Chapter 37 – A Kiss Before the Storm
Chapter 37 – A Kiss Before the Storm
[Aurora]
The weight of her phone in her hand felt heavier than ever. Aurora sat on the edge of her hotel bed, heart pounding as the blurry photo stared back at her from the screen. Damon and Elijah. Together. Smiling. Years younger—but unmistakably them.
“Ask Damon what he did the night before your father died.”
She ran her hands through her hair, chest tightening. Her father’s death had always been ruled as a car accident. Sudden. Tragic. No leads. No enemies.
But now, this?
Could Damon have known something? Could he have—no. No, he wasn’t capable of that.
Was he?
The knock on the door made her jump.
“Aurora?” Luca’s voice drifted through.
She pulled herself together and opened the door. He took one look at her face and entered quickly.
“What happened?” he asked, brow furrowed.
She handed him the phone. “Someone sent this. And this message.”
Luca read it, then lifted his eyes slowly. “This is bad.”
“You think Damon—”
“No,” he said firmly. “But this… it means someone wants you to think he did.”
Aurora sat down. “What do I do?”
“You talk to him,” Luca said. “No more hiding. If there’s even a chance this is real, you need to hear it from him.”
She nodded slowly. “And what if he lies?”
“Then you’ll know who he really is.”
---
[Damon]
Damon was in the study when she arrived.
Aurora let herself in without knocking.
He turned, surprised—but only for a second. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
She didn’t speak. She crossed the room and dropped her phone on his desk.
He picked it up. His eyes narrowed as he studied the photo and message.
“I need the truth,” she said. “No deflection. No riddles.”
His jaw clenched. “Where did you get this?”
“A burner number. No name. Just the photo. And that question.”
He placed the phone down gently. “And what do you think I did the night before your father died?”
“I don’t want to believe you were involved,” she said, voice trembling, “but I need to know. Did you meet him that night?”
Damon was silent for several moments. The air between them buzzed with tension.
Finally, he said, “Yes.”
Aurora’s breath hitched.
“But not for what you think.”
“Then explain.”
“I was trying to warn him,” Damon said, stepping around the desk. “About an investment—something your family got dragged into. A shell company. Offshore accounts. I traced it to one of Gregory’s firms. Your father had no idea.”
Aurora stared at him. “You knew my father.”
He nodded. “He was a good man. And a better target. I offered to help him dissolve the investment before it got ugly. He said he’d think about it.”
“Then he died the next day,” she whispered.
Damon’s voice was cold. Controlled. “I never got the chance to know if he took my advice.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”
He looked at her, eyes dark. “Because I didn’t want you to hate me for being too late.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
“Then believe this.” Damon stepped closer. “I would never hurt you. And I sure as hell wouldn’t hurt your family.”
She searched his face, every angle, every detail. For a crack. A sign of deception. But there was none.
And then, she kissed him.
Soft, hesitant, trembling—but real.
He didn’t move at first, stunned. Then his arms wrapped around her, pulling her in like he’d been waiting for that moment forever.
When they pulled apart, she rested her forehead against his chest.
“I still don’t trust everyone around you,” she murmured.
“Neither do I.”
---
[Celeste]
Celeste stood in front of a mirror, applying a shade of wine-red lipstick. She barely noticed her reflection anymore.
She wasn’t surprised when the door creaked open without warning. She’d left it unlocked on purpose.
Elijah entered, shedding his coat with the elegance of a cat.
“Did you deliver the photo?” she asked.
He nodded. “And the seed has been planted.”
Celeste smirked. “She’ll never look at him the same.”
“Perhaps,” Elijah said as he poured himself a drink. “But Damon’s stronger than you think. More... complicated.”
“You sound almost impressed.”
“I am.”
Celeste turned to face him. “What’s our next move?”
Elijah leaned back, swirling the whiskey in his glass. “We wait. Damon’s already unraveling. We don’t need to push. Just... guide the collapse.”
“And what if he fights back?”
Elijah’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Then we show him who really holds the leash.”
---
[Damon]
That night, Damon couldn’t sleep. Aurora was gone—back to her hotel, needing space to breathe. He didn’t blame her.
As he stood on the balcony, staring into the night, a soft shuffle behind him made him turn.
It was the butler. Only… not.
The man walked differently now.
Damon narrowed his eyes. “Elijah?”
The butler smiled.
And Damon realized, with a sick chill, that he’d seen that smile before—years ago. In Verona. In a fire-lit alley, during a failed operation that left one man dead and another vanished.
“You should’ve stayed buried,” Damon said.
Elijah dropped the disguise. “And you should’ve stayed numb.”
Damon reached for the knife under his blazer, but Elijah was gone before he could move.
Just shadows now.
But the war had officially begun.
---
[Unknown Location – Shadow Figure POV]
A hand pressed an old photograph to a corkboard.
Damon. Aurora. Elijah. Celeste.
Lines connected them all.
A red circle around Aurora’s face.
A note beneath: She’s the weakness. Make her break.
The shadowy figure lit a match and held it close to the edge of the photo.
Not yet. But soon.
---
[Aurora]
As she stared out at the city lights from her hotel window, Aurora received another message.
Unknown Contact:
“He told you half the truth. Ask him about the basement in Verona.”
Her heart stopped.
She had been warned.
But now, she was in too deep to walk away.
And whatever was in that basement...
Would change everything.