The invitation was embossed in gold, the paper thick and expensive.
It arrived by courier just after sunset.
To Ava Sinclair,
You are cordially invited to the Winterlight Foundation Charity Gala.
Host: Helena Vale
Venue: The Glass Atrium, 9 p.m.
Attire: Formal. Come alone.
No signature. Just the seal of the Vale estate — and the very threat it carried.
Damien stood over the envelope with clenched fists.
"She wants to get inside your head," he said. "You don't go."
Ava crossed her arms. "She knows I'm a threat now. If I don't show, she'll think I'm weak."
"This isn't a game, Ava. That woman orchestrates murder with a smile."
"Then let her smile at me while I play along."
Damien moved closer, his hands landing on her waist. "She's baiting you. She wants to separate us."
"Then make sure she knows she can't."
---
The Glass Atrium shimmered like a diamond beneath the moonlight.
Ava stepped out of the car alone, dressed in black satin that hugged her curves like a secret. Her heels clicked softly on marble, the air crisp and heavy with perfume and power.
Inside, Helena waited.
She was radiant — silver gown, flawless red lips, eyes like twin daggers of ice.
"You came," she purred, offering a crystal glass of champagne. "I wasn't sure you'd have the spine."
"I wanted to see what you wear to war," Ava replied, accepting the drink.
Helena laughed softly. "Still sharp. Good. I was worried the boy had dulled you."
Ava smiled, her pulse steady even as the older woman circled her like a panther.
"You think he loves you?" Helena whispered, her voice venom-laced silk. "You think men like Damien Blackwood are capable of love?"
"I don't think," Ava said calmly. "I know."
Helena stepped in closer, so close their noses nearly touched.
"You're going to lose him," she whispered. "Because deep down, he'll always belong to the monster who raised him — not the woman trying to save him."
Ava leaned in with a cold smile.
"Then I'll just have to teach him how to burn the monster down."
---
Back at the estate, Ava walked through the doors soaked in moonlight and adrenaline.
Damien was waiting — jaw tight, pacing.
"You shouldn't have gone," he growled.
"I had to."
"She could've killed you."
"She didn't."
He strode toward her, his suit jacket hitting the floor before he even reached her.
"You're reckless," he hissed, grabbing her wrist.
"I'm alive," she shot back, chest rising and falling fast.
"You make me insane."
"Then do something about it."
He slammed her against the door, mouth crashing into hers like a man starved of sanity. Her hands flew into his hair, dragging, clutching, desperate. The kiss was brutal, messy, perfect — tongues colliding, teeth nipping, the taste of fury and need exploding on both their lips.
Damien spun her around, hands on her waist, pressing her back into him as he kissed down her neck — biting, sucking, leaving dark marks like warnings. Her moan came low and breathy, barely controlled.
"Tell me to stop," he rasped.
"No," she gasped. "Don't you dare."
His hand slipped under her dress, dragging the slit higher, his fingers trailing dangerously up her thigh.
She arched into him, wild and shameless.
He pulled her back against his chest, grinding into her from behind.
"You think I'll be gentle tonight?" he whispered. "After you walked into her world like that?"
"I don't want gentle," she said.
And she meant it.
In seconds, the dress hit the floor. He turned her around again and lifted her effortlessly onto the grand piano bench.
Buttons flew. His belt hit the hardwood. And then he was inside her — deep, hard, relentless — their rhythm chaotic and hungry, as if they could erase every threat, every memory, every doubt with each thrust.
She cried out his name, nails digging into his back.
His lips brushed her ear. "You're mine. Not hers. Not anyone's."
"Then prove it," she whispered.
And he did — over and over until neither of them could speak, only feel.
---
Later, wrapped in sweat and silk, her head on his bare chest, Ava whispered into the dark:
"She told me you'd choose her world in the end."
His fingers tangled in her hair.
"She doesn't get to choose anything for me anymore," he murmured. "Only you."
Ava smiled, her body aching in the best way possible.
And for the first time in weeks, she allowed herself to believe they might just win.
---