Chapter 29

Damian’s POV

The silence of my office was heavy, but not in the way it had been these past two weeks.

She was back.

Kayna.

Even now, with the city sprawled beneath my floor to ceiling windows and reports scattered across my desk, my mind replayed the sound of her voice that morning. The way she’d stood in the doorway, uncertain but composed, with that stubborn determination in her eyes.

And the way my chest had tightened when I asked about her mother.

It wasn’t supposed to matter. Employees came and went. Personal lives were irrelevant so long as performance held steady. That was the rule I’d built my empire on. Yet when Kayna’s gaze softened and she’d whispered better, stronger, I felt something I hadn’t felt in years—relief.

Relief for her.

And it was dangerous.

The day had unfolded like a test I hadn’t realized I was setting for myself.

I told myself I would remain detached. That I would treat her return with the same dispassionate efficiency I demanded of everyone else. But as she moved through the office—head bent over her portfolio, hands flying across the keyboard, quietly fielding calls with Ava—I found myself watching her more than I should.

There was a steadiness to her, but also a fragility just beneath the surface, the kind that made me want to shield her from the world and ruin her in the same breath.

When she smiled at Ava’s jokes, it twisted something sharp in my chest. And when she looked at me—direct, unwavering—it was all I could do to look away.

Boundaries. She had drawn them before we left for LA. Professional, precise, untouchable. Yet today, when she thanked me for helping her mother, her voice cracked with sincerity, and for a second, those walls between us didn’t feel so indestructible.

The phone buzzed on my desk, dragging me out of thoughts I had no business entertaining. I snatched it up, my tone brisk.

“Marshall.”

“Damian, it’s Carter Lawson.” The voice of Cosmo’s managing director carried a practiced warmth. “First, congratulations again on securing the contract. The board was impressed with your team’s presentation.”

My jaw eased a fraction. “Good to hear. I trust the next steps will be straightforward.”

“Mostly,” Lawson said, hesitating just enough to make my gut tighten. “We’ll need you in Los Angeles in a week’s time. The board wants to finalize terms in person, and one of our senior partners has requested a deeper dive into your operational model. Bring whoever you deem necessary.”

I leaned back in my chair, eyes narrowing at the skyline. A week. That gave me little time to regroup, but it wasn’t negotiable.

“I’ll be there,” I said flatly. “Send the details to my office.”

“Of course. And Damian—” Lawson’s tone dropped slightly. “Your assistant—Miss Scott? She was remarkable in the last presentation. The board noticed. I’d advise bringing her again.”

My grip on the phone tightened, a flicker of something I refused to name sparking in my chest. Pride? Possessiveness? Both were equally unacceptable.

“She’ll be there,” I said curtly, then ended the call.

The triumph of securing Cosmo’s future soured quickly when the next call came through. The name flashing across the screen made my stomach knot. I hadn’t spoken to her in ages and for some really odd reasons I would have preferred it stayed that way.

Mother.

I considered ignoring it. But she never called without reason—and when she wanted something, avoiding her only delayed the inevitable.

I answered. “Mother.”

“Damian.” Her voice was smooth, cool, the kind of aristocratic tone that had made servants tremble when I was a boy. “I trust you’re well.”

“What do I owe this call today, what do you want?”

She clicked her tongue softly. “Straight to business, as always. I’ll spare you the pleasantries. Your brother is returning.”

The pen in my hand stilled. “Alex?”

“Yes. He arrives New York tomorrow.”

A hollow chill spread through me, memories stirring of sharp words and colder silences, of the constant shadow of a man who had once been heir to everything before I claimed it for myself.

Mother’s voice sharpened. “I expect both of you at the estate for dinner. There are matters to discuss—family matters. Do not be late.”

I exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of my nose. “This isn’t a good time. I have a lot of business to attend to right now but as soon as I can find the time to come around I will do so.”

“It was not a request, Damian.” Her tone cut like glass. “Tomorrow. Eight o’clock.”

The line went dead before I could argue.

I sat back in my chair, the weight of her words sinking like lead.

Alex.

The name itself was enough to ruin the rest of my day.

I stared out at the skyline again, fists clenched on the desk. Kayna’s laughter floated faintly through the glass wall, where Ava was showing her something on a tablet.

The sound should have irritated me. Instead, it steadied me in a way I didn’t understand.

She was light where my world was shadows. And maybe that was exactly why she was dangerous.

Tomorrow I would face my brother. A week from now, I would fly to LA to seal one of the biggest contracts of my career.

But all I could think about, absurdly, was the way Kayna had looked at me that morning when she said her mother was better.

And the possibility that I was in more trouble than I’d ever been before.