A DANGEROUS DINNER
800 Words
Ava – Stepping into the Lion's Den
Ava Sinclair had been to more white-tie dinners than she had fingers on both her hands, but this one felt different.
Maybe it was Damien Lancaster's hand against the small of her back as they entered the high-end, black restaurant.
Maybe it was the fact that the room fell silent the moment they stepped inside.
Or maybe it was the fact that every single person seated at that long, shiny table was rich, influential, or criminally dangerous.
Ava felt her stomach turn as she realized the truth.
She wasn't just walking into a dinner.
She was walking into an inspection—one she had no choice but to pass.
Damien leaned in, his hot breath against her ear. "Smile, Ava."
She did. But she wasn't sure who she was trying to convince—them, or herself.
---
Damien – The Game Begins
Damien watched as Ava sat down beside him, her expression stoic.
She was acting cool—way too cool.
Anyone else would have been daunted by the power in this room, by the way the men in this room commanded fortunes, corporations, and the underworld too.
But Ava?
She picked up her wine glass with unwavering fingers, drank slowly, and looked them directly in the eye.
He had expected her to crack.
She was playing the game like she was born to do it instead.
Damien's lips curled into a sneer.
This was going to be fun.
A harsh voice shattered his focus.
"Ava Sinclair."
She turned her head to face the voice—Viktor Ivanov, a Russian billionaire with mafia ties so deep, most were afraid to say his name out loud.
You're the reason we're all here tonight," Viktor stated, twirling the whiskey in his glass. "Tell me, do you know why?"
Ava met his glare without flinching. "Because my father made a bargain he couldn't keep."
Brief pause.
Then Viktor laughed—low, pleased, but not quite welcoming.
Damien watched the exchange closely. This was Ava's first true test, and she needed to find a way past it.
Viktor pushed his chair back. "And tell me, Ava. Do you think you will be like your father?"
Ava carefully set her wine glass down. "No."
Viktor's brow furrowed. "Then what do you intend to become?"
Damien could see it—the point where she chose not to back down.
Ava shifted closer, her eyes meeting Viktor's intensity. "Someone who never has to make deals out of desperation."
There was silence.
Then Viktor's smirk spread further. "Good answer."
Damien's smirk matched his.
She had just barely passed her first test.
But the evening was far from over.
---
Lena & Xander – The Truth Unveiled
Lena paced around her apartment while Xander leaned against the counter, arms crossed.
"You'd better sit down before you wear a hole in the floor," he told her.
She shot him a glare. "I can't sit down. Not after I found out that my father was working with the mafia."
Xander let out a sigh. "We don't know the entire story yet."
Lena turned around. "Then let's find out."
Xander regarded her for a long time, his cold blue eyes weighing.
Then he took out his phone and dialed a number.
Lena frowned. "Who are you calling?"
He didn't answer.
A few seconds later, a deep voice came through the speaker.
"You finally decided to call, Reed."
Lena froze.
Because she recognized that voice.
It was belonging to a man who used to work for her father.
A man who had disappeared years ago.
Xander's eyes locked with hers as he talked on the phone.
"We have to talk. Now."
---
Ava – The Second Test
Dinner was ending, but Ava knew it wasn't over yet.
Not yet.
She felt it—the weight of unspoken demands, tension that seemed to fill the air.
She was being tested.
And Damien?
He was looking at her like he was waiting for her to make her next move.
And then, when she thought she could finally breathe, Viktor interrupted again.
"One last question, Ava."
She looked up, her heart pounding. "What is it?"
Viktor smiled, and there was nothing nice about it. "Would you kill for him?"
The tension in the room shifted.
Damien's face remained expressionless, but she felt the tension between them.
This was the test.
If she said no, they would consider her weak.
If she said yes, she would be trapped in a world she barely understood.
Ava took a slow breath.
Then she turned to Viktor and said the only thing that made sense.
"I wouldn't have to."
Silence.
Then—Viktor smiled.
"Smart girl."
Damien exhaled, his smirk returning.
Ava had just passed the second test.
But at what cost?
---
- Writer
