Chapter 23
Damien’s POV
The car pulled up in front of the penthouse.
I stepped out into the cool evening air and walked inside without slowing down. The conversation with Marcus still sat at the edge of my thoughts, but I pushed it aside. Elena had been in my head the entire drive. The softness of her. The way she had looked at me. The quiet acceptance that still carried something deeper underneath. I needed distance. Clear, uncomplicated distance.
The woman arrived only a few minutes after I did. She stepped out of her own car wearing a short dress. No questions. No expectations beyond the night. Exactly what I had called for.
We walked through the main doors.
When I opened the door into the penthouse, the lights were already on. Soft and warm.
Elena’s POV
I was in the sitting roo
