505 Partners in Crime

Katherine and Damien's idea of a crazy date? Breaking and entering. How oddly sweet and exciting! Who would have thought that just less than a month ago, she never wanted to drag him into her world? But here they were—partners in crime.

She squeezed his hand back and smiled at him. She was already so used to having Damien everywhere she went and whatever she did, that being with him right now—even if it's committing a crime like this—just felt so right. She wondered what the future has in store for them. It made her excited just thinking about what they would have when all of this would be over.

Out of nowhere, something came to her mind, and she knitted her brows. "By the way…" She looked up at him and met his waiting stare. "Do you remember that time you found me in the company's pantry that first week I worked for you?"

The sudden reminder caused his brows to furrow. Images of the memory from months ago flashed in his mind—it was when he caught her in the pantry drinking water in the middle of the night. He was suddenly craving some chips when he couldn't sleep. He didn't usually keep junk food in his place, and he knew that he could find them in the company's pantry. So he went there only to find Katherine in the dark. A shocking yet fortunate discovery.

"Yeah… How could I ever forget?" He cocked his brow.

She gave him a small smile before she continued, "Well… I remember you told me it wasn't the first time I snuck around in your territory. What did you mean by that?"

"Ahh…" Damien faced forward as though he was trying to recall something, glancing at the control panel and seeing the red number indication of which floor they were already at. The elevator was ascending to the top floor, and they were almost there. "That happened a few weeks before we last saw each other. I received a report from Markus that an unidentified woman was caught acting strangely in the hallway of my hotel late at night. The surveillance footage was brought to me and guess who I found?"

"Which hotel?"

"Aurora Hotel—now renamed to Crown. The one in 7th street."

The memory hit her when she realized what he was talking about. The hotel's previous name was Aurora, and she guessed that Damien had acquired it sometime around five years ago. "Oh, yeah… I think I was following a lead to a personal investigation, and I ended up there. I guess I wasn't careful enough."

"Well, you did try to avoid the cameras, but there were a couple of mirror reflections that caught your image."

"Why didn't you tell me that last night we saw each other?" Katherine recalled that the one Damien was talking about happened before they last met and shared a precious night together. 

Before she could answer, Styles's voice came through their comms. "Alright, Agapornis, the coast is clear—"

"What is Agapornis?" she questioned.

There were tapping sounds of the mechanical keyboard as the other answered, "It's the real name of lovebirds! Pretty cool, huh?"

"It's… unusual," she responded just as Damien shook his head. 

"I saw that King Charming! Anyway, security is pretty basic here—no offense… You shouldn't have any problems," said Styles.

"None taken." Katherine looked at Damien and nodded her head towards the CEO's office. Turning on her flashlight, they headed down the hall to the furthest door. Then, he took the flashlight from her as she worked on the smart lock using a high-tech device. 

When the door opened, they got inside the office and started checking out the whole place. She looked through the desk while he searched the shelves, both of them wearing gloves. Katherine, whose mind was still thinking about what they talked about in the elevator earlier, realized something. "Wait, so if you saw me there… You also saw… that..."

Damien glanced behind his shoulder and nodded even before she finished her sentence. "You knocked on the guest's room and punched his face as soon as the door opened."

She softly chuckled upon hearing his response, slightly embarrassed that she was caught acting like a hoodlum in his territory. 

"In my defense," they exchanged looks and she continued to search the desk, "he started it. I came to see him in his house the day before that and I was only going to ask him—well, nicely—but the idiot probably thought I was after his money or something so he pointed a gun at me, fired a shot and then ran."

"Were you okay?" Damien's brows instantly knitted, the thought of her being in a dangerous situation worried him even if it happened a long time ago.

"Yeah… He has a bad aim…" Katherine's voice trailed off when she spotted something familiar on the right corner of the desk. She reached for it and saw that it was an invitation for an upcoming gala that weekend. "Damien, check this out."

He strolled towards her and looked over her shoulder. "That's an invitation to my family's event."

She swallowed. "Do you remember when I first met my aunt was when I met William too? You were on a trip at that time…" He nodded in agreement and she began to speculate. "Has she always been a friend to your family? I wonder how she and your uncle met…"

"I'm not sure about that. My uncle knows a lot of people and as far as I know, he invites business leaders in all his functions." He held up a flashlight to illuminate her hand as she picked the lock of one of the drawers.

"Oh, my god… Look… This looks like..." Katherine held up an old photograph and showed it to Damien. His expression was unreadable as he stared at the picture—probably taken decades ago—of what looked like a couple. The woman was definitely Deborah Young, while the man was someone he knew his entire life. 

"That's something I did not expect at all…" he muttered in a cold tone when he met her eyes.