Damien sat at the dimly lit bar, swirling the ice in his glass. His eyes flickered to the entrance every few minutes, waiting. Last night had changed everything. He had told Lilly the truth—his truth, the one he'd kept hidden for as long as they'd been together. The life he led wasn't normal, wasn't safe. Damien had expected her to run. That would've been the smart thing to do.
But she didn't.
When she walked into the room, her gaze found his immediately. There was no hesitation, no fear. Lilly took a seat beside him, her soft features hard to read in the bar's low light.
"You could have left," Damien said quietly, his voice gruff. "I gave you the chance."
Lilly looked down at the table for a moment, then back up at him, her eyes clear. "I thought about it. But I didn't."
He couldn't believe it. "Do you understand what you're getting yourself into?" Damien's fingers tightened around his glass. "This life... it's not what you think. It's dangerous. It's blood, it's betrayal. It's not something you can just walk away from."
"I'm not walking away," she said softly, surprising him with her calm. "I've made my choice."
His heart pounded, an unfamiliar ache creeping in. Damien was used to loyalty, but not like this. Not from someone like Lilly, someone who knew him beyond his reputation, beyond the blood on his hands.
"Why?" His voice was almost a whisper. "Why stay?"
Lilly leaned closer, her hand brushing his. "Because I love you, Damien. I know what that means now, and I don't care. I love you."
He stared at her, speechless. Love wasn't something he had let himself feel in years. It was weakness, a vulnerability he couldn't afford. But now, looking at Lilly—so determined, so fearless—he realized that he felt it too. The one thing he thought he could never have, never deserve.
"I love you too," he admitted, his voice low, almost reluctant. "I didn't think I could, but… I do."
They sat in silence for a moment, the weight of their confessions sinking in. Lilly reached out, her fingers intertwining with his. In that moment, they both knew there was no going back. They were bound together now, for better or for worse.
Whatever came next, they would face it together.
Damien held her gaze, feeling the words he'd just spoken settle heavily in the space between them. He had always thought love was something foreign to him, something he wasn't capable of. But here he was, confessing it to Lilly—a woman who now knew the darkest parts of him, and yet, still stayed.
"You don't know what you're risking," he muttered, his voice gravelly. His hand tightened around hers, almost as if he was trying to hold onto something fragile. "I've done things, Lilly. Things that change a person. Things you can't come back from."
She didn't flinch. "I know," she said softly, her fingers warm against his cold skin. "And it doesn't scare me. You don't scare me, Damien. You've kept this part of your life hidden for a reason. But I know who you are beneath all of it."
Her words tugged at something deep inside him, a part of himself he had buried under layers of hardened steel. Damien had never needed anyone to see him—*really* see him. Until now.
"Lilly, people die in this world," he said, his voice edged with a warning. "They die because of me. Because of what I have to do. You could get hurt, or worse."
She leaned in closer, her eyes searching his. "Then you protect me. We protect each other. I'm not afraid of your world, Damien. I'm afraid of losing you."
He shook his head, his heart pounding in a way that felt unfamiliar, unsettling. "You think it's that simple? It's not. Love doesn't fix this. You don't fix this. You deserve more than a life filled with secrets and shadows."
"I don't want more. I want you," she said, her voice steady, unwavering. "I knew the risk the moment I chose to stay, and I don't regret it."
His chest tightened. No one had ever spoken to him like this, with so much certainty, so much trust. He had been expecting her to leave, to hate him, even. But instead, she stayed, and now… she was asking to be part of it all.
"I love you," Damien repeated, the words foreign on his lips, but truer than anything he had ever known. "And that's why I'm terrified. If something happened to you…"
Lilly placed a hand on his cheek, her touch gentle, grounding him. "Nothing's going to happen to me, Damien. Not if we're in this together."
He stared at her, the weight of her words sinking in. Together. It was something he had never imagined—someone standing by his side, not out of fear or loyalty, but out of love. Pure, unflinching love.
Damien sighed, leaning his forehead against hers. "I don't know how to do this. I've never… I've never had this before."
"You don't have to know," Lilly whispered. "We'll figure it out. All I need is you."
For the first time in what felt like forever, Damien allowed himself to believe it. Believe that maybe, just maybe, he could have this—have her—without destroying everything.