397 New Moon

After Katherine finished eating her scrumptious meal, she and Damien went out to the balcony to get some fresh air. It was no longer raining and sitting by the pool under the new moon and the calm night was quite peaceful—a total opposite of the eventful day that they had.

They each sat on comfy armchairs facing the view of the dark sea. The stars in the dark sky weren't a lot compared to the other nights but it was still a beautiful sight to look at. Katherine brought her knees up, hugging them to warm herself up and adjusting the fleece blanket over her shoulders that Damien put around her earlier.

He stretched his limbs while he was seated and threw his head back, closing his eyes as he took a second to rest. There was silence for a few minutes as they enjoyed the quiet night before he started, "I was going to call your grandfather and tell him about what happened."

Katherine snapped her head at him and immediately said, "You can't! You didn't tell him anything, did you?"

He shook his head and gave her a reassuring smile. "I didn't. It would be an unnecessary worry for him and I think you didn't need to tell him more lies."

A pang of guilt slashed her heart. She was indeed lying too much but all for a good reason. Ignoring the ill feelings, she nodded and tightened the covers around her. "Thanks… You can't let the news about my abduction go out either, not just for my family but because it will only paint a bad image of your hotel and Maverick Security. So let's just keep this under wraps."

Damien leaned forward with his head in his hands, seemingly distressed about what Katherine just said. He ran his fingers through his hair several times out of frustration and looked at a distance as he thought about things.

"What are you thinking about?" she wondered.

He tilted his head sideways and looked at her, trying to grasp the thought of her being next to him safe and sound. But just earlier that day, she had been captured. He swore he felt like his chest was being crushed not knowing whether he would see her again.

Reaching out to touch his arm, she gave him a small smile. "Hmmm?"

He glanced at her hand on his arm, placed his hand over it, and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Katherine was taken aback by what he muttered. "Why are you sorry?"

Letting out a deep sigh, he lowered his head and rubbed his nape as if it would relieve the stress that he had. "I wasn't able to protect you."

Hearing what was eating him up made her feel horrible. She swiftly got up from the armchair and kneeled in front of him, the blanket falling on the floor as she did. With both hands, she held the sides of his face and tipped his head towards her so that they were staring at each other. "Damien, it's not your fault. It was my choice to let him take me. Otherwise, I would have blown my cover."

He lowered his gaze, looking at the floor space between his feet when he couldn't look at her anymore. "That doesn't change the fact that I feel like shît for not doing what I am supposed to do. You were on my turf, Katherine. It happened while I was in the same building. On the same damn floor and I only knew almost an hour later. I felt… I feel helpless that I couldn't prevent it from happening."

She rubbed the back of his hand to comfort him. "You can't be mad at yourself for that… Be mad at me instead."

Damien raised his head and narrowed his eyes at her. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because I didn't fight back. If I had, I wouldn't have been captured." She shrugged.

"But if you did that…"

Katherine slowly smiled at him and he softly chuckled at the realization. They were only going around in circles—except he was on the defense this time. "Fine. Okay. But it still feels awful and that I can't help. Felix is already doing an internal investigation. We'll tighten the security even more."

He pulled her up and made her sit on his lap, in which she complied and settled comfortably in his arms. "It feels good like this. I had to stand for hours and the floor was cold. Stupid Gus. I'll get back at him for that," he heard her complain. He pressed a kiss on her hair and tightened his embrace. 

"Then we'll stay like this for a while. But we have to go inside soon as it's getting colder by the minute," he said as he tried to warm up her cold hands.

All of a sudden, the image from the security footage of Margaret talking to Katherine flashed in his mind and he knitted his brows. A bitter taste lingered in his tongue at the thought of that woman coming near Katherine. "Earlier when I watched the security clips, I saw you talking to a woman when you got out of the restroom." When she looked at him, he added, "That was Margaret."

"You know her?" She arched a brow as the face of the woman from that time formed in her mind.

"She's… the daughter of Chairman Hara of Hara Construction."

"She's… Margaret Hara..." Katherine shifted her gaze at nowhere in particular. Her mind brought her back to when the woman approached her then. She looked like an innocent-looking person. Always smiling and looking amiable. 

Her nose wrinkled at the memory of them shaking hands and she vaguely remembered the strange feeling that she got. Like something was odd with the woman. Could it be because of this? Because she was that woman whom Damien told her about?

The better question was probably: Did Margaret know who she was when she approached her? Because if she did, Katherine thought she was such a sly person.