Page 65 of Damian’s Conquest

“Damian, I found something in Tracy’s flat. I think somebody is trying to frame the club. Call me as soon as you get this message.”

She disconnected the call and hurried out of the flat. When she left the building, it felt as if even more drug addicts and homeless people were loitering, and her earlier unease grew even more. She looked up and down the street, but there were no available cabs.

Damn it, she didn’t want to wait around here for an Uber that might take twenty minutes to come. When a young junkie made a beeline for her, she quickly turned on her heel and headed in the other direction. At the next side street, she turned right to get away. She looked around and read the street name, realizing that she was only three or four blocks away from Damian’s flat. She knew he wouldn’t be there, but perhaps she could see if his parents answered the door so she could get off the street until she could reach Damian by phone.

Looking over her shoulder to make sure the junkie hadn’t followed her, Naomi hurried toward Damian’s building. When she reached it, she looked at the intercom, but hesitated. What would his parents think if she just showed up unannounced? Perhaps it was better if she went home and waited for Damian to call her back. But the thought that Wei Guo, her own editor, was clearly doing something that was wrong, or illegal, or both, made her nervous. Wei Guo knew where she lived. He’d sounded impatient when he’d asked her about her progress with the story. What if he suspected that she had no intention of writing the story and was simply stalling?

“Excuse me.”

Naomi spun around and found herself face-to-face with a woman she recognized immediately: Damian’s mother. She carried a take-out bag in one hand, a set of keys in the other.

“You must be Naomi,” she said. “I’m Damian’s mother.”

“Hi, Mrs. LeSang, it’s so nice to meet you.”

“Nina, please.”

“Uhm, you’re probably wondering what I’m doing here. It’s just I was trying to reach Damian, but he’s not picking up his phone, and I have some information for him—”

“Maybe he didn’t hear it ringing.” She looked up at the building. “I saw light in his flat. He’s probably got the music on.” Nina unlocked the door. “Come on up. I’ll let you in.”

Naomi entered behind Nina, but wondered why Damian would be at home. Had he already finished what he needed to do for Scanguards? Hadn’t Gabriel said that most likely there would be several hits from the partial license plate that would need to be investigated?

“Thank you, Mrs… uhm, Nina. That’s very kind of you.”

Nina ushered her into the elevator, then inserted her key into a slot, before pressing the top floor and the one beneath, and the doors closed.

“Amaury and I didn’t get a chance to meet you yesterday,” she said with a smile.

“Yeah, sorry, there were so many people, and I didn’t really know anybody, and I wasn’t invited…” She was babbling, nervous about being alone with her boyfriend’s mother. Boyfriend, how odd that sounded. She wasn’t used to saying that. And she definitely wasn’t used to making small talk with his mother.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to us all. The whole gang can be quite overwhelming at first.”

“I didn’t mean to offend—”

“You’re not offending anybody.”

The elevator suddenly stopped, but the door didn’t open. Naomi remembered why: when she’d entered Damian’s flat via the elevator the night before, he’d had to unlock the door, because it led directly into his flat.

“I can already hear the music,” Nina said, and Naomi heard it too. She unlocked the door. “I hope I’ll see you again soon, Naomi.”

“Me too. Thank you.”

Naomi pushed the door open and entered the flat. The living room was ablaze, and music was coming from one of the rooms. Naomi walked toward Damian’s bedroom, but it was quiet there, so she turned toward the doors on the other side of the kitchen. That’s where the music seemed to be coming from.

“Damian?”

She knocked, but didn’t get a reply. Nina was probably right. The music was too loud for Damian to hear her. She turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

Her breath got caught in her throat, and her heart stopped beating. The room was another bedroom, and on the king-size bed, Damian’s naked body was bathed in sweat. As was that of the skinny bitch he was fucking from behind.

How could he do this to her after all the things he’d said to her? After telling her he was in love with her? A sob tore from her throat.

Damian whirled his head in her direction, his eyes glaring red. “What the fuck!”

The skinny dark-haired girl looked in her direction too. Naomi recognized her now. She was the same young woman who’d flirted with Damian at the Halloween party.

“How could you?” Naomi choked out, barely able to hold the tears in. “After everything we did last night?”