Bound to the calloway's heir

DAMIAN.

The smart TV screen flickered off after the video chat with the brothers, leaving the private office in Club Eden bathed in the dim glow of my lamp. Noah's voice still echoed in my head, his insistence that the missing shipment was just a clerical error grating against my instincts. He had claimed the shipment was missing because of a paper mix-up. Sure, if others believed that.

I leaned back in my leather chair as I thought of Noah's recent spiral, the booze, his hallucinations about some bimbo he picked to warm his bed, and his distractions at work. I had considered reaching out to Zane, letting him know his little brother was teetering on the edge of a cliff. But Zane was neck-deep in wedding plans with Sienna, probably picking out tablecloths or some nuptial nonsense. I decided to keep an eye on Noah myself for now.

The intercom buzzed sharply, snapping me out of my thoughts. I straightened, smoothing a hand over my tailored jacket. "Yeah?" I said, pressing the button.

"Mr. Pierce, you have a guest," came the clipped voice of my assistant, Kendra. "Ava Sinclair." My pulse kicked up a notch. Ava. Of course, she'd show up unannounced without warning.

I glanced at my desk, filled with scattered papers, a half-empty glass of bourbon, and a pen I'd been fidgeting with during the call. It looked so unkempt. I shoved the papers into the drawer, capped the pen, and tucked the glass behind a stack of books. A quick check in the small mirror on the wall confirmed my tie was straight, my dark hair still in place. I grabbed the cologne bottle from the shelf, spritzed an extra layer, and inhaled the sharp, woody scent.

"Send her in," I said.

Seconds after, the door flung open, and Ava Sinclair stepped into the room. She moved in like she owned the space, letting her heels click against the polished hardwood with reckless abandon. Her blue-colored dress, hugging curves, made my loins groan with desire instantly. She had styled her hair to fall in loose waves over one shoulder, and her eyes locked onto mine with that familiar touch of challenge and amusement. I forced myself to stay seated and keep my hands still on the desk, even as my blood thrummed with the memory of her... how things were between us years ago, before everything got complicated.

"Damian," she said, "you're looking... busy."

I smirked, leaning back in my chair, letting my gaze linger on her just long enough to make her notice. "Always am, Ava. You know that. What brings you to my little corner of the world?"

She didn't sit. Instead, she crossed her arms, tilting her head slightly, her lips curving into a smile that made her eyes lit up even more. "We have real business to talk about."

My gut tightened. Ava didn't do small talk, and "real business" with her usually meant trouble. I gestured to the chair across from my desk. "Sit. Let's hear it."

She hesitated, then slid into the chair, crossing her legs in a way that made the room feel smaller. I kept my eyes on her face, but it took effort to focus. I had to echo my mantra repeatedly. Damian. She's Zane's sister. She's off-limits.

Yet the thought didn't stop the heat creeping up my neck.

"Someone's threatening to leak information about me to the press," she said, cutting straight to it. "I believe that you do have a snitch in your operations or mine. Maybe both. You feel it too, don't you?"

I did. The missing shipment Noah swore, was a mix-up? I hadn't bought it for a second. My jaw tightened as I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the desk. "You got proof, or is this just your gut talking?"

Her eyes narrowed, "My gut's never wrong, Damian. You know that. But if you want proof, how about the fact that my last two modeling contracts got tanked because someone tipped off the clients about my... connections? To Zane and the cartel."

The mention of her career hit me like a jab. Ava had climbed her way to the top of the modeling world, having her face on billboards from Paris to Tokyo. But her ties to our cartel were undisclosed. Zane had insisted on that. I knew the game. Rivals didn't just compete, they destroyed. And someone was gunning for her.

"Who's coming for you?" I asked, my voice low, steady, even as my mind raced. A snitch in the cartel was bad enough. A rival targeting Ava? That was personal.

She leaned forward, mirroring my posture, her floral perfume hitting me like a wave. "I believe it has to do with Venessa Kane," she said. "Lately she's been whispering in ears and spreading lies about me to foreign clients. I know she's got connections of her own, Damian. Deep ones. And with the intensity she's working at, I doubt she's just after me. She's perhaps poking around Atlas and looking for cracks."

Vanessa Kane was a shady bitch, always skirting the edges of our world but never quite bold enough to step into the ring. Until now, apparently. I rubbed my thumb along the edge of my desk, my mind spinning through the possibilities. If Nessa was behind the leaks and the missing shipments, it meant she had someone on the inside.

"You're sure it's her?" I asked, watching her closely. Ava wasn't one to throw accusations without cause, but she wasn't above playing angles to get what she wanted. Especially when it comes to me. Nessa and I had our history and I wasn't going to put it past Ava to poke on it just to get close to me.

Her lips pressed into a thin line. "I'm sure. And I need your help to stop her from finding her bug; we cut Vanessa off at the knees. Together."

There it was. The pitch. I sat back, folding my arms, letting the silence stretch. Working with Ava meant diving headfirst into a minefield. Not just because of the danger looming but because of her. Every look, every word, every brush of her hand was going to be a test of my self-control. And I was already failing.

"Why me?" I asked, keeping my tone light, teasing, even as my pulse hammered. "You've got Zane, your big brother. Why not go to him?"

Her smile faded, and for a moment, she flickered her eyes. "Zane's distracted, we all know that. Sienna's got him wrapped up in wedding plans, and I'm not dragging him into this. Not yet. Besides..." She paused, her gaze softening, just enough to make my chest ache. "You owe me, Damian."

The words hit like a sucker punch. I had walked away from her years ago, not because I wanted to, but because Zane had made it clear that Ava was family, and family was untouchable. I had promised to keep my distance. But promises didn't erase the way my skin burned when she looked at me like that.

I opened my mouth to respond, but the intercom buzzed again, shattering the moment. I jabbed the button, irritation flaring. "What?"

"Mr. Pierce, Rico's here," Kendra said. "Says it's urgent."

Rico. One of our cartel contacts, the kind who only showed up when the sky was falling. I glanced at Ava, who raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. "Send him in," I said, my gut twisting.

Rico slunk into the room in his leather jacket, announcing every step he took. His eyes were darting between me and Ava as he started to talk. "Damian," he said, ignoring Ava entirely. "We got a problem. Big one."

"Spit it out," I said,

"Word on the street is someone's putting a copy on Atlas shipments. And I am afraid we may also not get our next shipment."

"What? We have a dub? Meaning we can not meet our gang's delivery. That's war looming."

I glanced at Ava, whose expression was unreadable, her fingers gripping the arms of her chair. She'd heard every word.

"Exactly. We need to talk with Zane immediately."

"I will pass it on. In the meantime, get me probable suspect names," I said to Rico. "Who's talking, who's paying, who's taking the job. I want everything."

Rico nodded, already backing toward the door. "On it, boss."

He was gone before I could respond. The air in the room felt even more tense now. I turned to Ava, who was staring at me with questions in her eyes.

"You still think this is just about your modeling gigs?" I asked her.

She stood, pacing to the window. "It's bigger than I thought," she admitted. "But it doesn't change what I need from you. We can stop this."

I stood too, moving close enough to feel the heat radiating from her. "And what's in it for me, Ava? Besides getting your target on my back?"

She turned, her face inches from mine, her breath warm against my skin. "You get to keep your cartel intact. And maybe..." She hesitated, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Maybe you have to stop pretending you don't care."

She was too close. I wanted to step back, to rebuild the wall between us, but my body wouldn't move.

She's Zane's sister. She's Zane's sister.

The mantra did nothing to stop the way my hand twitched, itching to reach for her.

"Alright," I said finally, in a rough tone. "We do this. Together. But we keep it clean, Ava. No games."

Her lips curved into a deep, satisfied smile. "No games," she agreed, but her eyes said something else entirely.

We spent the next hour hashing out a plan, laying out how we would trace the leaks. I listened when she talked and threw in my own ideas, but half my brain was on her the entire time. The way her fingers tapped the desk when she got excited, the way her laugh slipped out when I cracked a dry joke about Nessa's ego. Every second with her was a tightrope walk, and I was losing my balance.

When we finished, she stood to leave, slinging her bag over her shoulder. I walked her to the door, my hand brushing hers as I reached for the handle. The contact sent a jolt through me, and I froze, my fingers lingering against hers longer than they should have. She didn't pull away.

"Damian," she said, "Thank you. For saying yes."

I swallowed, my throat tight. "Don't thank me yet. We're not out of the woods."

She smiled, a real one this time, the kind that made my chest ache. "I know. But I feel better with you in my corner."

I wanted to say something to keep her at arm's length, but the words wouldn't come. Instead, I said, "You always knew how to get under my skin."

Her laugh was quiet, "And you always made it so easy."

She stepped closer, her hand brushing my arm, "We're going to be okay, right?" she asked.

I looked into her eyes, saw the flicker of vulnerability she rarely let show. My hand moved before I could stop it, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah," I said. "We'll be okay."

She held my gaze for a moment longer, then stepped back, breaking the spell. "See you soon, Damian."

As the door closed behind her, I leaned against it, my heart pounding. The cartel was under attack but all I could think about was Ava Sinclair. I was in deep, and I didn't know if I wanted to find a way out. I clearly do not.