The Vesper Club had begun to thin out by the time Damien dismissed his companions. They left quietly, casting me lingering glances, as if they were trying to figure out what I had just done to impress him.
Damien leaned back in his chair, studying me like a rare artifact."You made Victor Hale change sides in under fifteen minutes," he said, swirling his untouched wine. "Do you know how long I've been trying to get him to listen to me?"
"Three weeks," I said.
His brows lifted slightly. "And how would you know that?"
I smirked. "You're not the only one with eyes in the city, Damien."
That earned me a soft, almost reluctant laugh. "Careful, Elara. You keep talking like that and I might start thinking you're dangerous."
"You'd be right," I said, sipping my wine.
We sat in silence for a moment, the jazz from the club's live band wrapping around us like smoke. He watched me as if waiting for me to flinch, to look away. I didn't.
Finally, he leaned forward, elbows on the table. "I have an offer for you."
"I figured."
"I don't hire easily. I don't trust easily. And I don't keep people close unless they've proven themselves indispensable. You've done that in one night."
"Flattery," I said, "isn't a contract."
"Neither is trust," he countered. "But here are my terms: you work for me exclusively. No other clients. I pay you more than you've ever been paid in your life, and in return, you'll have access to resources most people only dream about. Money. Protection. Power. And… information."
That last word landed heavier than the rest.
I pretended to weigh it, but I already knew information was the currency I valued above all else. Still, there was something too easy about his offer, and I didn't trust easy.
"And what's the catch?" I asked.
His smile was slow, deliberate. "The catch is me. Working for me means being in my world. It's not safe. People will try to use you to get to me. And if you betray me…" He paused, letting the silence fill with unspoken promises of consequences. "Well. Let's just say no one's heard from the last person who tried."
"Charming," I said dryly. "And if I say no?"
"You walk away tonight," he said. "And the next time we cross paths, I won't be smiling."
I studied him, weighing the man in front of me. Damien Cross was dangerous, magnetic, and not someone I could afford to underestimate. But walking away now would mean going back to the small, careful life I'd been trying to shed ever since I woke up in this second chance.
I reached for my glass, clinked it lightly against his. "Then I suppose… we have a deal."
For a heartbeat, something shifted in his eyes—like he'd been waiting for this moment far longer than I realized.
"Welcome to the game, Elara."
And I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I'd just stepped into a world where every move would cost me… and where I had every intention of winning anyway.