– Damien’s POV

Damien stood at the entrance of Sebastian’s estate, his patience wearing thin. Luca clung to Valarie, supporting her as she stirred weakly, her exhaustion evident. Damien had already called for their car—Valarie needed to be home, surrounded by family, where she belonged.

But, of course, Sebastian had other ideas.

"You’re not taking her anywhere," Sebastian said smoothly, arms crossed as he leaned lazily against the doorframe.

Damien’s jaw clenched. "She’s coming home with us."

Sebastian’s smirk didn’t falter. "She’s injured. She needs rest, proper care, security. Here, she’s well-protected."

"She’ll be just as safe with us."

Sebastian gave him a knowing look. "Would she?" His voice was low, pointed. "Mikhail just nearly got her killed. And tell me, dear friend, how well-guarded is your home? Your family? Because from where I stand, I see cracks."

Damien’s eyes flashed with warning, but Sebastian continued, his voice dripping with amusement.

"You've grown soft, Volkov. A lover , a daughter, a sister-in-law—" He chuckled darkly. "—so many weaknesses. I, on the other hand, don’t have that problem. Valarie is safer here, under my protection."

Luca scowled. "She’s our family. She needs to be with us."

Sebastian’s expression didn’t change, but his grip on the whiskey glass in his hand tightened ever so slightly. His gaze flickered to Valarie, who, despite her exhaustion, was watching the exchange with sharp, knowing eyes.

Damien took a step forward, lowering his voice. "You don’t own her, Sebastian."

Sebastian exhaled slowly, a smirk curving his lips as he tilted his head. "Don’t I?". He mouthed to Damien.

Damien tensed.

Sebastian turned his attention to Valarie. "You tell me, Officer Ivanov. Do you want to go?" His voice was calm, but there was an undertone—one that only someone like Damien could recognize. A silent challenge.

Valarie, despite everything, smirked faintly. Even injured and broken , she had the audacity to look amused. "You’re both idiots."

Damien and Sebastian both stiffened.

Valarie exhaled tiredly, rolling her shoulders. "I need rest, and honestly, I don’t care where I get it, as long as I can sleep and forget about everything, without either of you hovering like territorial dogs."

Sebastian’s smirk deepened, satisfied.

Damien, however, wasn’t backing down.

"This isn’t over," he warned.

Sebastian merely chuckled, stepping aside and gesturing dramatically toward the estate. "Oh, I know."

Luca shot Sebastian a glare before helping Valarie inside. Damien followed, but not before pausing briefly beside Sebastian.

"You touch her the wrong way—"

Sebastian smirked. "I’d never dream of it."

Liar. He knew that bastard too well.

*******

Damien walked out of Sebastian’s estate with Luca by his side, but before he stepped into the car, he turned back. Sebastian was still standing at the doorway, watching them leave with that ever-present smirk—mocking, taunting, as if he’d already won in life.

Damien met his gaze, a slow, dangerous smirk curling his own lips. "Keep your hands where they belong, Vasiliev," he warned smoothly. "Or I’ll cut them off myself."

Sebastian chuckled, completely unfazed. "Careful, Volkov. You make it sound like you still care."

Damien scoffed, shaking his head as he slid into the car. Luca sat beside him, silent at first as the driver pulled away from the estate. The tension lingered in the air, thick and unspoken.

Then, after a few minutes, Luca spoke.

"Sebastian seems… nice."

Damien groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Don’t start."

Luca blinked. "What? He helped Valarie—"

"He stalks Valarie," Damien corrected flatly.

Luca frowned. "You kidnapped me too , and well he also saved her."

Damien snorted. "Yeah, and a wolf will protect the lamb it wants to devour." He shot Luca a look. "Trust me, Vasiliev is the worst kind of bastard.."

Luca tilted his head slightly, thoughtful. He had been watching Damien the entire drive, eyes sharp, perceptive.

"There's something between you two," Luca said after a moment.

Damien tensed. "There’s nothing—"

Luca crossed his arms. "You're lying."

Damien exhaled sharply, looking away. "It’s complicated."

Luca studied him but didn’t push.

The tension simmered.

Finally, Damien smirked, throwing Luca a teasing glance. "You’re way too trusting, Luca. I swear, you’d make friends with a damn snake."

Luca rolled his eyes. "Sebastian doesn't seem that bad."

Damien gave him a deadpan stare. "That’s exactly what a snake wants you to think."

Luca huffed, leaning back into the seat, but something in his expression remained troubled. He could sense something between Damien and Sebastian—something old, heavy, unresolved.

And Damien hated that Luca noticed.

***** – Luca’s POV

The night was quiet, the city lights casting soft shadows across the bedroom. Luca lay beside Damien, curled up under the thick sheets, but his mind was far from sleep.

Damien, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease, reclining against the headboard with a book in one hand. His muscles were relaxed, his sharp features unreadable, as if he hadn’t just walked through the ruins of his past today.

Luca hated it.

He turned on his side, propping his head up on one hand, and eyed Damien with open curiosity. "So..."

Damien sighed, setting his book aside before shifting Luca into his lap. "You really want to know?" His voice was low, almost resigned.

Luca nodded, wrapping his arms around Damien’s neck. "I want to understand you."

Damien exhaled, his fingers absentmindedly stroking Luca’s back. "Fine. But don’t expect some fairytale." His grip on Luca tightened. "It’s not a story with a happy ending."

And so, he began.

---

The first time Damien killed a man, he was nine years old.

The blood had been warm—sticky between his small fingers, coating his face, his shirt. He remembered the weight of the knife, too heavy in his hand, the way it had trembled before sinking into flesh. The man had gurgled, his breath wet, eyes wide with shock.

"Good," his father had said, standing over him, cold approval in his gaze. "Now finish it."

Damien had obeyed. He hadn’t cried. Not then.

That was the first lesson he learned—hesitation meant death.

---

"I grew up in blood," Damien murmured, voice even, detached, as if he were recounting someone else’s life. "My father was a ruthless man, and he expected nothing less from me. Every morning, I woke up knowing that if I wasn’t strong enough, I’d be the next one buried."

Luca didn’t speak, but his hands tightened against Damien’s shirt.

---

*********** Sebastian & Damien

Luca started again, drawing out the word. "You and Sebastian."

Damien didn’t even blink. "What about us?"

Luca pouted. "You know what. You two have history. It’s obvious."

Damien hummed, still not looking at him.

Luca huffed, rolling closer and pressing his palm against Damien’s chest. "Come on, tell me! You get all stiff every time his name comes up, and you definitely know more about him than you let on."

Damien smirked, finally lowering his book. "You’re nosy."

Luca nodded shamelessly. "Yep."

A slow chuckle left Damien’s lips as he reached out, trailing his fingers through Luca’s soft hair. "And what do you want to hear, exactly?"

"Everything," Luca demanded, shifting so he was half on top of Damien now, legs tangled between his. "Why does it feel like you two were more than just enemies?"

Damien exhaled sharply, resting his head back against the pillow. "We were... different people back then." His voice was thoughtful, distant. "Sebastian and I weren’t just allies. We were family. Not by blood, but in every other way that mattered."

Luca’s eyes widened slightly. "Like you and Valarie?"

Damien hesitated, then shook his head. "No. Valarie and I are bound by loyalty. By choice. By you." His expression darkened. "Sebastian and I were forged in blood. We grew up knowing nothing but war. Surviving meant relying on each other. But things changed."

Luca shivered at the shift in his tone. "How?"

Damien’s fingers traced lazily along Luca’s arm. "Our world doesn’t allow love or brotherhood, Luca. It only allows power. Strength. Control. And when our families split, when the lines were drawn..." He let out a slow breath. "Sebastian and I were forced to become enemies."

Luca swallowed. "Did you hate him?"

Damien laughed softly, but there was no warmth in it. "Hate? No. I resented him. I wanted to kill him for years." He smirked, eyes flashing with something unreadable. "Maybe he wanted to kill me, too."

Luca studied his face, searching for something deeper. "And now?"

Damien tilted his head, gaze thoughtful. "Now... he’s still a bastard. But I know him. He doesn’t do anything without a reason." His smirk faded slightly. "And that’s what bothers me the most. I think he's taken interest in Valarie like I did in you. "

Luca frowned, processing his words. Then, after a moment, he poked Damien’s chest. "So, were you two, like... ever close-close?"

Damien raised a brow. "Are you asking if I fucked him?"

Luca’s face burned. "I-I didn’t say that!"

Damien chuckled, tipping Luca’s chin up with his fingers. "No, angel. Not like that. He was more like my brother" He studied Luca’s flustered expression for a long moment, amusement flickering in his sharp gaze. "But why does it sound like you’re jealous?"

Luca groaned, burying his face in Damien’s chest. "I hate you."

Damien grinned, pressing a lazy kiss to the top of Luca’s head. "No, you don’t."

********** Damien continued,

Sebastian and I were raised together," Damien continued, his mind pulling him back to those long, brutal days. "We trained together, fought together. We didn’t have a choice. Our fathers made sure of that."

Pain was their only companion. Broken bones, split lips, the constant taste of iron on their tongues. They learned to survive through violence, through cruelty. Love was a weakness neither of them could afford.

"We became the perfect weapons," Damien said. "By the time we were fifteen, we weren’t just children. We were executioners."

There were no teenage years for them—no awkward crushes, no school dances, no innocent dreams of the future. Only blood, death, and the weight of expectations.

---

"Then came the war."

Damien’s jaw clenched, his fingers gripping Luca’s waist unconsciously. "Our fathers turned against each other. The Volkovs and the Vasillevs were once allies, but greed poisoned everything. And Sebastian and I… we were the pawns sacrificed to their war."

One night, everything burned.

Gunfire, screams, the acrid scent of smoke filling his lungs. He had stood over the bodies of men he once called family. His father had ordered him to kill without hesitation.

And he had.

Until the order came to kill Sebastian.

Damien had refused.

And his father had beaten him within an inch of his life for it.

"That night, I stopped being his son," Damien murmured. "I was just another soldier. Another tool to be used until I was broken."

He had barely survived. The next morning, he ran.

"I killed my own father," Damien admitted, voice emotionless. "Not out of love or revenge. Just necessity. He would’ve killed me first."

Silence settled between them, heavy and suffocating.

******** Luca finally spoke, voice barely above a whisper. "And Sebastian?"

Damien smirked, though there was no humor in it. "He became exactly what his father wanted—a monster." His fingers traced circles on Luca’s lower back. "And so did I."

They had met again years later, not as brothers, but as rivals, as enemies standing on opposite sides of a battlefield soaked in blood.

"We both lost everything," Damien murmured, his tone unreadable. "But maybe that was inevitable."

Luca’s eyes glistened with something Damien couldn’t name. "You’re not a monster, Damien."

Damien chuckled darkly, brushing a lock of hair from Luca’s face. "You’re too soft, angel," he murmured. "If you knew everything I’ve done, you’d run."

Luca shook his head, pressing his forehead against Damien’s. "I’m still here, aren’t I?"

Damien inhaled deeply, a rare warmth flickering in his chest. He cradled Luca closer, pressing a slow, lingering kiss to his temple. "Yeah," he murmured against his skin. "You are."

*********