Chapter 23 – The Smoke Between Us
Chapter 23 – The Smoke Between Us
Aurora stared at the photo on her phone for what felt like an eternity. Damon—in a shadowy hallway, hood over his head, holding a drive that looked unmistakably like the encrypted data disk they'd both sworn was destroyed. Her heart pounded, a war drum in her chest.
It was timestamped two days ago.
No caption. No sender. Just the image—a silent threat or truth, she couldn’t tell.
She rushed into her apartment, locked the door, and slumped against it. Her fingers trembled as she enlarged the image again. The quality was grainy, but there was no mistaking that jawline, that brooding posture.
“No,” she whispered. “You wouldn’t...”
But doubt had a venom of its own.
---
Across the City – The Moretti Estate
Damon tilted his head back against the couch, staring blankly at the high ceiling. He hadn’t moved in hours. Not since the dream. Not since the way Aurora had looked right through him last night at the gala.
Celeste brought him a cup of black coffee but didn’t hand it over.
“You lied to me,” she said.
He blinked. “About what?”
“The dreams. They’re not just dreams, Damon. They’re memories with emotion layered over. You’re not dreaming of who she was—you’re dreaming of who she still is to you.”
He didn’t respond. Guilt oozed from every corner of his silence.
Celeste placed the coffee down harder than necessary. “You’re dragging both of us into a shadow war. And she’s still fighting to forget you.”
“Then she’s doing a better job than I am,” he muttered.
Celeste didn’t argue.
---
Later That Day – Luca's Apartment
“What if it’s real?” Aurora asked, holding out the phone for Luca to see.
He squinted at the photo. “If it is, it doesn’t mean he betrayed you. Could be context. Could be a setup.”
“But why would someone send this now? After everything?"
Luca leaned in. “Because someone knows this is your weakest spot. Damon is the thread that could unravel everything you’ve rebuilt. That alone makes him a weapon.”
Aurora looked away. “I thought I was stronger than this.”
“Strength isn’t pretending you’re not hurt,” he said gently. “Strength is asking the question even when you’re terrified of the answer.”
She nodded, slowly. “Then I need to see him.”
---
Evening – The Moretti Garden
Damon heard the crunch of footsteps on gravel before he saw her. His spine stiffened. Aurora.
She looked like a storm in heels—poised but ready to unravel. Her gaze was fire.
“Is it true?” she asked, wasting no time. “Were you holding the vault drive two days ago?”
Damon's breath hitched. “What?”
She shoved the phone toward him. “Explain.”
He took one look and his expression changed—not to guilt, but shock. “I’ve never seen this photo before.”
“Don’t lie to me, Damon!” Her voice cracked. “I trusted you again. We destroyed the data. We testified together. Why would you do this?”
“I didn’t,” he said, stepping closer. “Aurora, look at me. This is a setup. Think about it—if I had the drive, why would I keep it? What would I gain?”
Her eyes shimmered with tears. “Maybe revenge. Maybe leverage. Maybe because you never stopped playing the long game.”
His face twisted with pain. “That’s not who I am.”
“Then who are you, Damon? Because I don’t know anymore.”
He stepped even closer, lowering his voice. “I’m the man who still dreams about you. Who wakes up calling your name. Who tried to hate you because I couldn’t stop loving you.”
Her breath caught.
Damon's hand hovered near her cheek but didn’t touch. “Do you have dreams too?”
She wanted to lie. Needed to. But her silence said everything.
“I see,” he whispered. And stepped back.
She swallowed, hard. “Even if you didn’t do it... someone wants me to believe you did.”
Damon nodded. “Then we find out who.”
---
That Night
Celeste watched Damon pace the study after Aurora left. He hadn’t said a word about their argument, but she saw it all.
“You still love her,” she said, not even posing it as a question.
“I do,” he confessed, voice hollow.
“Then why keep coming back to me?”
He finally stopped. “Because with you, I can pretend I’m moving on.”
Celeste nodded, then rose from her seat and kissed his cheek. “Then it’s time I stop letting you pretend.”
She walked out, and this time Damon didn’t stop her.
---
Midnight – Aurora’s Apartment
Aurora's dreams returned with vengeance.
This time Damon wasn't sweet. He was furious, pinning her against a wall in her subconscious.
"Why do you keep pushing me away?" he asked in the dream, breath hot against her skin.
She was gasping, not from fear but want. "Because I can’t survive you again."
His fingers traced her jaw. "Then don’t survive me. Just feel me. One last time."
Their mouths collided in that dreamspace—feral, aching, desperate.
When she woke, her pillow was soaked. Her hands clenched the sheets.
She whispered into the dark, “Why won’t you leave me alone?”
---
Final Scene – Cliffhanger
A burner phone buzzed in a dark warehouse, deep in the industrial side of the city. A man picked it up, gloves on.
Text message: "She suspects him. Continue phase two."
The man grinned. And from a hidden drawer, he pulled out another photo—Aurora and Damon, taken from afar.
He tacked it to a board covered in notes, maps, and wires.
In red ink, one phrase was circled over and over again:
"Rip them apart. One betrayal at a time."