A Dangerous Revelation

Damon stood, his jaw tightening.

He needed to get to her first.

Natalia’s pulse thundered in her ears as she stared at the blank screen. The files—everything she had just accessed—gone.

Langley knew.

She forced herself to breathe, to keep her hands steady even as her stomach twisted into a tight knot. This wasn’t just a failed infiltration. This was a warning. A message.

She had underestimated Victor Langley.

He wasn’t just watching.

He had been waiting.

A new message appeared on her screen. No sender. Just three words.

See you soon.

The blood in her veins turned to ice.

She slammed the laptop shut, her mind racing. What the hell had she just triggered? She had spent years covering her tracks, perfecting the art of moving unseen. And yet, Langley had wiped her out in seconds.

She couldn’t stay here.

She grabbed her bag, shoving her essentials inside. The apartment—her so-called safe space—was compromised. She needed to disappear before Langley made his next move.

But as she reached for the doorknob, a noise stopped her cold.

A soft click.

The hair on the back of her neck rose.

Not possible.

Her building had the best security money could buy. No one should be able to get in without setting off an alarm.

She slipped her knife from its hidden sheath, pressing her back against the wall.

Then—another sound. Footsteps.

Someone was inside.

She turned swiftly, ready to strike—

A hand snatched her wrist before she could react, twisting her body hard against the wall.

She gasped as familiar heat pressed against her skin.

Damon.

His grip was iron, his body looming over hers, his breath steady despite the storm brewing in his eyes.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he growled, his voice dangerously low.

Natalia shoved at him, but he barely moved. “Let me go.”

He didn’t. Instead, his grip tightened. “Do you have a death wish?”

Her chest heaved as she glared up at him. “You’re the one breaking into my apartment.”

His jaw ticked. “Your security is pathetic.”

“And yet, somehow, you’re the only one who managed to get in,” she shot back.

His lips pressed into a thin line. “That’s because Langley isn’t trying to get in. Not yet.”

Something in his tone made her stomach lurch.

She narrowed her eyes. “What do you know?”

Damon let out a slow breath, finally releasing her wrist, but he didn’t move back. He was still too close.

“I know that you just made yourself his next target.”

Natalia’s mouth went dry. “How do you—”

“I put a tracker on your system,” he admitted, watching her reaction carefully.

Her pulse skipped. “You what?”

Damon didn’t flinch. “I knew you were going to try something reckless. I wanted to make sure I saw it coming before you got yourself killed.”

Her hands clenched into fists. “You had no right—”

“I had every right.”

His words were quiet, but they cut through her like a blade.

He leaned in just a fraction closer, his voice laced with something dark. “I warned you about Langley. You ignored me. And now, he knows who you are.”

Natalia forced herself to hold his gaze, despite the storm of emotions crashing inside her. “Then I guess I’ll just have to handle it.”

Damon laughed. A humorless, sharp sound. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”

She lifted her chin. “Then tell me.”

For a long moment, he didn’t answer. And then—

“He’s the one who destroyed your family.”

Her breath caught.

A pin-drop silence filled the space between them.

Her body went rigid, her mind whirling with his words.

Langley. Langley.

“No,” she whispered, shaking her head. “You’re lying.”

Damon’s expression was unreadable. “Am I?”

Natalia’s heart pounded so hard it hurt. She had spent years believing it was Damon who had orchestrated her father’s downfall. She had built her entire mission on that belief.

And now, in the span of seconds, everything she thought she knew was coming apart.

“I don’t believe you.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Damon tilted his head slightly, studying her. “Then ask yourself this—if it was me, why would Langley be watching you now? Why would he try to recruit you?”

The answer clawed at the edge of her mind.

Because Langley had been waiting for her.

Damon let the silence stretch before finally speaking again. “He didn’t kill your father to get to me. He killed him to get to you.”

Natalia staggered back, her breath shuddering. “No.”

Damon’s voice softened. “You were never just collateral damage, Natalia. You were always the endgame.”

Her legs felt weak, her stomach roiling with nausea.

Years of rage, of hatred, of meticulously constructed revenge—it all came crashing down in a single, suffocating moment.

If what Damon was saying was true—

She had spent years hunting the wrong enemy.

And now, the real one was coming for her.

Natalia didn’t remember how she ended up sitting on the edge of her couch, her hands gripping the armrest like a lifeline.

Damon stood by the window, his silhouette cast in shadows. He hadn’t said anything else, giving her time to process.

But time wasn’t a luxury she had anymore.

“I need proof,” she finally said, her voice barely steady.

Damon turned, his gaze dark. “I have it.”

Her eyes snapped to his. “Then why didn’t you tell me before?”

His jaw tensed. “Because you wouldn’t have believed me.”

And he was right.

If he had said this even a week ago, she would have dismissed it. She would have fought him.

But now—now Langley had made his move. And he had erased every doubt from her mind.

She exhaled slowly, forcing herself to think.

If Langley had orchestrated everything—her father’s ruin, her family’s death, her disappearance—then what did he want now?

Why reveal himself now?

Damon seemed to read her thoughts. “He’s setting a trap.”

She swallowed hard. “For me.”

Damon’s expression hardened. “He knows you’ll come after him now. And that’s exactly what he wants.”

A shiver ran down her spine.

Natalia had always considered herself the hunter. But tonight, for the first time—

She wondered if she had been the prey all along.

And Langley was about to finish what he started.