I'd always prided myself in my control.

There were few people who could get a reaction out of me. No one saw anything but a large, broody, intimidating figure. Every movement I made was brutal and calculated, unexpected.

Unfortunately, that reputation at the mansion has been ruined by my Flower. But I wasn't as upset by it as I thought I would be.

But having these people in my home– Lorenzo Diablo– made me want to kill them all to fix the problem. The only reason their blood wasn't splattered on the floor was because we still needed them.

Also, I knew Rosaline was watching. I would never show her that side of me, no matter how much she insisted that she accepted all of me. If I could prevent her from seeing that, then I would do it.

Lorenzo would live another day, but I will make sure his life was a living hell.

I barely spoke a word to any of them. If I did, I would have taken them all down, consequences be damned.

We all sat in Xavier's office, Campbell trying to convince a "doubtful" Xavier. Rosaline and Xavier were right, though. Campbell was too focused on building up his reputation, his ego preventing him from walking away.

Though I wouldn't have accepted the deal– we would've gotten the shitty end of the stick. Our company had built itself as a reliable and independent security firm, with sponsors from different organizations that people would die to have. It put us in a positive light with the public, something that Campbell needed. While Lorenzo and Campbell would get money and resources, all we would get out of it is weapons that weren't needed.

Erik was entertaining Rebecca, trying to make polite conversation as he carefully stole her phone. Rebecca was too busy drinking wine to notice– upset about her failure to enter our security system– and attempting to seduce Erik.

The female hacker didn't realize that she was messing with another hacker's software.

Lorenzo was also a spectator, watching Campbell argue with Xavier and Jasmine, who were enjoying watching the man sweat.

I watched as Lorenzo looked around the room, a bored expression on his face. I blocked out the conversation around me, my focus on my prey.

I recognized the analytical look on his face, inspecting every part of the room. I'd seen Xavier do this many times, examining the environment for any weaknesses or things that stood out. His eyes stopped on the large screens against the wall. I got up from my chair, casually blocking it.

Lorenzo's lips twitched as he slowly rose from his seat, fixing his tie before joining me at the minibar.

He grabbed the expensive bottle of whiskey and poured some gracefully, listening to Campbell's whining about as much as I was.

"Señor Cohen, I sense your hostility toward me in waves," Lorenzo says in a bland tone. I wasn't sure if he was trying to be humorous or intimidate me.

"May I ask why? I am not aware if I have done any harm towards you. In fact, I hear that you may know a few of them and are even in close partnership with some. I have heard much about your brutality and skills on the field from them. Very impressive."

I looked at him, unimpressed by his flattery, but his words triggered a red flag in my mind. Lorenzo was saying that we may be in close contact with some of his colleagues.

While we were aware of everyone from Angelo's list, there was a sudden uneasiness that there might be others who had been recruited since Angelo's death, people we'd missed.

I heard John's voice in my ear.

"Damon, don't let him wind you up. Keep your cool."

"You're right," I nodded toward Lorenzo. "I don't trust you. You and I are both aware of your reputation and your organization. We don't need our company tarnished because of rumors."

We both knew they weren't rumors, but I had to stay cautious. If I pushed too hard, I might get a negative reaction. But I also wasn't willing to play the bright-eyed follower either.

Lorenzo chuckled, but there was no amusement in his tone.

"Don't worry about such little things. Soon, I will rise as one of the most powerful people in the world, with or without your company."

"Then why are you here? You seemed interested in being in a partnership with us and Mr. Campbell."

"Si encuentra la oportunidad más pequeña, aprovéchala antes de que alguien más la aproveche primero. Si alguien lo hace, elimine el problema y reclámelo como suyo," Lorenzo spoke, his accent thickening. He slowly sipped his drink, keeping his dark eyes on me.

It was a tactic meant to intimidate me, but I stood my ground, unflinching as I waited for him to speak again. Lorenzo's eyes flashed, some sort of emotion blazing through before he quenched it. But I was able to identify it and it sent repulsion down my spine.

Intrigue.

Lorenzo Diablo was intrigued by me.

About what, I didn't want to know.

"What I mean to say, Señor Cohen, is that you must always take the smallest opportunity before someone else. If someone does, one must eliminate the problem and claim it as your own, yes? Let's not waste resources on something so minor as ethics. Always do what is best for you."

"That is an interesting philosophy you have, Mr. Diablo. But one must know the line between doing what's best for yourself and taking things for yourself. Greed for power never ends well." I grumbled, not breaking eye contact with him.

Lorenzo chuckled again. "You are a funny man. Weak from moral obligations, but funny nonetheless." He refills his glass and gives me a look. "I would rather we be allies than enemies. I have no tolerance for traitors or deceit."

"That sounds hypocritical, given that you play politics through deception." I rumbled out, struggling not to snap at the man. I had to force my body not to twitch with the need to pound him into the ground.

"Damon," John warned. "You need to pull back."

Before I could decide to walk away, Lorenzo continued talking.

"I never said I didn't appreciate deception...but when I am the person pulling the strings. I've had to deal with traitors recently. Coincidently, one was a former employee of yours. You remember Angelo De Luca? Hope he wasn't a close friend of yours."

I froze at the name. Lorenzo's eyes were trained on me as I struggled to keep my composure.

How dare he casually bring up Angelo's murder like it was nothing?

I knew Lorenzo held no remorse for killing Angelo, just throwing an indirect confession at me to see how much information we knew on Angelo's death since he brought the police to our door.

"I haven't heard from him in years. He parted from our company on bad terms. We refuse to be associated with him. I heard from down the grapevine that Angelo passed a while ago. You wouldn't happen to know about that, would you, Mr. Diablo?"

Lorenzo gave a false sigh.

"Unfortunately not. I had to dismiss him as well. My sources did tell me that you haven't had contact in years with De Luca. Didn't say a word to the police either on the matter."

"And how did you know about the police? If I didn't know any better, you are more invested in my company than this partnership with Campbell." I countered. I felt immensely satisfied when his jaw ticked.

We were playing a game, circling one another and making different moves to see for any weak points that we could exploit. We weren't willing to put our cards on the table, but we were taunting one another to do so.

Both of us weren't going to win this round, but the fucker definitely didn't win this conversation for intel.

I was going to win the entire game before setting it on fire.

"I have eyes and ears everywhere. It only matters if I use it for good or bad. Let's hope that our partnership ends well. I would hate for you to have an enemy like me, Señor Cohen." Lorenzo purred.

I slowly poured myself a drink, showing a false front of being calm. My heart was pounding with adrenaline, ready for combat. I raised my glass to Lorenzo.

"And you would hate to have an enemy like me, Mr. Diablo. I would tread very carefully with your next words. Let's hope we are never on opposite sides. Now, why don't you focus on this partnership you insist you care about? You seem more interested in interrogating me."

Lorenzo's lip twitched as he raised his glass as well.

"You are right. But just know, pushing me around isn't wise."

"Never said I was." I responded, tired of being in his presence. I only had so much control before I decided to kill this man and his influence over our lives.

Lorenzo gave me one final look before he walked back to his seat. I remained at the bar. I needed as much distance from him as I could or else this meeting wouldn't end the way we wanted. I tapped my finger three times on the desk in agitation, signaling that I wanted this to be over soon.

"Pay attention to the conversation, Damon. They're wrapping it up." John spoke.

I couldn't listen. It was too hard knowing that a sociopath was here in our home, a man who had done unspeakable things.

"Damon, I need you to calm down. Can you take a deep breath?"

I froze at the sound of Rosaline's voice. Her soft, soothing tone sent a wave of calm over my anger.

"Come on, Damon. Take a deep breath. Lo– he will get what's coming to him soon. But I need you to let go of the anger for now. I need you to breathe." Flower ordered in a no-nonsense tone.

This woman would sometimes forget how strong and capable she was. But in moments like this, when she pushed her nerves aside and brought out the fierce warrior in her, made me proud.

I listened to her. I forced myself to stay where I was standing and focus on the conversation Xavier and Jasmine were having with Campbell.

"What incentive do you need to be a part of this partnership? I would offer money, but nothing would compare with what we will get if we partnered." Campbell said, looking stressed.

Jasmine tapped the desk in a bored fashion.

"My client doesn't want to be involved with bad connections and create a scandal for himself. If you have someone who can vouch for you besides Mr. Diablo, we should be able to come to a settlement. This person must have a strong influence and public support for the backlash won't be so harsh."

Campbell nodded quickly. "I have just the person who can help," he spoke quickly. "He has a lot of influence and I am sure one call will be all you need. I'm sure you have heard of Sen–"

"Mr. Campbell. I am beginning to tire. Perhaps we can finish this another day?" Lorenzo stood, staring at Campbell. While his face was blank, something in his expression was enough to make Campbell's turn pale.

"Y-yes, perhaps you're right. I will call you with a person who can give a strong recommendation. Thank you for a lovely evening, Mr. Monroe."

Xavier stood and gave him a charming smile.

"It was a pleasure. If we can get these issues solved, I hope to make business with you."

They both shook hands before everyone began leaving the office. I waited for everyone to leave before I locked up the office. Jasmine and Xavier steered Campbell away while Erik seemed to be fighting off Rebecca's advances and secretly putting her phone in his pocket.

Lorenzo was the last to leave. He walked to the door when he stopped.

"Everything okay, Mr. Diablo?" I asked gruffly, done with his bullshit.

Lorenzo didn't respond, knelt on the ground, and picked something up. He stood back up and gave me a smile. It was a false, chilling smile that masked a killer. "I just dropped something. This has been a delightful evening. A pleasure meeting you, Damon Cohen. We will see each other again. I've learned everything that I needed to."

With that, Lorenzo Diablo exited the office, leaving me alone.

"I'm clear." I said out loud for the comms.

"Copy. Make a sweep on the room to check for any bugs." John reminded me.

"Will do. Xavier is escorting them out. Make sure Tom is on look out."

I carefully went through the room, checking for any bugs or devices our unwelcome guests might have planted in the office.

"They left the gates. I ordered the men to make sure everything is secure before we let Rosaline and Maria go," Xavier spoke through the line. "Hey Asshole, you really had to prod Lorenzo? I think he likes you since he hardly spoke a word to me."

"Hell no. I would rather die than have a drink with him." I said with disgust.

"No, not like in a 'have a drink' way. It's more of a sociopathic 'I would like to dissect and watch you scream' way. Lorenzo fixated on you and I don't like it. You are to stay the hell away from him next time."

I sighed in agreement. I was too close to blowing our meeting out of proportion. I didn't say anything else on the subject and moved on.

"Everything is clean here. How about your end, Xavier?"

"Good. I put a small bug in the end of Lorenzo's suit jacket. Hard to recognize unless you're looking for it. Heading back to you. John, once you get the all clear, come on up to the office– you too, Erik. Signing off."

I was about to pull out my comm when I heard Rosaline.

"Damon? Are you still there?" She asked shyly.

"I'm still here, Flower. How are you holding up?"

"Shaky. But I am not having a panic attack, so I count that as a win?" Rosaline joked weakly.

"Flower, you did good tonight. And thank you for calming me down...I needed that."

She stayed silent for a few moments before responding.

"You're welcome. I couldn't let my partner in crime get in trouble without me. We're a team. Next time you are about to throw down, I will give the first punch."

I let out a smile as I sat in a chair. The idea of Rosaline getting into any physical fight was both amusing and worrisome. "Of course, you will get the first punch and then I will do the rest of the fight since you will run away."

I winced once I realized what I said.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that–"

"I know you didn't. You aren't wrong though. Conflict isn't my thing," Rosaline told me. "I think if anything I would be out of the fight because I broke my hand or something."

My frown deepened as I realized I never thought of teaching Rosaline how to throw a proper punch. While she has been going to therapy and doing dance classes with Jasmine and Maria, I never taught her any self-defense.

The worst boyfriend award goes to me.

"Would you like me to teach you? I can show you the proper way to sucker punch someone. I can also teach you other self-defense moves if you are interested."

Rosaline laughed. "How romantic. My boyfriend is going to teach me to knock somebody out. Sign me up for that. But I don't think I can hurt your cute little face."

I grunted at the description. "I think I can handle it, Flower. But I need to go. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon!" Rosaline cheered before I pulled out my comm. I grabbed my glass from the table and looked at the spot where Lorenzo had stopped.

Something was nagging me. I hadn't seen him drop anything and I checked to see if he left a bug. What was he doing?

I moved to the monitors, turning them on to look through the night's footage.

I fast-forwarded through the footage in Xavier's office until I finally got to when everyone was leaving. I zoomed in on Lorenzo and saw him pick something off the carpet. I couldn't zoom in enough on what it was.

My mind scrambled to what would be worth something...

I looked closer at the screen and saw the object he picked up was small. My heart stopped as I realized what it was.

"Asshole! What are you–"

"Look at the screen, Xavier. Lorenzo picked something off the floor when he left. Does it look familiar to you?"

Xavier squinted his eyes and paled when he recognized it.

"Is that–"

"One of Rosaline's rose charms? Yes. We must have forgotten one when it broke earlier. And Lorenzo took it with him." I spoke hurriedly, my heart pounding and adrenaline coursing through my system.

"If Lorenzo recognized it, that means–"

"He knows. Lorenzo Diablo fucking knows that she was here."

Xavier pulled out his phone and put it to his ear.

"Erik, I need someone to follow the tracker on Lorenzo now. We've been blown. I need to know where he's going. He was driving in a black Ford. He drove separately from the Campbells." Xavier hung up before calling someone else.

"John, I need you and the twins to interrogate the suspect. Do whatever it takes to get him to talk about their operations and what their plans were. I want to know everything you can get off this guy."

Xavier kept talking but I couldn't contain my anger as I threw my glass across the room, not caring that it shattered.

I knew Flower was in the crossfire, but now she had been exposed. It was my fault that I didn't check to make sure we picked everything up. I should have made sure we counted all of them.

"Damon, she's going to be fine." Xavier put a hand on my shoulder, looking at me with a serious expression. "He isn't going to be anywhere near her– we won't let that happen."

I looked at the screen. "We need to speed up our operation. Now that Lorenzo knows Rosaline was at least here, he is going to be watching us closely. We need to take them down before he is able to dig any deeper."

"We have enough intel to work with from dinner. Campbell was about to mention a name when Lorenzo cut him off. He didn't want us to know the name, but we got the beginning part." Xavier reminded me.

I ran a hand through my hair. "'Sen?' It could be the beginning of a name? Erik can go through the list with anyone with a name starting or sounding like that."

"That is still a large pool of suspects. We have to think that there's a smaller group of people," Xavier repeated the name again and again before snapping his fingers.

"But what if it was a title? Like a senator?"

"But that's still a hundred people."

"But it narrows it down. We need to check Angelo's list for US senators and anyone's name starting with 'Sen' either as a first or last name." Xavier said as he began typing rapidly on the phone.

"Son of a bitch!" I cursed, pacing as we waited for our men to give intel.

After what feels like an eternity, another beep came from Xavier's phone. His frown deepened as he read the message, knuckles turning white around the device.

He looked up at me with anger.

"Lorenzo's jacket was found on the side of the road a few miles north. He's gone."