The sight struck Amelia harder than anything Richard had said tonightBecause Damien Vale never stopped.
Not at the banquet.
And not in the media attacks.
Not while they were taking Sophia.
Not when he strode into the Laurent Group headquarters and faced her father down.
Never, but now next to her He said nothing.
The office seemed suddenly smaller and colder.
Amelia’s heart pounded painfully against her ribs, slow, heaviness and unstable.
Richard saw it immediately, and grinned, That smile made her stomach knot.
“What is he talking about?
Her voice came out softer than she’d meant it to.
No one replied, Amelia looked over at Damien.
He looked down at the papers inside the folder, he gritted his teeth, the silence lengthened.
Sophia moved nervously beside Amelia.
Victor looked amazed, he didn’t even appear to know what was in the folder.
“Damien.” She repeated his name, this time he glanced at her, and for one second, something shifted behind his eyes.
My apologies, and she felt her chest tighten.
Richard slowly lowered himself onto his desk, Comfortable now, Sure like a man who had finally found a weapon.
You should tell her.
Damien’s eyes went cold in an instant.
“Careful.
The warning was mild, dangerously quiet.
Richard laughed.
“Oh, I am.
She felt pulled between them, the tension in the room was nearly unbearable.
What is this?
Nobody answered quickly enough.
Her voice went up a notch.
“What aren’t you telling me?
Damien breathed out slowly, and then another one, his eyes never left her, “I was already investigating Laurent Group before I met you.”
The room was silent.
Amelia blinked.
“Eh?”
Richard smiled more, there it is.
Amelia did not notice him, Damien was not even looking at her.
“You were spying on my family?”
“Yes.” It hurt to be honest, not because of the investigation itself, because she had no idea.
A thousand moments flickered through her mind.
Their first encounter, The agreement, Married, All of that, her chest ached painfully.
“How long.
Damien answered immediately.
“Nearly a year.
The words hung heavily.
Close to a year, months from her birthday feast.
Several months before the kiss, months before all of that, Amelia gaped at him.
trying to understand it Breathing efforts.
Trying not to let her imagination run away with her.
Richard crossed his arms.
Ask him.
Amelia swallowed.
“Why?”
Damien’s face grew darker.
“My dad.” That answer puzzled her, Richard’s smile faded a little.
Interesting, Very interesting.
Damien went on.
My father died five years ago.
The room was silent again.
Sophia’s brow scrunched, “Victor looked uncomfortable.
Amelia listened good, She’d heard the rumors, everyone had.
But no one knew the details.
Damien’s voice was calm.
Too still.
The kind of calm people use when talking about old wounds.
“He was looking into corruption connected with money.”
Richard’s face hardened, he was obsessed.
Damien did not reply him.
“My father thought big companies were hiding illegal transactions.”
Amelia’s stomach clenched.
Slowly and Dangerously.
Because she already knew where this conversation was going.
Damien stared straight at Richard.
“Proved almost.”
The office was silent.
No one stirred.
Silence.
Damien went on in silence.
“Three weeks later, he died in a car accident.”
Amelia felt a shiver go through her.
The rain outside sounded suddenly louder.
A lot louder.
Richard’s face remained inscrutable.
Victor looked pale now.
Sophia watched in silence.
Damien’s eyes never left Richard’s.
Everybody had called it an accident for years.
Silence.
“But my father left a record.
Another silence.
“He kept a record of every company he investigated.”
Amelia slowly glanced at the folder.
The papers .
Photographs.
Richard noticed, His eyes were narrowing.
And then Damien said the words which changed everything.
“Laurent Group was on that list.”
The room fell silent.
Not only a silence.
The kind that hurts physically.
Amelia heard her pulse pounding in her ears.
No.
No.
No.
Her father wouldn’t have –
Would he?
She looked toward Richard.
Frantically looking.
Want some outrage?
Anything.
Denial.
But Richard was prepared for this.
This frightened her.
Because they would usually look surprised.
Richard looked pissed off.
Nearly extinguished.
Amelia’s stomach sank.
slow.
With pain.
“Damien went on.
“I did the investigating because I wanted answers.
His voice dropped a little.
And then I found you.
Amelia glanced back at him.
Something ached in her chest.
Some complicated thing.
Messy.
Emotive.
And all of a sudden she knew why Richard had brought the folder.
Not to reveal corruption.
To interrogate Damien.
To make her question it all.
Richard went outside.
“Tell her the rest.”
Damien’s jaw clenched.
Amelia saw it in a moment.
There was tension again.
Clear.
Dangerous.
“What rest?”
Again Richard smiled.
The predator had come back.
“You were not his quarry.
The words hit Amelia straight away.
‘What?
Richard’s eyes locked onto hers.
“Was Laurent Group.
The room spun a little.
Amelia stared at Damien.
His silence answered before his words did.
And that was painful.
That stung, man.
For suddenly she remembered their first meeting.
Damien watches the ballroom.
How he looked at everybody.
The way he looked almost amused before she kissed him.
Was she walking into a war that had already begun?
Had she grown useful?
The questions flew.
To fast.
Damien saw them in her eyes right away.
And for the first time tonight he seemed concerned.
Really anxious.
“Amelia.
His voice dropped.
But she stepped back a pace.
Of course.
The movement was bad for them both.
And she saw it.
So too did he.
The distance was not far.
Just one step.
But it looked huge.
Richard saw.
And smiled.
Sophia stepped forward suddenly.
“No.
Everyone stared at her.
Sophia quickly wiped her eyes.
“No.
Her voice got stronger.
“Don’t do that.”
Richard scowled.
“What?”
Sophia pointed.
The accusation shocked everybody.
Even Amelia.
Sophia didn’t often stand up to powerful people.
But now—she looked furious.
“You took me away.
Her voice shook a little.
“But you are still playing victim.”
A shadow crossed Richard’s face.
Sophia did not stop.
“I heard things.
The room went cold.
Amelia looked at her hard.
“What things?
Sophia swallowed hard.
Her eyes widened with fear.
Then they were gone.
They thought I couldn’t hear.
Richard’s jaw tightened at once.
Victor seemed nervous.
Scared to death.
“Sophia went on.
“They talked while I was in custody.
Amelia’s heart began to race.
“What did they say?”
Sophia looked straight at Richard.
And whispered—
They were afraid.”
Silence.
Silence.
Heavier.
Richard’s face darkened immediately.
Sophia gestured to him.
They were worried Damien might find out something.
The room was silent.
Motionless.
Richard stepped forward.
“Freeze.”
The single word rang stark.
Sophia winced.
Amelia immediately stepped in front of her.
Protective.
Intuitive, but…
Richard saw it.
His eyes darkened.
Then suddenly
A loud buzz interrupted the moment.
Damien’s cell phone.
All looked.
Damien looked down.
His face changed in a moment.
No fear.
Not rage.
Concentration.
Just focus.
He responded immediately.
Speak.
Silence.
The room was silent.
No one stirred.
Nobody stirred.
Then Damien narrowed his eyes.
“What is it?”
Amelia’s stomach tightened.
Something wasn’t right.
So incorrect.
Damien listened, closely.
Then put the phone down slowly.
His face was all white and cold.
The kind of cold that’s bad, The Amelia type, she knew.
The kind that happened just before something awful happened.
“Damien?”
He looked Richard in the face.
Then to Victor.
Then finally to Amelia.
And gently, far too gently, he said, “We found the missing financial records.
The office went silent.
Richard’s face went white.
Victor staggered backwards.
And for the first time, tonight–
Their eyes were both frightened in truth
Then Damien dropped one last sentence.
The sentence that turned it all around.
“We also found out who ordered my father’s death.
It is quiet.
Silence deep.
No one moved.
Nobody breathed.
Then slowly, very slowly.
Damien’s eyes went to Richard Laurent.
And Richard Laurent ceased smiling.