Chapter 15:Cute Menace
720 Words
The figure stepping into the penthouse wasn’t a stranger.
It was Valentina Vance.
Black dress. Smudged eyeliner. A thin cut across her cheek like she’d walked out of a fight and decided she looked prettier because of it. One heel was broken in her hand, and somehow she still carried herself like she owned the building.
“Eliana,” she said dramatically, leaning against the doorway. “You look amazing for someone who was arrested today.”
Eliana blinked once before smiling slowly. “And you look awful for someone "who is still Alive"
Damien exhaled the kind of tired sigh that came from knowing both women at once. “Why are you here?”
Valentina ignored him completely and walked farther inside, dropping a flash drive onto the marble counter.
“Because people are looking for this,” she said casually. “And because three men followed me from the parking garage.”
Silence.
Then Eliana tilted her head. “Only three? That’s honestly insulting.”
Damien shot her a look. “This isn’t funny.”
“Who said I was joking?”
She walked past him like the tension in the room belonged to everyone else. Calm. Unbothered. Dangerous in the prettiest way possible.
Valentina watched her with amusement. “See? This is why I like her. She looks sweet until you realize she’d probably help hide the body.”
“Eliana is not helping anyone hide bodies,” Damien muttered.
Eliana reached for the glass of water on the counter and took a slow sip without breaking eye contact with him.
“Depends who’s asking.”
Damien stared at her for a second too long.
Valentina made a disgusted noise. “Oh my God. The tension in here is actually embarrassing.”
Eliana smiled brightly. “You’re just jealous nobody looks at you like that.”
“I don’t need emotional problems to feel special.”
Damien pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can both of you stop talking for five seconds?”
“No,” both women answered together.
A loud thud suddenly echoed from somewhere downstairs.
The entire room froze.
Another sound followed. Closer this time.
Someone was inside the penthouse besides them.
Damien’s expression darkened instantly. “Stay here.”
Eliana immediately started walking after him.
He grabbed her wrist before she could pass. “What did I just say?”
“That you have control issues.”
“Eliana.”
She looked down at where he held her wrist, then back up at him with a tiny smile. “You keep grabbing me like you’re scared I’ll disappear again.”
For half a second, Damien said nothing.
Which was answer enough.
Valentina made another dramatic face. “I seriously need both of you to either kiss or start arguing properly because this slow-burn thing is exhausting.”
Eliana laughed softly, then slipped free from Damien’s grip on purpose.
“Relax,” she whispered. “I’m not running.”
Another noise downstairs.
Glass shattering this time.
Damien immediately moved toward the hallway, every muscle tense.
But Eliana noticed something else first.
A shadow moving outside the balcony curtains.
Her smile vanished.
Without warning, she grabbed Damien’s tie and yanked him backward just as a bullet cracked through the glass doors.
The window exploded.
Valentina cursed loudly and dropped behind the couch.
Damien spun instantly, pulling Eliana down with him as another shot rang out.
The penthouse erupted into chaos.
Broken glass scattered across the floor like diamonds.
“Eliana,” Damien snapped, breathing hard. “Are you hurt?”
Instead of answering, she slowly held up his stolen watch with a grin.
“I think your watch survived.”
He stared at her like she was insane.
“You almost got shot.”
“And you still noticed I stole your watch earlier,” she replied. “That’s kind of romantic.”
Somehow, unbelievably, Damien laughed.
A real laugh.
Short. Breathless. Dangerous.
Then he looked at her with something intense enough to make the room feel smaller.
“You are genuinely impossible.”
Eliana leaned closer despite the shattered glass around them.
“And you like me anyway.”
Another bullet slammed into the wall beside them.
Valentina peeked over the couch. “Can you two flirt after we survive this, please?”
- Writer
