The thorn Beneath the rose

"She's here."

Those were the only words Damian said before everything changed.

It started with a phone call. One that made his jaw lock and his eyes go cold.

"She was seen entering The Argent Hotel under the name Violet Marceau," he told Alina, pacing the length of his office. "She wants me to chase her. She's baiting me."

"Then don't," Alina said quietly.

Damian paused, then turned to her.

"You don't understand. Celeste doesn't play games for fun. She plays to ruin."

Alina stepped closer. "Then don't let her pull you back into who you used to be."

---

That night, Damian didn't sleep.

Neither did Alina.

She found him in the library at 3 a.m., staring at an old photo — two lovers in Paris, smiling with champagne in hand. One of them was Damian. The other…

Her.

Celeste.

Alina's chest tightened. "Is that the last time you were happy with her?"

He looked up slowly. "It was the last time I thought I was."

Alina sat beside him. "What happened?"

"She loved power," he said. "More than she could love any person. She knew how to seduce a man's body, then twist his soul. I thought I was in control… until I realized she was always the one pulling strings."

He turned to Alina.

"But with you… I feel seen. Wanted. Not for what I own or how I dominate. But for who I am under all of it."

Her throat tightened. "Then hold onto that. Because I'm not her. And I won't leave you."

---

By dawn, Damian had made his choice.

He would confront her.

But he wouldn't play her game.

---

The Argent Hotel, Suite 1813

Celeste was waiting — in silk, lounging on the velvet settee, wine in one hand and amusement in her eyes. Her long hair was coiled like a halo of shadow around her face.

"Darling," she purred when Damian entered. "You look... older. And angrier."

"You broke into my home."

She raised a brow. "Broke in? Don't be so dramatic. I left a gift."

"That wasn't a gift. It was a threat."

Celeste stood, crossing the room with the grace of a predator. "I missed you, Dami. Don't act like I didn't raise you into the man you became."

"You broke me," he snapped.

"Only so someone else could learn to heal you?" She smirked. "Tell me — does she know how you screamed my name the last night we were together? Does she know how far you fell after I left?"

He stepped closer, jaw clenched. "This ends now."

But Celeste only smiled wider.

"Oh, darling. You're only just beginning."

---

Back at the mansion, Alina was in the garden when a soft sound made her turn.

It wasn't Damian.

It was a letter — slipped under the gate.

She picked it up, hands trembling.

> You're not safe with him.

You never were.

I protected him once. Now I'll protect you — from him.

Leave. Tonight. Or regret it forever.

Alina's breath caught as her eyes scanned the street.

But it was empty.

Utterly, terrifyingly empty.