The gunshot tore through the night.
Evelyn felt the impact before she heard the sound-sharp, burning, knocking the breath from her lungs.
For a moment, she didn't understand.
Then-she fell.
The dockyard spun around her, the cold pavement rushing up to meet her. Distantly, she heard shouting. Movement. A storm of chaos.
Then-Damian's voice.
No.
Not his usual, calm, collected tone.
This was something raw. Something desperate.
"Evelyn-!"
Hands were on her-his hands. Strong, shaking, pressing against her wound.
She gasped, pain searing through her ribs.
"Stay with me," Damian growled, his voice low, dangerous in a way she had never heard before.
She tried to speak. Tried to tell him she was fine.
She wasn't.
And Damian knew it.
Then-another gunshot.
And this time, it wasn't aimed at her.
---
The Devil's Revenge
Evelyn fought to stay conscious, her vision hazy, but she saw enough.
Damian didn't hesitate.
Didn't hold back.
The moment Costa raised his gun again, Damian ended it.
One shot.
Precise. Deadly. Merciless.
Costa's body hit the pavement with a dull thud.
Silence followed.
A silence that felt like the end of something.
Or the beginning.
Evelyn shivered, her body betraying her, and Damian was there. His hands pressed against her wound, his expression unreadable.
Then, finally-his voice broke through the fog.
"Don't you dare leave me, Monroe," he murmured, his tone rough. "You wanted to know if a villain could love?"
Her breath hitched.
"Then don't make me prove it like this."
---
A Future Written in Blood
Evelyn woke to soft sheets. Warmth. A dull ache in her ribs.
And Damian.
He sat beside her, silent, his dark eyes trained on her like he was afraid she might disappear.
"Where..." Her voice cracked. "Where are we?"
"My house," Damian said. His voice was quiet. "You lost too much blood. I had you stitched up."
She swallowed, her throat dry. "Costa?"
"Dead."
No hesitation. No remorse.
He had killed for her.
And somehow, that didn't terrify her as much as it should have.
Evelyn let out a shaky breath. "You pushed me away because you thought I was making you weak."
Damian's jaw clenched.
"But I wasn't, was I?" she whispered.
He exhaled sharply, running a hand down his face.
"You weren't making me weak," he admitted, voice raw. "You were making me human."
The words hit her harder than any gunshot.
Slowly, painfully, she reached for his hand.
He didn't pull away.
Didn't retreat behind his mask.
For the first time since she had met him-Damian Voss let her see him.
"You once asked me if I still wanted to destroy you," she murmured.
Damian's eyes darkened. "And?"
She squeezed his hand.
"I think I already have."
Because Damian wasn't the same man she had met weeks ago.
And maybe-just maybe-neither was she.
---
Epilogue: The Villain's Love
The city moved on.
Rumors spread. Power shifted.
But Damian Voss?
He changed.
Not completely. Not enough to be considered a hero.
But enough.
Enough to hold Evelyn's hand when no one was watching.
Enough to choose her over the empire he had spent years building.
Enough to prove-
That even villains could love.
And that sometimes, love was the most dangerous game of all.