Chapter 55 Not Losing Him Easily
Damian's POV
Sleep didn't come easily.
Elena's words from dinner still echoed in my head - "Maybe you shouldn't have let me think I still mattered."
That sentence had weight. It sat in my chest like a stone.
I'd tried to distract myself with work, with the endless stream of emails and numbers that usually drowned out noise. But nothing drowned Rachael out.
Her laughter. Her voice. The way she said good morning like it actually meant something.
And the way she looked at me last night before I walked her to her door - like she was ready to say something and didn't.
By the time I got to the office, she was already there, sorting through files like nothing had happened. But there was a warmth in her eyes - a quiet, knowing kind of calm.
"Morning," I said softly, leaning against her desk.
"Morning, sir," she replied, that playful tone tugging at the corners of her lips.
I gave a small smile. "You're early."
"Couldn't sleep," she said simply, then hesitated. "You?"
I shook my head. "Same."
We stayed quiet for a moment, the hum of the air conditioning filling the space between us.
Then she took a breath. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
Her gaze lifted to mine. "Was it just... a moment? What happened between us?"
I didn't answer right away. Because I didn't know how to.
"I don't do flings, Damian," she said, her voice steady but her hands trembling slightly against the file in front of her. "And I know what this might look like - me being your assistant, you being my boss - but I need to know if I'm not the only one feeling something real."
Her words hit me square in the chest.
"Rachael..." I started, rubbing the back of my neck. "You're not imagining it. But this - it's complicated."
"Because of Elena?" she asked quietly.
The name between us felt like a crack in the air.
"Yes," I said finally. "Because of her. Because of what we were. Because part of me..." I trailed off, exhaling slowly. "Part of me still hasn't figured out how to let go."
She nodded - once, sharply - and then laughed under her breath, though there was no humor in it. "Of course."
"Rachael-"
"No, it's fine," she interrupted softly. "You don't owe me anything. I just... needed to hear the truth."
Her voice cracked on the last word, and before I could reach out, she was already turning back to her work.
But then, she looked over her shoulder - her tone quieter this time. "I wasn't asking you to choose. I just wanted to know if I mattered at all."
I moved closer. "You do."
That stopped her. Slowly, she turned back, searching my face.
"Then say it," she whispered. "Say what you want."
I hesitated. The right words - the careful, logical ones - were there. But they weren't the ones that came out.
"I want you," I said. "And I'm trying really damn hard not to."
Her breath caught. For a moment, neither of us moved. Then, slowly, she reached out - her fingers brushing mine.
"Maybe you shouldn't try so hard," she said.
And before I could stop myself, I leaned in. It wasn't desperate this time - it was soft, slow, and far too honest.
A kiss that said this is more than a mistake.
The door creaked.
We broke apart instantly - and standing there, framed in the doorway with a file in her hand and an expression carved from ice, was Elena.
"Didn't mean to interrupt," she said smoothly, her tone almost too calm.
My heart sank. "Elena-"
"Relax," she said, cutting me off. "I just came to drop off the quarterly reports."
Her eyes flicked between us - sharp, assessing - before she set the folder on the table. "You might want to go through those before the board call."
And then she smiled - polite, cold, and dangerous. "Carry on."
The door closed behind her with a soft click.
Rachael's hands were shaking slightly. "She saw us."
"Yeah," I said quietly. "She did."
Elena's POV
I didn't mean to walk in on them.
At least, that's what I told myself.
The truth was, part of me had gone looking - for proof, for closure, for the sharp edge of something I already knew.
And I found it.
The kiss wasn't wild or careless - it was slow, deliberate, the kind that said we've been holding this in for too long.
It was the kind of kiss I used to dream about.
I should've felt nothing. That's what I'd trained myself to feel whenever Damian disappointed me. But the human heart doesn't always follow orders.
All I could think, as I walked back to my office with my pulse hammering, was that I'd built this.
I'd chosen her.
I'd hired Rachael Meyer. I'd sat across from her in that interview, smiling, thinking I was choosing efficiency and grace. I didn't know I was also hiring the woman who'd take my place in Damian's life.
By the time I reached my desk, my hands were trembling too much to type.
Lucas had texted earlier - something about lunch plans, something normal. I ignored it.
Instead, I opened my laptop and started drafting an email.
Subject: Staff Reassignment – Confidential
If love had rules, I'd already broken all of them. But power? Power had structure. Power had leverage.
And if Rachael Meyer thought she could stand where I used to - she was about to learn how thin the ice beneath her really was.
I wasn't going to beg for Damian Cross.
But I wasn't going to lose him easily either.