Chapter Five — The Devil You Know
The silence in Damian's office was almost worse than the music pulsing just beyond the closed door. It was too quiet—like the moment before lightning cracks the sky. Eden stood just inside, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, but it wasn't for warmth. It was to keep her from shaking.
He hadn't spoken yet.
He just watched her.
Damian leaned back in the tall leather chair behind his desk, his dark shirt rolled at the sleeves, exposing the tattoos on his forearms—clean, black lines and precise symbols that gave nothing away. But Eden could feel it: the tension simmering under his skin. Something had shifted since their last encounter.
"You got my message," he said finally, voice like gravel dipped in whiskey.
Eden didn't move. "The one warning me to watch my back? Or the one that said not to trust anyone?"
His lips twitched. "Both."
"So which is it, Damian?" she asked. "Am I being watched, or am I just losing my mind?"
"You're not crazy," he replied coolly. "But you are being watched."
Eden's stomach dropped, a slow, cold descent. She forced herself not to show it. "By who?"
A beat of silence stretched too long. Then: "People who don't like questions being asked. Riley didn't vanish quietly, Eden. She stirred things up. Now you're doing the same."
Eden stepped forward, the flickering desk lamp casting golden light across her face. "You said you were in control."
"I am."
"Then why do I feel like I'm already dead and just haven't stopped moving yet?"
---
Damian stood, and Eden instinctively took a step back. He didn't touch her, didn't raise his voice, but his presence was overwhelming—like a riptide waiting to drag her under.
"You're alive because I want you alive," he said. "That's not a threat. It's a fact. You're in over your head, and the only way you walk out of this is by staying close to me."
"And if I don't want to play your game?"
His voice dropped. "Then you better pray the others don't find you first."
There it was again. The others.
The ghosts she couldn't see but felt watching her. The cage didn't just belong to Damian—it belonged to whoever owned the shadows he answered to.
---
Eden turned away from him, her mind racing. She couldn't trust him, not fully. But out there, in the dark, she was prey. In here? At least the devil had a name.
"I want to know what happened to Riley," she said, not turning around.
"Then listen carefully," Damian said, circling the desk to stand beside her. "Because this is the last time I'll say this without blood on the floor."
Absolutely, Didi. Here's Part 2 of Chapter Five — The Devil You Know. We're continuing the dark unraveling of secrets, the complicated dynamic between Eden and Damian, and laying down the stakes. Strap in.
"Riley got close to someone she shouldn't have," Damian said. "She thought she could get in, gather dirt, expose what this place really is."
Eden turned to face him, her voice sharp. "What is this place, Damian? Really?"
He hesitated. That alone unnerved her.
"You think Edenfall is just a club? A velvet-wrapped secret? No. It's the front. The show. What's behind it is older, deeper... built on leverage, power, and control. People with money come here to feel alive again. And some of them—" He paused, jaw tightening. "Some of them would pay anything to make their sins disappear."
"Disappear how?" she asked, even though a part of her already knew.
"Any way they need to."
The words dropped like lead between them.
"So Riley... she saw something," Eden murmured.
"She was playing detective. And she stumbled onto something that wasn't hers to see."
Eden swallowed hard. "And she's dead because of it?"
Damian didn't answer.
The silence screamed loud enough.
---
"You knew her," Eden said, stepping closer. "You didn't just let her through the door. You knew her. You let her in."
His eyes flicked to her face, guarded. "I don't owe you answers about Riley."
"But you owe me now."
Damian exhaled through his nose and poured himself a drink. For once, he actually took a sip. "You're right. I do owe you something."
She blinked.
He continued. "I owe you the truth. You want to know what happened to Riley? Fine. I'll tell you. But once you know, you can't unknow it. You'll be part of it. You think you're standing on the edge right now, but Eden—" he leaned in, voice a low, brutal whisper, "—you're already inside. There is no going back."
---
Eden stood her ground. "Tell me."
Damian set the glass down. The clink sounded like a lock clicking shut.
"She met a man. One of the Inner Circle. Not one of mine—a real one. A shareholder, let's say. He wanted her. She played along. She thought she could manipulate him, expose him. Maybe she could have… if she hadn't enjoyed it."
Eden flinched. "What?"
"She liked the danger. The control. The twisted games. Until the line blurred. And when she tried to pull away, he didn't let her."
"Jesus," Eden whispered.
"She disappeared three days later. No trail. No blood. Just gone."
"And you did nothing?" she hissed.
"I kept this place from burning down. That's what I did," Damian snapped. "I protected who I could. I've done worse things than you want to know. But Riley walked into the fire on her own."
Eden stared at him, chest heaving. "And you let her burn."
---
Damian didn't respond. He didn't need to.