Something was off.
I could feel it in the way Damian looked at me—like he was holding back, like he was weighing every word before he let it escape. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. His jokes were sharp, clipped, and too careful.
And it made me nervous.
I tried to act normal, moving around my apartment, making coffee, scrolling through my phone, pretending I didn’t care. But my stomach twisted every time I thought about last night. About him. About the way he had looked at me, like I was something he both wanted and feared.
Was he… hiding something?
I tested it. Small questions, casual mentions of work, of errands, even of his crew. I watched the flicker in his eyes when I asked about Cade, the slight tension in his jaw. He didn’t lie. Not exactly. But he didn’t answer fully e
