Chapter six
856 Words
Chapter Six: Secrets You Never Tell
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Wolfe Estate — Morning
Ava sat alone in Damien’s study, staring at the empty leather chair across from her like it was her enemy. She hadn’t slept. Not really.
Not after hearing Damien’s voice last night, razor-sharp with a threat he hadn’t even tried to hide.
> “I want a name. I want a face. And when we find them… I’ll make sure they never threaten her again.”
Her heart was still racing.
Not from fear.
From the realization that she wasn’t sure who he really was when he thought she wasn’t listening.
This man who whispered her name like a vow at night could whisper someone else's destruction by morning.
And yet, she still wanted him.
Still wanted answers.
Still wanted the one thing she couldn’t afford—truth.
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Flashback — One Year Ago, Manhattan Gala
Before Damien. Before Paris.
Ava stood alone by a champagne bar, observing her boss work the room.
Her first glimpse of Damien Wolfe hadn’t been in Paris like she thought.
It had been here.
Across the ballroom, watching her.
He never approached her.
He just… watched.
But even then, the way he looked at her—focused, unreadable—sent a ripple of awareness down her spine.
Ava hadn’t realized it then, but the game had started long before she stepped onto that Parisian elevator.
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Present — Study Room, Wolfe Estate
The door creaked open.
Damien.
The shirt is unbuttoned at the collar. Sleeves rolled. Their hair was slightly mussed like he’d run his hands through it too many times.
Like he hadn’t slept either.
“I didn’t know you were awake,” he said softly.
“I never really went to sleep.”
He walked over and poured her coffee from the silver carafe.
No words passed between them for a moment.
Just the clink of porcelain.
Then, she broke the silence.
“You were going to kill them, weren’t you?”
He froze mid-sip. “No.”
“You didn’t sound like a man looking for justice, Damien. You sounded like a man ready to bury someone.”
His eyes locked on hers. “If someone threatens what matters to me… I don’t give warnings.”
That should’ve terrified her.
Instead, it made her feel… chosen.
Which scared her even more.
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Later That Day — Private Investigator's Office
She didn’t tell Damien where she was going.
She needed to do this on her own.
Trusting him was one thing.
Knowing his truth was another.
She hired a former FBI investigator with two NDAs and no sense of fear.
“I need everything on Damien Wolfe,” she said. “His companies. His lawsuits. His history. Every private scandal that’s never gone public.”
The PI raised a brow. “You sure you want to know all that?”
No.
“Yes,” she replied.
Because secrets didn’t stay buried forever.
And she refused to be the woman left in the wreckage.
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Wolfe Estate — That Night
When Ava returned, Damien was standing at the edge of the cliff behind his house, watching the waves break against the rocks.
He didn’t turn around when she approached.
“They’re getting closer,” he said without preamble. “Whoever sent that text—they’re tracking your movements.”
She swallowed. “Then maybe you should cut me loose.”
He turned then, eyes blazing. “Is that what you want?”
“No. But maybe it’s what makes sense.”
“Don’t give me logic, Ava. Not after everything.”
Silence stretched between them. Tension thick as the ocean air.
Then—
“I need to know everything, Damien. No more curated truths.”
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Come with me.”
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Hidden Room — Wolfe Estate, Sublevel
Behind a false panel in his study, Damien revealed a hidden elevator.
“I didn’t build it for secrets,” he said. “I built it for survival.”
The elevator descended into a sleek, secure command centre.
Monitors. Servers. A vault of confidential files.
And one locked drawer marked ‘WOLFE. CONFIDENTIAL.’
He opened it and handed her a folder.
Inside: a black-and-white surveillance photo.
Ava gasped.
It was the same one from her email.
Only… dated four years ago.
“How—?”
“That’s not from Paris,” he said quietly. “That was your first job. You were being followed. Watched.”
She looked at him, stunned. “Why?”
“Because they thought you were connected to me. Even back then.”
“But I wasn’t.”
He stepped closer.
“You were always going to be.”
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Cliffhanger Ending:
> That night, Ava couldn’t sleep. Not because of what she saw.
But because of what Damien didn’t show her.
The man behind the surveillance.
The one who started watching her before Paris.
Before the kiss.
Before the s*x.
Someone who still hadn’t made themselves known…
Until she got another message.
This one with a name.
"Do you really know who Damien Wolfe is? Ask him about Oliver Thorne."
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- Writer
