327 A New Member or a New Leader? 1

Deciding to finally get up from the bed, Katherine went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth with Damien following her behind. Like the magician that he was, he had his toothbrush with him too and he started brushing his teeth with her in front of the sink.

The two looked at each other with a toothbrush in hand — she was looking at him quizzically while he returned her gaze with a toothpaste-foamy smile. She turned around, facing the wide mirror that covered the wall of her bathroom on top of the double sink. He stood behind her, a hand planted on the counter and somewhat trapping her in place.

With his new found confidence, Damien just couldn't get enough of Katherine. As much as he could, he wanted to be with her all the time especially now that he already knew the truth about her identity. He might have to work harder to help her but he was definitely willing to do that.

He watched her watching him through their reflections on the mirror as they brushed their teeth. A chore that looked intimate for the two, all because they just enjoyed each other's company.

Damien finished brushing his teeth and he rinsed his mouth while keeping Katherine in place with his other hand, refusing to let go of her, afraid that she would disappear all of a sudden if he as much as lose her at an arm's length.

When they finished washing up, he stole a quick back hug and a kiss on the neck before they finally went out of the bedroom. Katherine found him so clingy that morning but she didn't complain. After missing him for months, she allowed herself to just enjoy those little moments they could spend together amidst the chaos they were facing right now.

"Good, you're finally up," Styles muttered when he heard Katherine's bedroom door open and close as he plated bacon and eggs. He looked up and saw Damien with Katherine who was still wearing a shirt and joggers and his mouth hung open. He didn't think that the man would stay up—and sleep in Katherine's bedroom that night. It was the second night in a row and seeing King Charming in the morning was still quite weird for him.

"Oh, I didn't know—um—I'll just make more breakfast." Styles briefly made a polite bow towards Damien before he hurriedly went over to the refrigerator to get more bacon and eggs.

Damien nodded and went to make himself some coffee and warm chocolate for Katherine. He seemed to be more at home than she thought he would be.

"What did you find?" she asked as she settled on the breakfast nook and started munching on a piece of bacon from the plate, pulling Styles's laptop in front of her to check on the footage.

Katherine watched the video on the screen and saw Chris going inside the restaurant alone. There was some security detail around him but none of them looked like they were from Shadow. Her eyes narrowed and her brows knitted as she studied the clip in front of her, wondering what Chris was up to that one time she ran into him in Central Harbor Restaurant.

While Styles was explaining to Katherine what his thoughts were on the footage that he found, Damien flipped the bacon on the pan that Styles abandoned, cooked the eggs and plated them before he joined the two over the laptop.

"What exactly are you guys looking for?" Damien asked, sipping on his black coffee which he added with a small pinch of salt just like he usually did. The coffee habit that he found out last night actually came from his mother, the usual coffee that he drank now tasted even better and he found it interesting.

"A couple of days ago I asked you about the restaurant's membership—"

"The Platinum Club?"

"Yeah, that one. On May 19th, I ran into Chris while I was on my way to the bathroom."

"You were with me for lunch…" Damien recalled that day and remembered that he had a phone call and Katherine went to the ladies' room. He furrowed his brows at her and suddenly felt protective even if it was just a memory. How could he have known that she would meet that monster that day? "Did he do something to you?!"

"No!" She quickly dismissed his fear, shaking her head for emphasis. "It was a coincidence. If I remember correctly, he also looked surprised to see me there. But I didn't know who he was so I ignored him and went my way. Although… before I entered the restroom, I did hear a woman's voice calling him in the hallway."

"Do you recognize that voice?" he probed.

"I…" Katherine bit her lip and stared at the empty space on the breakfast nook. "I don't know who she was… but her voice sounded like… I don't know, maybe I've heard of it somewhere. I'm not sure. Maybe it just sounded the same."

Nodding his head, Damien set his mug down and asked, "So you want to know who he was meeting with that day, why?"

"I just want to find out why he was there. You said that the club is exclusive to influential people. Well, Chris isn't one… and as far as I know, Parker is the one who meets all the influential people. So who was Chris meeting there?"

"Do you think that Parker was also there?" he wondered and saw Katherine's eyes widen at his question.

She had been thinking about Chris only and didn't think about the possibility of Parker being there. "Styles…"

Styles shook his head. "I don't think so. I've reviewed the clips but I didn't see Parker anywhere near the building. I'm beginning to think that there's a secret passage going to this restaurant that I don't know about." He shifted his gaze at Damien, wondering if he knows anything.

Meeting Styles's gaze, Damien understood what was going through his mind. "That, I'm not sure. I don't have any shady businesses to have the need to do that, so I don't know. But I might be able to see who had reservations that day…"

"If you're thinking about that amateur hacker you hired to clean my Queen's scandal with you that one time, then I can assure you that he wouldn't know anything about it. He wouldn't know anything that I don't," Styles arrogantly muttered, but he gulped when he saw Damien's icy glare. His upper lip twitched and he got chills all over. This King Charming was too scary.