334 A New Member or a New Leader? 8

Damien's lips parted as he looked at the way Katherine was trying to extract important information from Chris, admiring the way she was so curious and also thrilled at the newfound discovery. Just a moment ago, her confidence was roughly shaken, all because she was too worried about his safety. And it felt so damn good when she told him that she trusted him. 

He still gets surprised whenever he sees her handling deadly weapons but he wasn't afraid of her. In fact, whenever this badass Katherine would come to the surface, he found her exciting and beautiful. So, seeing her brain work like this, Damien could only marvel at her. He found her brain and skills sexy. No one could ever be her — and she was his.

Meanwhile, Chris kept his face expressionless as Katherine stood before him, studying him. If his hands weren't tied up in the armchair at the moment, he probably would have already clapped his hands for her. He knew that she was smart, she always had been. He witnessed Katherine flourish and excel in training. She was a fast learner and quick to adapt to certain situations. Now, he was again especially impressed—and he couldn't be more proud.

He couldn't really tell her a lot, but because he was amused at the moment, he let the corners of his mouth curl up just slightly and didn't avert his clear blue eyes from her. Though he shouldn't be telling her his secrets, he was also eager to find out how far she would be able to guess. And maybe… just maybe, he would consider another set of options moving forward.

Katherine stared at his eyes intently, tilting her head to the side and raising her brows. Her eyes seemingly glowed as she examined Chris, wanting to see if he was going to give away anything. She could see that he was amused by her curiosity with the way that he was giving her a smug look. And even though she hated him right now, she could only think of what was going on in his head at the moment. "Why are you betraying Parker?" she questioned.

Chris remained silent, his facial muscles were now relaxed as he leaned against the backrest, wanting to give himself some space from Katherine whose gaze was fixed on him

Seeing that he had no intention of answering her question, she tried to press on, "What flipped your mind that you are turning your back on Parker? You've always been behind him for so many years now… So why are you doing this?"

He slowly released his breath in a sigh, looking tired at the current situation that he was in. "Whatever I do in my own time doesn't concern you, Katherine."

Chris balled his hand into a fist to fight himself against the urge to pat her on the head. He had already come into terms that she would hate him forever and he was okay with that. But this wouldn't stop him from admiring her. "I've always cared for you. I may have done things that are not exactly humane, but all I did for you… I did it thinking that I was doing it for your own good. But this… what I'm doing now is for me. This is my battle, Katherine. And I don't want you in it."

Katherine swallowed and straightened herself up but she kept her eyes on him, his words churning in her mind and she was reminded of all the things that Chris did for her. He wasn't always bad… At least, he was never bad to her. He lied to her; yes. And that hurt her a lot. But even she realized that his selfish ways were all because he was trying to protect her. They may be so wrong in so many ways… and she may not agree with everything that he did. But she understood and believed that he did care for her.

She would probably continue to hate him despite understanding why he did what he did. Because even though she understood him, it didn't mean that she could accept what he did. It didn't mean that she would stop hurting just because she could see why he did it. And maybe it will stay that way for a long time… maybe it will be forever.

Desperate to know more about what Chris was doing, she crossed her arms and bargained with him, "Can you just tell me one thing? Tell me one thing and I will let you go."

It may be stupid to let him go but he was right. She couldn't kill him and keeping him in here would alert Parker, which she wouldn't want. But that was the plan in the first place, to capture Chris so they could use him against Parker. However, things have changed now, Damien was with her – her strongest support. And Chris was doing something behind Parker's back — and that could be crucial to their success.

"What you're doing… Is that going to bring down Parker?" she finally asked.

Contemplating his options, Chris thought that he might regret telling Katherine even just a tiny piece of information. But he didn't really have a choice now. He had to leave this place soon. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at her with a serious expression and told her with a clear voice, "Not Parker..."

He watched as Katherine's brows knitted in confusion at his initial words and then he continued, "Not only Parker. I'm bringing down Shadow."

Her brows relaxed and her expression turned from curiosity to eagerness with a mixture of fear, unsure of the unknown that was coming their way because this was something they did not expect – for Chris to betray Parker and take down Shadow. And when she thought that he was done, she heard him add, "It's him and all the other executives behind him. I am doing this alone and I don't want you involved."

Damien, who had been observing the two the entire time, strolled towards Katherine and gently pulled her by the arm for a side talk. He tugged her towards the other side of the room, making sure they were out of Chris's earshot. "You can't let him go. What if everything he said is all just a scheme?"

"What will lying about his betrayal of Parker do for me?"

"Maybe he's trying to gain your trust for whatever fûcked up reason there is. I don't know. He's already hurt you one too many times. What's stopping him again?"

Katherine mused, biting her lip as she pondered upon what she could do at the moment. "You've heard the phone call earlier. Parker doesn't know that I'm just pretending… He may have already started to have doubts but if Chris was really against me, he would have already told Parker the truth. He's not wired too… I… I don't know, Damien… I want to believe him."

The two exchanged looks and he hated that she had faith in Chris. It bothered him but he couldn't blame her because, after all, she knew Chris more than he does. "Is this what you really want?"

"I'm not sure. But this is what my gut tells me."

Running a hand down his face, he could feel a headache creep up on him. "Fine. Your call."

Damien called his security back in the living room and in just a minute, the cuffs and ties on Chris were off. He hadn't been tied up for a long time and he wasn't really tortured, but the spot on his head where he was hit earlier was causing him some serious headache.

Chris rubbed the sore spot on his wrists where he was cuffed. "I mean it, Katherine. Just lay low and Parker will stop going after you. You already have a good life right now. Don't ruin it," he remarked as he fixed his coat in place. 

Katherine didn't respond to Chris. She stood next to Damien who was still reluctant on letting the man leave. His body was rigid and his eyes darkened at the sight of Chris who was about to leave. She could see the bloodlust in Damien's eyes and she somehow knew what he was about to do. 

A mocking laugh escaped from Damien's lips as he rolled his neck from side to side. "Katherine may be merciful but I'm not. She's the only reason that you're walking away now." Raising the gun in his hand, he wanted to aim it at Chris's head but restrained himself, so he lowered it and in just half a second, he pulled the trigger, shooting Chris's thigh.

"Next time, the bullet will go through your head."