The World He Controls, The Woman He Doesn’t

 Damien’s POV The apartment was quiet when I returned. Only a single lamp lit the room, casting a small circle of warmth over the table. Darkness filled everything else. I preferred it that way.  I set my keys down, sat at the desk, and opened my laptop. The encrypted window came up immediately. Lines of code, access logs, blueprint files. All the pieces of Verona business that Lucian thought he had buried. I clicked through them carefully. My fingers never hesitated. Everything about my work was methodical.  In one corner of the screen, a file sat open: the boutique address Lucian had registered under Lilith’s name. I hadn’t planned on checking it tonight, but my eyes kept drifting to it. Something about the timing bothered me. Before I could click into it, my phone rang. It was Rafe. I answered without looking away from the screen. “She’s home,” he said. “I dropped her off at the estate gate.” I nodded once, more to myself than to him. “Good.” The call ended. I clicked the b