469 A Willing Party

"Do you really trust this guy?" Styles scoffed. 

He was already a bit apprehensive about having Chris around them, and now another one added to their worries. At first, their initial plan was only to use Chris to find Castle's new location, and possibly extract more information. But after Chris dropped by at Katherine's penthouse earlier that day and revealed to them about his situation, their plans had changed. 

There was no telling whether they would all be working together from now on—especially since he couldn't be so sure about Gus yet, but as far as he could see in the future—if Chris and Gus were to join their small team, he could only hope that they would have a bigger chance in taking down Shadow. 

But were they really enough? Among the five of them who came from Shadow—including Amelia—only four of them were highly trained in combat as his skill was focused on technology. Then they had Damien who had resources and could possibly also fight, given his background with the Parks. However, only time could really tell their success in going against Parker and taking down Shadow—an organization composed of power and highly trained assassins. 

"He's going to stay restrained," Damien answered and wordlessly nodded at his men who already knew what to do. They brought Gus to the corner of the room and tied him up securely.

Feeling a sudden bump on his shoulder, he snapped his head to the right and noticed Katherine's pale face and her shallow breathing. She squinted her eyes and then fluttered them close as she tried to regain her balance when her legs became weak. Damien immediately held her upright, his arms going around her waist to steady her. "What's wrong?" he asked in a worried tone.

"I'm… so tired," she managed to utter. She had been awake for more than thirty hours before she had the chance to close her eyes and take a rest. She was able to get some shut-eye in the hospital, but that wasn't really enough. And then she got worked up in the basement as she fought with Gus. It had been about twenty minutes since then and her adrenaline rush just wore out—now she was suffering from the effects of it.

Realizing what was happening to her, Damien decided to get her home. Without any hesitation, he picked her up in his arms and she instantly clung onto him, her eyes already closing as she rested her head on his shoulder. Facing his men, he left some orders, telling some of them to stay on guard here while the rest would go back with them to Golden Phoenix Residences.

Before he could turn to the door, Chris called his attention. Damien looked at the other with an impassive expression on his face and waited for what he had to say.

"Earlier, the doctor said that you…" Chris's voice trailed off and he sighed. "I just want to say thank you."

With that, he turned and left, leaving Chris standing on the same spot for a long time as he thought about a lot of things.

Damien still had Katherine in his arms as they got settled inside the Range Rover and headed home. With her eyes still closed, she raised her head and pressed her lips onto his cheek. "Thank you… I love you," she whispered. He tightened his hold on her and kissed the side of her forehead. "You can sleep now. We'll be home soon."

…

Golden Phoenix Residences

Damien went straight to his penthouse, carrying the sleeping Katherine bridal style. As soon as he walked in the foyer, his mother went to greet him, but Amelia hushed when she saw that Katherine was asleep. The mother and son exchanged small smiles, then he brought her up to his room and laid her down to sleep.

Later, he came back down and found his mother, Styles, and Felix in the kitchen. They were discussing the events from earlier that day regarding Chris and Gus. Because Felix was already aware of what was going on, Styles and Amelia filled him in about other stuff that he needed to know about Shadow and the two men who were staying at Katherine's old apartment.

"Congratulations on your engagement," Amelia greeted as soon as Damien appeared, gently brushing his upper arm as her way of expressing her good wishes before taking the initiative to pull him in for an embrace.

He felt genuinely happy with her greeting and he returned her hug as he said, "Thanks."

"Styles," he called when they pulled away. "So? Do you think it's possible?"

"What's possible?" Amelia probed.

"I was asking him earlier if he could hack into Shadow's database."

"I mean… I could," Styles answered. "Of course, I totally could. But, it will be risky. If the one who replaced me in the tech team is as good as me—which I don't really believe that, I mean… Who else could be as good as me?" He rolled his eyes. 

Ignoring the stare that he got from the three pairs of eyes, he continued, "If that's the case, then they would know right away and that could put us all in danger. However, although I don't want to risk doing it remotely, we'll have a better chance of success if we can get someone from the inside to plant a device for me."

"Someone from the inside?" Felix questioned. "But they're all enemies… Even if there was a willing party, who in the world would be so brazen to do that?"

"Well…" Styles squinted his eyes as though he was trying to gauge their reaction. "We do know someone who can do that. I'm just not sure if he's willing or brazen enough to do that—or that if you guys would even be up for it. Because I don't know if you trust him."

Even while Styles was still explaining, Damien already knew who he was talking about. "You're talking about that Agent."

"Yup," Styles confirmed, popping the letter P at the end, and nodded his head slowly. "Agent Gus. He's the only one whom I think could pull it off."