The Memory Damien Never Forgot
1326 Words
Alina couldn’t stop staring at him.
The room suddenly felt too quiet, too small, too full of things she didn’t understand.
I remember.
Those two words kept replaying in her head.
Not because of what Damien said…
But because of the way he said it.
Carefully.
Like the memory meant something to him.
Something dangerous.
Alina swallowed slowly.
“You’re serious,” she whispered.
Damien stood a few feet away from her, his expression unreadable again, but the tension in the room had already changed.
He had revealed too much.
And they both knew it.
“You actually knew me before this,” she continued softly.
A pause.
Then Damien answered:
“Yes.”
Alina shook her head immediately.
“No… no, I would remember someone like you.”
A faint flicker crossed his eyes.
“You were six.”
That made her freeze.
Six?
Her chest tightened slightly.
“That’s impossible,” she muttered.
Damien leaned lightly against the edge of the table behind him, his gaze still fixed on her.
“It was one meeting,” he said quietly. “Your father brought you because he couldn’t leave you alone that night.”
Alina frowned harder, trying to search her memory.
Nothing.
Only fragments.
Blurry shadows.
A large room.
Men in dark clothing.
Her father’s hand holding hers tightly.
She blinked rapidly.
“…Wait.”
Damien watched her carefully.
“There was music,” she whispered slowly. “And people arguing…”
A pause.
“And someone gave me candy.”
The room went still.
Something shifted in Damien’s expression.
Small.
But real.
Alina looked at him immediately.
“…That was you?”
Silence.
Then Damien nodded once.
Her breath caught slightly.
“What?”
“You cried because you were scared of the noise,” he said quietly.
Alina stared at him.
Every word he spoke sounded too specific to be fake.
Too detailed.
“You remember that?” she asked softly.
A faint pause.
“Yes.”
Her heart tightened strangely.
Not romantically.
Not yet.
Just… heavily.
Because Damien remembered things about her childhood she didn’t even remember herself.
And that realization felt deeply unsettling.
Alina shook her head slightly.
“That doesn’t make sense,” she whispered. “Why would you even remember me?”
That question lingered between them.
Damien’s gaze didn’t move.
And for the first time since she met him…
He looked genuinely conflicted.
Like there were answers inside him he didn’t want to release yet.
Finally, he spoke.
“Because your father trusted me.”
That caught her off guard.
“My father trusted you?”
“Yes.”
Alina frowned immediately.
“But you said you worked for the people who erased him.”
Damien’s jaw tightened slightly.
“I did.”
“Then why would he trust you?”
Silence.
Longer this time.
Then Damien looked away briefly.
“He trusted me before everything changed.”
That sentence carried weight.
Old weight.
The kind built from betrayal.
Alina noticed it immediately.
“You cared about him,” she said quietly.
Damien didn’t answer.
But she saw it.
The tiny shift in his eyes.
The restraint.
The guilt.
And suddenly, Damien stopped looking like just a powerful mafia boss.
For a second…
He looked human.
Alina’s voice softened slightly.
“What happened between you two?”
Damien exhaled slowly.
Then pushed himself away from the table.
“You ask dangerous questions.”
“That’s because nobody gives me normal answers.”
A faint pause.
Then—
“Your father found something he wasn’t supposed to.”
Alina frowned. “What kind of something?”
Damien’s gaze darkened slightly.
“Information.”
“That’s vague.”
“It’s supposed to be.”
Frustration flashed across her face again.
“You keep doing that!”
Damien stepped closer.
Not threatening.
Just steady.
“And you keep demanding truths that could get you killed.”
The room fell silent.
Alina crossed her arms tighter over her chest.
“Well maybe I deserve to know why my entire life is falling apart.”
Damien looked at her for a long moment.
Then said quietly:
“You do.”
That surprised her.
Because it sounded sincere.
Before she could respond, a knock echoed outside the room.
Sharp.
Controlled.
Damien’s expression hardened instantly.
“Enter.”
The door opened.
One of the guards stepped inside.
“Boss,” he said quickly, “the perimeter is stable again.”
Damien nodded once.
“And Lara?”
The guard hesitated slightly.
“She’s requesting to speak with you privately.”
A faint silence followed.
Then Damien replied coldly:
“She can wait.”
The guard nodded immediately and left.
Alina noticed the shift instantly.
“…She really gets under your skin,” she muttered.
Damien looked back at her.
“No.”
Alina raised a brow slightly. “That looked like irritation to me.”
A pause.
Then Damien answered calmly:
“Lara confuses information with importance.”
Alina tried not to smile slightly at that.
But something else bothered her more.
“…Were you together?”
The question slipped out before she could stop it.
Silence.
Instant.
Heavy.
Damien looked at her carefully now.
And suddenly Alina regretted asking.
“Why do you care?” he asked quietly.
Her stomach tightened instantly.
“I don’t.”
That answer came too fast.
Damien noticed.
Of course he did.
A faint shift crossed his expression—almost amusement, quickly hidden again.
Alina looked away first.
“I was just asking.”
A pause.
Then Damien answered anyway.
“No.”
Her eyes flicked back to him.
“No what?”
“No, we were never together.”
Something inside her relaxed slightly before she could stop it.
And that irritated her immediately.
Why did she care?
This man had practically kidnapped her.
Controlled her movements.
Thrown her into a violent mafia nightmare.
So why did hearing that make her feel… better?
Alina frowned at herself.
Damien noticed the internal battle happening across her face.
And for the first time that night…
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Then the moment disappeared.
Another alarm suddenly echoed faintly through the mansion.
Not urgent.
But enough to shift the atmosphere again.
Damien’s attention instantly sharpened.
The guard’s voice came through his comm device.
“Boss, there’s movement outside the north sector.”
Alina stiffened immediately.
“Again?!”
Damien touched the comm lightly.
“Identify it.”
A pause.
Then:
“Unknown vehicle.”
Silence.
Damien’s expression darkened slightly.
“Keep watch.”
“Yes, Boss.”
The line cut.
Alina exhaled nervously.
“This place is exhausting.”
Damien looked at her again.
“You’re tired.”
“That tends to happen when strangers try breaking into your room.”
A faint pause.
Then Damien said quietly:
“You should rest.”
Alina blinked at him like he had lost his mind.
“Rest?” she repeated. “In your murder mansion?”
That almost-smile appeared again.
Briefly.
Dangerously attractive.
“You exaggerate.”
“You broke someone’s arm tonight!”
“He deserved worse.”
The calmness in his voice made her stare at him again.
And somehow…
That calmness was becoming familiar.
Which scared her even more.
Damien walked toward the door slowly.
“I’ll move you to another room,” he said.
Alina frowned immediately.
“Why?”
A pause.
Then he answered:
“Because too many people now know where you are.”
Her stomach tightened slightly.
“So I just keep hiding forever?”
Damien looked back at her over his shoulder.
And what he said next made the room feel colder again.
“No.”
A beat.
“You survive long enough for me to end this.”
Alina swallowed slowly.
Because the way he said it…
Sounded like Damien was willing to destroy anyone necessary to make that happen.
And deep down…
That terrified her almost as much as it protected her.
- Writer
