Chapter 297 - Who is this lover boy?

Central Harbor Restaurant

The private rooms on the third floor of the exclusive restaurant had wine racks inside that shelved vintage wines and hard to find exquisite selections. The interior of the rooms was designed by a well-known designer, showcasing unique art displays and one of a kind centerpieces. With how exclusive and expensive the club was, the restaurant surely made use of the exorbitant fees the club collected from its members to achieve this.  

Each room's tables could be adjusted depending on the size of the party. Inside the room where Damien and his group were seated, the staff had prepared a round table that was enough for their party of four. 

"To Katherine Young." Alianna raised her glass and clinked it with others who followed her toast. 

Katherine only chuckled, feeling silly that she would toast for herself. She brought the glass to her lips and tasted the wine that was both sweet and somewhat dry on her tongue, tricking her palate into wanting to taste it more than she really wanted to.

Her eyes caught sight of an art piece on the wall – an abstract play of colors and shapes that brightened up the room. "That's an interesting piece," she said.

All three pairs of eyes turned to what Katherine was referring to and Alianna nodded. "It is…" She got up and went to read the name of the artist printed on a metal placard below the art and exclaimed, "Ha! I knew it. No wonder. It's Damien's lover boy!" 

Damien stiffened at the mention and Katherine's head snapped towards him. "Your… lover boy?" she asked with her brows raised and her eyes all judgy, curious, and partly jealous.

He swallowed and then shot Alianna a deathly glare. "Stop spouting nonsense. I don't have such a thing. You're giving her the wrong idea."

Ignoring her cousin's warning, Alianna shrugged and sat back on her chair to Katherine's left, drinking her wine with a huge smile on her face while giving Katherine a look.

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Katherine thought that there was definitely a story there somewhere because of how Damien reacted. She glanced at Caleb and saw him purse his lips together, avoiding her gaze as though he was trying to be a good friend to Damien.

Leaning on the backrest, Katherine stared at Damien who was sitting to her right and with a playful smile, she started, "No, please. I'm intrigued. Do tell, Mr. Park… I didn't know you were into men… Who is this lover boy?"

Scoffing, Damien found it comical how Katherine was starting to believe what Alianna said. Turning his body towards her to show how serious he was, he answered, "No offense to bisexuals or gays but, Kitten, you of all people should know how straight I am."

"Ew." Alianna fake gagged pointing to her tongue upon hearing her cousin who just ignored her comment.

"Don't you think so? I'm sure you know me very well," he added, a smirk forming on his face as he locked his gaze with Katherine's.

"Double ew," Alianna added.

Katherine gulped and cleared her throat when she felt Damien's thumb circling her knee under the table as though he was proving his point. She shifted in her seat and crossed her legs away from him.

"Thought so," Damien huffed, taking another sip from his wine.

Alianna rolled her eyes, placing her wine glass back on the table and picked up a garlic bread from the small platter and remarked, "Damien's lover boy is W.W. — Mr. Wallace White."

"Wallace White? The famous artist?" Katherine probed, her eyes glancing on the art piece on the wall again and then at Damien who was now avoiding her stare. "Why is he Damien's lover boy?"

"Oh, for god's sake. He's not, okay? Stop calling him that," Damien snapped.

Not caring for her cousin's reaction, Alianna replied with a shrug, "Mr. White had been obsessed with Damien for many years. He sends him gifts from time to time — Mr. White even drew a painting of him back then," she laughed.

"Oooh… How romantic…" Katherine glanced at Damien who was now looking annoyed, scowling as he drank some more of his wine. He wanted to bring Katherine here to spend some time with her but so far, all he got was an uncomfortable topic that he did not want to discuss which she seemed to be enjoying so much. Tch.

Just then, the food came in and Damien couldn't be any happier that they could finally drop the subject and move on before he lost his appetite.

Katherine felt a little nostalgic when she saw the grilled lamb meat on her plate. One thing that she loved about Damien was his attention to detail. He seemed to remember a lot of things that she mentioned only once even if it was only in passing. It made her feel special and warm. She watched as he poured the sauce over the meat on her plate carefully and then transferred a few more grilled asparagus from his plate to hers, knowing that she loved them too.

She had wanted to avoid him but after seeing him for four days in a row… Maybe this wasn't so bad.

But she needed time away from him and she couldn't do that if he kept on appearing in front of her. Surely today was the last and if she sees him again tomorrow, she would certainly curse the skies then since it would seem like they were having fun playing with her and watch her have a hard time.

Promising him a 'talk', Katherine first needed to have a chat with Amelia first before doing so. The two of them didn't want to involve Damien, so just how much could she disclose? Drinking her water, she wondered if Amelia would come back to her penthouse in the evening. She hadn't seen her since yesterday morning.

Feeling a warm hand stroking her arm, she turned to the right and saw Damien looking at her. "What?" she probed.

He pointed his chin to the side, saying, "Ali's calling you."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ali… I was just thinking of something. What was it that you're saying?" Katherine placed her focus on her friend.

"I said… I'm going to tell you guys something." Alianna slowly looked around the table. Her eyes landed on Caleb's and she smiled. "Caleb and I are getting married."

Katherine gasped. Her hand flew to her mouth as she looked at the two in front of her. "Oh my god! I didn't even realize the two of you were official again. And the ring on your finger—how could I miss that?"

Alianna wiggled her fingers and the huge rock sparkled as she did.

"Awww… Congratulations, you guys!" Katherine got up and gave Alianna and Caleb a hug, her heart swelled in happiness for them who finally found each other again.

It was also the first time that Damien heard about the news, although Caleb had hinted it to him a few weeks before. Turning to his friend who was seated on his right, Damien clasped his hand on Caleb's shoulder and he spoke in a low voice that only the two of them could hear, "Congratulations, man. But if you hurt her again…" He rotated his neck from side to side and a cracking noise was heard. He didn't even have to say anything else and Caleb already knew what he meant.

Caleb gulped but he laughed it off. "Ha. Ha. You know I won't do that."

"Mhmm. By then, Ali won't be able to save your ass just like she did when I found out about that Wolverine action figure years ago."

Caleb snapped his head towards Damien. He certainly didn't expect that his friend already knew about that. The realization made him pale.

Shifting his gaze to Alianna, Caleb wondered what she did to save him from Damien and why she didn't tell him about it. She even used it to blackmail him. What an evil woman.