Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Someone Damon was beginning to think of as his.

The realization followed him for the rest of the night.

Like a shadow.

Like a threat.

Like a promise.

And Damon hated it.

Mostly because he didn't hate it enough.

The dinner disaster eventually ended after Mira received approximately six conflicting explanations of what jealousy meant.

None of them helpful.

Especially Cassian's.

"Imagine someone stealing your favorite blanket."

"That's not what jealousy is."

"It absolutely is."

"No."

"Emotionally speaking, yes."

Seraphine had eventually thrown a bread roll at him.

Which improved nothing.

Now the house was quiet.

Mostly.

Cassian was still arguing with Hale somewhere upstairs.

Nobody knew why.

Not even Hale.

Damon stepped onto the back porch hoping for peace.

Instead he found Luca already there.

Of course.

Luca sat on the wooden railing overlooking the dark vineyards.

Moonlight silvered his hair.

The night breeze shifted softly around him.

And for one dangerous moment

Damon simply stared.

Because Luca looked beautiful.

The realization arrived suddenly.

Undeniably.

Beautiful.

Not handsome.

Not attractive.

Beautiful.

Damon was in trouble.

Luca noticed him immediately.

"You're staring."

Damon sighed.

"You always know."

"You're not subtle."

Fair.

Damon leaned against the porch beside him.

Close.

Again.

Luca noticed that too.

Neither commented.

For a while they simply watched the vineyards below.

The silence felt comfortable.

Familiar.

Which should not have been possible.

Damon glanced sideways.

"Nova seems happy to see you."

The second the words left his mouth

He regretted them.

Because they sounded exactly how they sounded.

Luca turned toward him slowly.

A tiny smile appearing.

Dangerous.

"Oh."

Damon narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

"Oh."

"What does that mean?"

Luca's smile widened slightly.

"Nothing."

It absolutely meant something.

Damon could tell.

And judging by the amusement in Luca's eyes

Luca could tell too.

Great.

Fantastic.

Now they were both aware of it.

The terrible feeling.

The possessive one.

The one Damon didn't know what to do with.

"Nova and I aren't together."

Damon looked away immediately.

"I didn't ask."

"No."

Luca sounded suspiciously entertained.

"You didn't."

Damon contemplated pushing him off the porch.

Not seriously.

Mostly.

Luca laughed softly.

Actually laughed.

The sound hit Damon harder than expected.

Because Luca rarely laughed.

Not really.

Most smiles were small.

Guarded.

This one wasn't.

This one was genuine.

And Damon realized he'd do almost anything to hear it again.

A dangerous thought.

A very dangerous thought.

The screen door suddenly opened.

Nova stepped outside carrying tea.

Immediately ruining everything.

"Am I interrupting?"

"Yes," Damon answered.

"No," Luca answered.

Nova looked between them.

Then smiled.

"Interesting."

Damon hated that word.

Everyone kept saying it.

Nova sat beside Luca.

Far too close.

Far.

Too.

Close.

Damon felt his jaw tighten.

Annoying.

Very annoying.

Nova immediately noticed.

Of course she did.

The woman had the survival instincts of a shark.

She casually leaned her shoulder against Luca's.

For approximately half a second.

Damon looked away before anyone noticed.

Unfortunately

Everyone noticed.

Especially Luca.

The tiny smile returned.

Damn him.

Nova sipped her tea.

"So."

Nobody liked that tone.

"How long?"

Damon frowned.

"How long what?"

Nova pointed between them.

That was somehow worse.

"There is no 'between us.'"

The answer came far too quickly.

Far too defensively.

Nova immediately looked victorious.

Luca looked toward the vineyards again.

Trying and failing to hide his amusement.

Coward.

"Right."

Nova nodded.

"Of course."

Damon was beginning to understand why Luca found her irritating.

An hour later, everyone finally went to bed.

Everyone except Damon.

Because sleep wasn't cooperating.

Again.

He ended up in the kitchen around midnight.

Searching for coffee.

A terrible decision.

But it was too late now.

The kitchen light was already on.

Luca sat at the table.

Alone.

A file folder open before him.

His expression immediately changed when Damon entered.

The folder disappeared.

Too quickly.

Damon noticed.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Lie.

Damon walked closer.

Luca looked away.

Another bad sign.

"You hide things badly."

"I don't."

"You absolutely do."

Silence.

The tension shifted suddenly.

Different now.

Sharper.

Because Damon realized something.

There were still secrets.

Important ones.

Things Luca hadn't told him.

The thought left an unpleasant ache in his chest.

Not because secrets existed.

Everyone here had secrets.

Because he wanted Luca to tell him.

Wanted to be trusted.

Wanted

Dangerous territory.

Very dangerous territory.

Luca looked toward him quietly.

"What?"

Damon hadn't realized he was staring again.

Great.

"Nothing."

Luca didn't believe him.

Neither did Damon.

The kitchen suddenly felt smaller.

The space between them shrinking with every second.

Neither moved.

Neither looked away.

And for one impossible moment

It felt exactly like the porch.

Like that night.

Like something waiting to happen.

Damon took a step forward.

Luca's breath caught slightly.

Tiny.

But Damon noticed.

Because he noticed everything about Luca now.

Which was becoming a serious problem.

They stood far too close.

The air felt different.

Charged.

Dangerous.

Then

A voice echoed from upstairs.

"CASSIAN, GET OFF THE ROOF!"

Followed by:

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!"

The moment shattered instantly.

Luca closed his eyes.

Damon laughed.

And somewhere upstairs

Something crashed.

Again.

Neither moved away.

Not immediately.

And as Damon looked at Luca in the soft kitchen light, one thought became impossible to ignore.

He wasn't jealous because he wanted Luca's attention.

He already had it.

He was jealous because he didn't want anyone else's.