While Katherine and Damien were on the dance floor, a certain someone was feeling extremely bitter across the room.
Lexi Jin had her eyes fixated on the pair that she despised a lot — she loved the man while she hated the woman. This wasn"t supposed to happen. Damien should have been waiting for her all these years. Isn"t that what it"s supposed to be? If they love you, they wait for you, right?
The only mistake she made was waking up in bed with William, clueless about what happened the night before. As if things couldn"t get any worse, Damien happened to walk in William"s room and saw them naked in bed.
Lexi could still remember the look on Damien"s face when he saw them - He was laughing.
"Great," he said as he shook his head and only glanced at her before he turned around, closing the door behind him.
She knew he was probably hurt, which was why she relentlessly chased after him to explain things but he never gave her the chance. The next thing she knew, Damien left the country and disappeared for a few months and he didn"t tell anyone anything. And when Damien came back, he acted indifferent and continued to ignore her. He left the Park Estate, went out with different women, and started establis.h.i.+ng his businesses all over the country.
Lexi always wondered what happened to him during those months that he was away; however, as much as she wanted to know, even Caleb and Jeffrey couldn"t answer her questions. She was only nineteen back then while Damien was twenty-one when that happened and her modeling career has just started. She didn"t want to give up on him even after months of trying to patch things up, but when she received the opportunity to work in Europe, she couldn"t resist as it was also her biggest dream.
Before leaving, she went to see him, but like always, he didn"t face her. So she left him a letter telling him how sorry she was and that she was going to come back. Who would have thought that it would be almost ten years later? She had come back home a few times before but he was always out of the country — or Damien was really just avoiding her.
During those years she spent in Europe, William would visit her a few times a year. And his visits would always lead them to one thing - bed. She knew it was wrong but her frustration got the best of her. Lexi hated herself for it but she never stopped loving Damien. And now, seeing him just a few meters away, watching him slow dance — yet it wasn"t her in his arms, was like getting slapped in the face.
"I can"t accept this." Lexi got up from her seat and left the charity gala, William following her from behind.
"I"ll send you home, Lex," she heard him say.
"Whatever."
Later, Katherine and Damien were on their way home after saying goodbye to Nana. Driving his Aston Martin, he had this look on his face that seemed as though he was relieved. While the ride was quiet the entire time, Katherine was beating herself up in her head as her heart pounded in her chest.
The words that he told her earlier had been playing in her head, making her blush. She was berating herself for not being able to say it back. She knew that the feelings she had for Damien were definitely more than just "like", but for some reason, a part of her was holding her back. Was it so wrong? Was she bad for not saying it? Why couldn"t she just say it?
Katherine turned her head towards him and instinctively, Damien also turned his head and their eyes met — the two of them smiled at each other. Reaching out her hand, she grabbed his and held it. She definitely felt it — she had fallen for him... But will it be okay if she doesn"t say it yet? Is it okay if she waits until later? "Hmmm… I guess it can wait."
They arrived at the hotel and entered the elevator. It was already eleven in the evening and when they arrived at the Royal Penthouse, Katherine invited him in for some tea.
"Damien…" she called as they sat on the sofa. Katherine was leaning her back on the rest and had both of her legs on the table in front when she turned her head to him. She was still wearing her dress while Damien had taken his coat and tie off and had his sleeves rolled up to his elbow while he slumped on the sofa next to her.
"Hmm?"
"What does 218 mean? Why did I bid such a number?"
Damien was quiet for a few seconds before he shook his head. "You actually never told me why…"
With furrowed brows, she asked, "But you said we saw each other again after that, right?"
Damien nodded, "I already told you about that time when you asked me why I call you Kitten."
"When did that auction happen?"
He closed his eyes as though he was trying to remember. "I think it was around the middle of the year."
Katherine turned her body to face him, looking even more confused. "But… you said that time in the balcony happened in December? So… we didn"t meet until six months later?"
"As far as I could remember, yeah, we didn"t… Which by the way, sucked. I thought I was never going to see you again and thought you had duped me."
A bashful smile appeared on her face and she bit her lip before she asked, "Did I tell you anything else about me?"
Damien looked at her and thought for a while. The two of them agreed before that they wouldn"t carelessly talk about her past to avoid what may trigger her. What Damien did that night was kind of reckless but he believed that it was something special that happened to the two of them that only they knew, so he didn"t think that it would cause anything bad.
Although he didn"t exactly do it expecting that Katherine would remember her past, he just wanted to relive the moment that happened years ago — apart from getting back at her for doing that to him, of course.
He shook his head. "I only know that you are an orphan. That"s all you told me about you."
Exhaling out a sigh, Katherine slumped her back against the rest again and chuckled. "Why was I so mysterious? If I met me in the past, I probably thought I was a spy or something."
Damien clenched his jaw. "Maybe you were."
"Because that would explain all the secrecy around you - your skills with knives, the things you know about me, and your shady job that you couldn"t tell me about. And if that were true, I don"t know if I would be thankful knowing that part of you… or fear whatever you did back then and why we kept on meeting like that was actually—" his thoughts trailed off, Damien didn"t want to think about it. That"s something he didn"t want to a.s.sociate himself with.
Katherine threw her head back laughing. "That would be hilarious. You may have watched a lot of movies to be thinking about that. Maybe I was really just a secretive person?" she wondered.
Noticing that Damien didn"t answer, she turned to face him. "Damien… what if I had a really bad past. Would you hate me?"
"What are you talking about? Why would I hate you?" She saw him smile as though her question was so funny. "Like I said earlier, your past does not matter to me. Everyone has a past Katherine, even I have skeletons in my closet."
Suddenly interested, Katherine turned to him again and leaned forward, "Oh yeah? You do? What is it… or shall I say, what are they? What"s on your mind, Damien Park?"
The look on her face made him laugh. She was so eager and she looked adorable. There was a split second that a certain memory flashed in Damien"s mind, in which he quickly brushed off.
Lifting the corners of his mouth into a smile, he told her, "Are you sure you want to know? Aren"t you afraid of what I have been thinking all through the night?"
Katherine gulped. She had fallen into one of his traps like she always would… and honestly, she felt like she wanted to fall into his trap deliberately.
Feeling bold, she quirked her lips into a daring smile, "Do tell, Mr. Park… Let me hear your thoughts."
Damien"s expression suddenly turned predatory and in an instant, he pushed Katherine"s back onto the sofa and hovered on top of her. "You think I will back down?"
"Ah!" she yelped in surprise and her heart started to race.
"Can you at least warn me before you pounce on—"
Her thoughts were m.u.f.fled when Damien"s lips crushed hers and his tongue invaded her mouth. She had to clutch on his s.h.i.+rt as she felt like she was falling despite already laying on her back.
And with his s.e.xy, bedroom voice, Damien whispered to her ear, "I was thinking about you… all night… naked… under me."