430 Silhouette 7

The party in the event hall was still in full swing when they returned as if nothing happened earlier. Without caring about the prying eyes of the people around them, Damien and Katherine walked hand in hand as they sought for Wallace.

People stared and whispered, but they didn't give a damn. They were caught in an online scandal last weekend and here they were, proving to everyone the truth. Even if they were only holding hands, that already spoke a lot especially when Damien Park was known to be someone who didn't do any PDA.

"Have you seen White?" Damien asked Jeffrey when he approached him. The latter was talking to a woman with black hair—someone Katherine hadn't seen before, but it seemed like Damien had met her already since she briefly greeted him. If Katherine had to guess, she would bet that she and Jeffrey had a little something.

"I did earlier, I'm not sure where he is now though. Did you check backstage?"

"Thanks." Damien was already walking towards the backstage with Katherine in tow as soon as Jeffrey answered. 

Arriving at the backstage, they saw Wallace scolding some staff that was handling the clothes with his hand-painted designs. "Are you nuts?! Don't hold it like that! You'll ruin the dress!" He was a totally different person when it came to his works. Meanwhile, Mr. West, like the calm person that he was, spoke gently to the other staff. 

Katherine saw the two dresses that caught her interest during the auction several meters away. Mr. West and Ava carefully packed them in garment bags. She silently sighed and thought maybe she could ask the two to make her one in the future.

"White," Damien called and Wallace turned to face them. His irritated expression slipped, replaced by a soft expression when he saw Katherine and Damien.

"There you guys are. I wondered where you two have gone off to. That didn't take long." A slow smile formed on Wallace's face as he shifted his gaze between the two, his insinuation didn't go unnoticed.

Damien rolled his eyes. This man takes every chance he gets to tease. Not willing to waste any more time, he started, "Your auction is done. I've agreed to all your terms. Now it's your turn."

Wallace let out a sigh before taking out a piece of white envelope from the inner pocket of his coat jacket and handed it to Damien, "I don't know what you're going to do with that but I hope that's useful or I'd consider a hit on my pride talking to my father first." When Damien received the envelope, he added, "Now, how about a hug to close the deal?"

Damien's brows immediately knitted at his bold statement. "I'm not hugging you."

Wallace's smile widened as he responded, "I'm not asking you." Then his gaze flitted towards Katherine. "That is indeed for her, right?"

Damien scoffed, "You're not—"

"It's okay, Damien, it's just a hug." Katherine leaned towards Wallace and gave him a hug.

However, before Katherine pulled away, she whispered to him in a slow, dangerous tone, "But my hugs come with a price, Mr. White. So now, you owe me one. I hope you're ready because I will collect anytime." And then she stepped back, a charming smile plastered across her face as she looked at him with a glint in her eyes.

The smile on Wallace's face slipped and he glanced at Damien—who now had a grin on his face. Then he threw his head back laughing, clearly amused at what just happened. He couldn't believe that Katherine was such a cunning woman. When he met her earlier, he could see that any man could immediately fall for her looks, but he wondered how Damien got his head wrapped around her finger and how he fell head over heels. "Now I see why." Katherine Young was a femme fatale.

…

Katherine and Damien slipped out of the party and went to find a quiet place, so they found themselves back in the dressing room they went to earlier. Taking out the piece of paper inside the envelope, they started to check the names on the list, which had about thirty people on it.

"How did she look like?" Katherine asked.

"I only saw the silhouette, and I'm not sure if I even know her." His eyes quickly scanned the dozens of names but he didn't see one that caught his attention. Without lifting his gaze from the paper, he asked her, "Can you call Styles?"

Katherine wordlessly called Styles using her phone and placed it on speakers.

"Yelow!" Styles answered on the first ring.

"Styles," Damien started, "I'm sending you the list. Gather everything you can get from each of the names."

"Got it."

"How soon can you finish?" Katherine asked.

"Uhh… A couple hours?"

She turned to Damien with a curious expression and asked, "Do memberships extend to spouses?"

He nodded. "Yes. They're usually treated as one entity so only one of them needs to be a member, and the spouse is an automatic extension."

She brought the phone near her mouth and spoke to the line, "Styles, include their spouses if any. Just in case. I don't want to miss anything. Take your time."

"Gotcha."

The call ended and the two sighed simultaneously. "Good thinking," Damien remarked.

"Back then, we'd do the same. Some targets would use their spouse's identity when they do something under the table. So we rule out possibilities of those as well."

"You must have been really good at what you did…" he muttered without thinking and saw her shift uncomfortably. "Hey…" He grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her towards him. "Come here..." Leaning half of his bottom against the edge of the table, he settled her between his legs and placed his hands on her waist.

Katherine felt warm as soon as the palm of his hand brushed the skin on her back and she naturally rested her hands on his chest, a small smile forming on her lips as she spoke, "We didn't get to finish our conversation earlier."

"Mm. I'm all ears."

"I know I did something wrong and I understand that you're mad… I haven't been in a serious relationship before you, Damien. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I suck at this. So if I did something that affected you in a way and I wouldn't know, I'm sorry... I didn't do it because I want to hurt you. I would never do that on purpose. You know that, right?" She spoke in a voice so calm and gentle that tugged Damien's heartstrings.

He nodded softly and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Of course."

"So… you're mad that I didn't tell you… or you're mad about the infiltration?"

Taking a deep breath, his head fell forward and landed on her chest, his forehead pressed against her skin. "Both. I don't like not knowing what's happening with you… or her… now that she's around. It pisses me off that I'm the last one to know."

Her fingers slid through his hair, caressing his head as he rested on her chest. "That night when we came back from Park Group, your mom… she told me that she had been a lone wolf for so many years. And I get that. Lone wolves are self-sufficient… They believe they can handle any curveball on every mission. They aren't dependent people… And I could say that I could be one myself, and though it's hard, I really am trying to change that. And I probably won't be able to change completely… I just want you to know that."

Slowly, he raised his head and looked at her. "You can't keep doing things on your own, Katherine."

"I'm sorry for making you worry. I won't do it again." Katherine leaned in and pressed her lips to his. When she pulled back, she smiled and told him, "You know what…"

"Hmm?"

"Lone wolves can never lead…"

"What are you saying?"

"You should lead us."

Damien barked a laugh. "You called me a tyrant once. Would you like a tyrant leader?"

"I don't remember. But I do remember saying… I like a man in charge."

The sweet smile on her lips lifted his mood. He kissed the corner of her mouth and pulled her with him. "Come on, you owe me a dance."