Chapter 6 Dangerous Curiosity

Selena stared at the screen long after the documents loaded. Pages upon pages of acquisitions, offshore accounts, and names she didn't recognize-but one kept surfacing.

Elena Hart.

Damien's mother.

A woman who vanished from public records over a decade ago.

Selena zoomed in on a scanned contract between Hart Enterprises and Blackthorn Holdings-dated four months before Elena disappeared from the media, her company gutted, and her silence bought with NDAs and legal threats.

Selena's pulse spiked. Her father's signature was right there-next to Damien's father's.

This wasn't just business. This was betrayal. A legacy of it.

Footsteps echoed outside her room.

She slammed the laptop shut just as the door creaked open.

Damien stood there in low-slung sweatpants, shirtless, a glass of scotch in his hand and something unreadable in his eyes.

"I didn't knock," he said casually, "because I knew you wouldn't answer."

"Ever heard of privacy?" she snapped.

He stepped inside anyway. "Funny. I was going to ask you the same thing."

She went still.

"You were digging," he said, voice like velvet stretched over a blade. "I could see it in your face when you walked out of the ballroom tonight."

Selena crossed her arms. "And what if I was?"

"Then you should dig deeper," he said, stepping closer. "You're not even close to the real truth yet."

She met his eyes, defiant. "What do you want from me, Damien?"

"I want you to see it. All of it. So that when this marriage explodes, you know exactly who lit the fuse."

Silence hummed between them like electricity.

"You're not what I expected," he added quietly. "Most people in my world play pretend. You don't."

"Maybe I'm just better at hiding it."

He stepped close enough that she could feel the heat of his skin.

"Or maybe," he murmured, "you're starting to want to know me."

His fingers brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

Selena didn't move.

Didn't stop him.

She hated how easily he got under her skin. How dangerously close he was now.

"You should leave," she said.

But her voice was breathless.

He leaned in until his mouth was at her ear. "One day, you're going to stop telling me to."

Then he was gone, leaving the door half-closed and her heartbeat drumming like war inside her chest.

The Next Morning – Damien's Private Office

Selena arrived unannounced.

He was on a call, but when he saw her, he waved off the person on the line.

She threw the printed contract on his desk.

"I want answers. No more riddles."

Damien stared at the page, then slowly looked up.

"You think I destroyed your father?"

"I think you've known all along exactly what kind of man he is. And you let me walk into this marriage without a word."

"I didn't think you'd come willingly if I did," he said.

"And yet here we are."

His jaw flexed.

"There's more," he said. "Your father wasn't the only one who signed away souls for stock options. Mine did worse."

"Worse than stealing a company from a grieving woman?"

Damien's voice lowered. "Worse than having her killed."

Selena froze.

"Wait-"

"I can't prove it," he said. "Not yet. But that's why I created this contract between us. Why I needed access to your family. Your father is the last link. And I don't care what it costs-I'm going to finish this."

"You're using me."

"I'm including you."

Selena's breath caught. She didn't know what was more terrifying-his truth, or the part of her that wanted to believe him.

That Night – A Rooftop Above the City

Selena stood alone, wind tugging at her robe, the skyline stretching like stars had been spilled across glass.

Damien joined her in silence, two feet between them.

She didn't look at him. "If you're right-if your father had her killed-why marry me instead of going to the police?"

"Because justice doesn't come from courtrooms. It comes from control. And I'm taking back everything they stole."

He glanced at her.

"Even if I have to steal you in the process."

Selena finally turned.

"I'm not yours to steal."

"No," he said, softly this time. "But maybe I want to be yours."

Her heart stopped.

Then thundered again.

But she didn't speak.

Because she didn't trust her voice.

Or herself.