Monaco, Late Night.
The hall was still loud. The party wasn't ending. People who had power never left early. The richer they were, the more they liked to be seen.
Lucia moved through the crowd like a ghost. No one noticed her leave the main room. She kept her head low, her hands tight on the silk of her dress. She didn't even know why she was following him. Maybe she just wanted to know what he was hiding.
The hallway outside was silent. She saw Damien walking toward the balcony at the far end. The soft sea wind moved through the open doors, pulling her closer like a hand she couldn't refuse.
Damien stood with his back to her, one hand on the railing, the other holding his phone. He hadn't noticed her yet. His shoulders looked strong but tired, like a man carrying a secret.
She stopped a few steps behind him.
"What are you running from?" she asked softly.
He didn't turn. "Who says I'm running?"
"I can see it in your back," she said. "Only people who want to escape stand like that."
Damien let out a quiet laugh. Not a happy one. A broken one.
"You read people too easily," he said.
"It's a survival skill," Lucia replied. "In this world, it's the only thing that keeps me breathing."
He finally turned to face her. His eyes were calm, but his jaw was tight. "You shouldn't be here."
"You walked out first," she said. "If you can leave the stage, so can I."
They stared at each other. No music. No lights. Just silence and the sea breathing below them.
"You don't want this marriage," she said slowly.
"Neither do you," he answered.
Lucia didn't deny it. "But we don't get to choose, do we?"
"No," Damien said. "We never did."
Something heavy hung between them. For a moment, the world outside disappeared. No families. No deals. No gold walls. Just two people trapped in a story they didn't write.
Inside the hall, Bianca Moretti noticed her daughter was gone. She whispered something to a man in a black suit. He nodded and left the room. Bianca smiled to herself. Lucia was young, but she wasn't stupid. If she wandered too far, Bianca would make sure she came back.
Back on the balcony, Lucia stepped closer. The wind lifted the ends of her dress. She could smell the ocean, fresh and sharp.
"Why did you agree to this?" she asked.
Damien looked at the city below. "Because walking away would cost lives. Not just mine."
"Whose?"
He didn't answer. His silence said enough. There was something deeper, something dangerous.
"I don't want to be your enemy," Lucia said.
"You're not my enemy," he said quietly. "You're my cage."
The words cut her like glass. She didn't move. She just looked at him, really looked at him for the first time. He wasn't cold. He was tired.
She took a slow breath. "Then let's not pretend tonight."
Damien's eyes searched hers. No one had ever spoken to him like that in years. He stepped closer, and she didn't move back. Their breaths brushed against each other, light and warm.
But before he could speak, the door opened behind them.
It was Elise.
She stood at the doorway in black, the wind pushing her hair back. She didn't smile. She didn't have to. Her eyes told Lucia everything she needed to know.
"I didn't know your fiancée liked midnight walks," Elise said. Her voice was soft but sharp.
Lucia froze.
Damien's jaw tightened. "Elise."
"Don't worry," Elise said, stepping into the balcony. "I know my place."
Lucia's hands curled at her sides. She didn't know this woman, but she didn't need to. She could feel it in the way Damien looked at her. This was not a stranger. This was history.
"I should go," Lucia said, trying to keep her voice steady.
Damien reached out, but she moved away before his hand could touch her.
"You don't owe me explanations," Lucia said. "We're both prisoners, remember?"
And then she walked out, head high, even though her chest felt like it was splitting open.
In the empty hallway, Lucia pressed her back against the wall. Her heart beat too fast. She hated this feeling. It reminded her of when she was fifteen, locked out of a dinner her parents were hosting, hearing her mother say, "She was born to be useful, not free."
She closed her eyes, swallowed hard, and whispered to herself, "Don't break."
Inside the balcony, Damien turned to Elise.
"You shouldn't have come here," he said.
She stepped closer. "You told me you wouldn't forget me."
"I didn't."
"Then why are you marrying her?"
Damien's chest burned. "Because I have to."
Elise touched his hand. He didn't pull away. She leaned in closer, her voice soft against his ear. "You can lie to them. Don't lie to me."
Down the hall, Lucia walked past two guards and didn't look at their faces. She needed air. She needed silence. She needed to remember who she was before they forced her into this gold cage.
But as she turned the corner, a man in a black suit blocked her way.
"Miss Lucia," he said calmly. "Your mother is looking for you."
Lucia stared at him. Then she smiled the way women smile when they have no choice. "Of course she is."
She followed him back toward the party. The music was still loud. The lies were still shining.
But something inside her had changed.
Elise stays behind with Damien. The door shuts, and she then gets closer to him, reaching in for a passionate kiss, a forbidden kiss.
Elise's lips crashed against Damien's, hungry and desperate. She pressed him against the wall, door shut, her fingers digging into the back of his neck as he groaned into her mouth. Years of forbidden desire spilled out as he deepened the kiss, his tongue tracing her teeth while his hands found her hips.
The silk of her dress whispered against his tuxedo as she ground against his growing hardness, her body molding to his like they were made to fit together. Damien's hands slid down her thighs, lifting her up until she wrapped her legs around his waist, the heat between them building with every breath.
"God, Damien," she panted against his ear, her teeth scraping his lobe before she kissed down his neck. "I've missed you."
He pushed her against the wall again, the rough stone pressing into her back as he dragged his mouth across her collarbone. "We can't do this here," he growled, but he was already unzipping her dress, letting it fall to pool around her feet.
Elise didn't care. She needed him too much to care. "Then do it now," she demanded, reaching down to undo his belt, her fingers fumbling in their haste. "I need to feel you inside me. I need to know you're still mine."
Damien's control snapped. He lifted her again, spinning them around until she was pressed against the wall, her legs trembling around his hips. Her bra and panties were next to fall, discarded on the floor as he lowered her onto his throbbing cock in one smooth stroke.
"Oh fuck," Elise moaned, her head falling back against the stone. "Fuck, it's so good."
Damien didn't answer. He couldn't. Every rational thought was gone, consumed by the wet heat of her body, the perfect way she fit around him. He thrust into her hard and fast, his hips slamming against hers as she clung to his shoulders, her nails leaving red marks through his shirt.
"Damien, please," she begged, her voice breaking. "I'm so close. I need you to cum with me."
His fingers found her clit, working it in tight circles as he slowly fucked her again and again, the sound of their bodies filling the night air. Elise's breath hitched, her pussy tightening around him as her orgasm built.
"Don't stop," she cried out. "Oh god, don't stop."
He couldn't tell if he wanted to. His balls tightened as she convulsed around him, her body milking him until he was losing himself in her, Cuming inside her with a groan that sounded like it was ripped from his soul, while she also gave out a final scream of orgasm.
They stayed like that, trembling and breathless, until the sound of footsteps in the hall finally broke through the fog. With haste, Damien pulled out and lowered Elise to the floor, quickly adjusting his clothes while she stumbled back into her dress.
"That was stupid," he hissed, zipping up her dress with shaky hands. "If someone sees us"
"It was worth it," Elise interrupted, her eyes burning into his. "You know it was."
Before he could argue, the door opened again. This time, it was two guards who looked at them with barely concealed suspicion.
"Mr. Moretti," one of them said, his tone neutral but his gaze assessing the scene. "Is everything alright?"
Damien smoothed his tie, his expression hardening into a mask of cold indifference. "Everything's fine. Just needed some privacy."
The guards nodded but didn't move. Damien knew they would report back to Lucia's family, and he also knew there was nothing he could do to stop them. Not without raising more suspicion.
As the guards turned to leave, Elise caught Damien's hand, squeezing it once before letting go. "This isn't over," she whispered.
But as they followed the guards back to the party, Damien knew it had to be. Even if every part of him screamed for it not to be.