown eyes stared into his green ones. The air around him suddenly came to a standstill. His heart stopped for a moment, unable to process the person standing in front of him.

Even with all his planning, he hadn’t prepared himself for when he would see Lauren again. He wished the anger that he’d felt for her would consume him, but there was none. Everything he’d felt for her these past months washed over him a thousand times over.

Lauren said nothing as she stared at Damien. The weight of the grocery bags she was carrying finally snapped her out of it, and she walked past him into the kitchen. She put them down on the counter and began putting everything away in the fridge.

Damien stared after her, following her every move as she walked around the kitchen until she was done putting the groceries away. She turned then to face him, and just like lightning, she ran to him and hugged him with everything she had.