Evelyn’s brows knitted tighter, and a flush spread across her face.
She hadn’t intended to wear his shirt.
But her bag hadn’t been sent over yet, and she had desperately wanted to get out of that deceptive piece of cloth.
Every second she spent wearing it reminded her of another lie —another carefully constructed illusion that threatened to make her question everything all over again.
She wanted to end it.
Destroy it before it could make her believe in something she already knew wasn’t true.
So she’d grabbed one of his shirts —one of many —and changed out of the wedding gown.
She hadn’t imagined that he would twist something as simple as wearing a shirt into this.
Without another second of hesitation, she shoved Damian hard, breaking free from his hold.
But she hadn’t calculated her own force.
“How dare you—” She was still speaking when her breath suddenly caught.
Her heel slipped against the floor.
She lost her balance.
Instinctively, she reached for something to steady herself, but the bed beside her was slightly behind her, too far away to grab.
There was nothing.
For a split second, she braced herself for the impact.
The fall came.
But instead of hitting the hard floor, her back landed against the softness of the mattress.
Her entire frame jolted.
And before she could even process what had happened, Damian’s body came down over hers.
One arm was beneath her head, while the other supported her lower back, preventing her from hitting the mattress too hard.
Evelyn’s breath hitched.
His weight over her made her breathing turn heavier.
“You—”
She was about to say something when Damian looked down into her eyes.
A smirk slowly curved his lips.
“Is this your way?” His gaze dropped briefly toward their position before returning to her face.
“If yes, then I must tell you, you lack the skill severely, Mrs.
Callahan.
Falling into my arms this easily, and that too in such a simple and naive position, isn’t exactly going to help you succeed.”
Evelyn stared at him in disbelief.
And then her anger flared.
“You really think I’m trying to seduce you?”
Damian looked into her eyes.
Something in her expression made his fingers curl tightly against the bedsheet.
His jaw tightened as well.
Yet he still managed to pull off that infuriatingly casual smile.
“Even if this marriage wasn’t built on anything real, you’re still Mrs.
Callahan.” His voice lowered.
“Legally, you have every right to seduce me.” New chapters come out on g.com first.
He paused as his gaze turned more intense.
“No one can stop you from doing that.”
Another pause.
“Not even me.”
The words came in a way that could make any woman’s heart skip a beat.
And Evelyn was no exception to it, because for the briefest second, even she felt her heart skip.
But the moment the memories of everything that had happened tonight came rushing back, the warmth in her chest vanished, replaced by fury.
She planted both hands against his chest and shoved him away —hard.
The force was sudden and brutal.
It didn’t truly hurt Damian, but it was enough to throw him onto his back across the bed.
Evelyn immediately sat up and stared down at him.
Her lips were pressed into a thin line.
“Even if you were the last man left in this world, I wouldn’t even consider seducing you.”
Damian looked up at her.
And what caught his attention wasn’t her anger.
It was the certainty in her eyes.
She looked completely convinced of every word she had uttered.
“So stay comfortable,” Evelyn continued as she pushed herself off the bed.
“Even if I have every right to claim you, I’d never come to claim a single one.”
She straightened her clothes.
“I don’t need you —or anyone else —to stop me.
All I need to remember is what you’ve done to me.” Her gaze hardened.
“That alone is enough to stop me from having any thoughts about you.”
Damian pushed himself off the bed.
When he stood, his tall frame once again towered over her.
“If that’s what you believe,” he said calmly, “then I’ll wish you the best of luck.”
His hands slipped into the pockets of his dress pants, his fingers curling into fists inside them.
“After all, rights left unclaimed often become temptations that are difficult to resist.” His gaze remained fixed on hers.
“You might not be able to resist forever.”
Evelyn lifted her chin.
Then she took a step toward him.
“Forever?”
A humorless chuckle escaped her.
“Since when did we start having a forever between us?”
The words struck somewhere they shouldn’t have.
Damian wanted to make her lose.
Yet somehow, every word she spoke was making him lose something instead.
His calm.
His patience.
Why were her words affecting him like this?
They shouldn’t.
Not when she was supposed to be nothing more than a pawn on his board.
Not when this marriage was supposed to be nothing more than another move in his plan.
He stared at her for one final second before turning away.
Evelyn didn’t falter.
She just continued watching him as he walked farther and farther away.
And somehow, that bothered him more than it should have.
It bothered him that she never hesitated when meeting his eyes.
Because he couldn’t do the same.
Her gaze affected him more than he dared to admit.
Damian walked toward the door.
He didn’t turn back.
Not once.
As he disappeared from the room, Evelyn remained standing where she was, watching until the door finally closed behind him.
Only then did her gaze fall.
The red gown still lay pooled across the floor.
Its once-beautiful fabric was now ruined beyond recognition.
Evelyn stared at it.
And her expression hardened.
Then, without warning, a tear slipped down her cheek —followed by another.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Meanwhile—
Damian’s expression had darkened considerably by the time he left the room.
He descended the staircase.
By the time he reached the lower floor, he saw Xavier walking toward him.
Xavier noticed him too.
But before he could say anything, he caught sight of his boss’s expression.
The dark storm gathering across Damian’s face was unmistakable.
Xavier immediately knew the night wasn’t going to end anytime soon.
“Sir,” he greeted politely as he approached.
Damian didn’t look at him.
He simply reached down and began undoing the cuff around his wrist.
Then he asked, “Did you find him?”
Xavier knew exactly whom he meant.
He nodded.
“We did.”
There was no uncertainty in his voice.
Damian finally turned toward him.
His eyes met Xavier’s.
“Where is he?”