It began with an invitation.
A simple message on Aurora's phone.
Damien: Come to the Blackwood Foundation Gala. Bring Noah. Just for an hour. No press. No pressure. I want to introduce you both to my world.
Aurora stared at it longer than she should have.
Part of her wanted to delete it.
The other part—the reckless, curious, heart-wary part—typed three words before she could talk herself out of it:
Aurora: We'll be there.
---
The Blackwood Foundation Gala was not the sort of place Aurora Langley had ever pictured herself walking into again. Not after how she'd left things five years ago—barefoot in a cocktail dress, storming out of Damien's penthouse with a secret growing inside her.
But now, she wasn't alone.
Now, she had Noah—clutching her hand in his tiny suit, staring wide-eyed at the sparkling chandeliers and rows of strangers in gowns and tuxedos.
Damien met them at the entrance.
He wore a midnight blue tuxedo that hugged his frame like it had been made for no one else—and maybe it had. His eyes found Noah first, softening instantly.
"You clean up well, little man," he said with a warm smile.
Noah grinned. "I have a clip-on tie. Real ties are too tricky."
Damien chuckled. "That's fair. Even I get someone else to tie mine."
He looked up at Aurora then, and the humor vanished, replaced with something more intense.
"You look… stunning."
Her cheeks warmed. "Don't start."
He leaned in just a little. "I meant it."
Inside, Damien introduced Noah as a "special guest," explaining away his last name to curious eyes as a family friend's son. No one questioned it—yet.
Aurora watched him closely all evening, noting how Damien softened his voice for Noah, crouched down to his level when he spoke, even turned down champagne so he could stay sharp and focused on his son.
This was not the man she remembered from five years ago.
This was someone new.
Someone dangerous in a different way.
Someone who could make her hope.
---
Across the ballroom, hidden behind a raised glass of wine and a mask of polite interest, Sabrina Voss watched everything unfold.
She had always been one step behind Damien Blackwood. His former head of PR. His occasional lover. His loyal shadow—until Aurora had walked into his life and ruined the plan.
Now, she was back. With a child.
And if the math was right… Damien hadn't just lost his heart. He'd lost control.
Sabrina smiled thinly to herself.
That wouldn't do at all.
---
Later that night, after most of the guests had gone and Noah had fallen asleep in a side lounge under the care of one of the event staff, Damien offered Aurora a drink.
"Scotch?" he asked, holding the glass out.
"I remember when you used to drink bourbon," she said, accepting it.
"I remember when you used to kiss me after the second glass," he replied, his voice low.
She laughed, caught off guard. "You're bold tonight."
"I'm honest tonight," he said. "Because I know something now I didn't before."
She arched a brow. "What's that?"
He leaned in, barely brushing her shoulder. "You were never the mistake, Aurora. Letting you go was."
Her breath caught.
Before she could respond, Noah stirred on the couch nearby. She stood instantly, instinctively, crossing the room to check on him.
Damien watched her tuck the boy in with a tenderness that made his throat ache.
He hadn't just fallen for her again.
He'd fallen for them.
---
Back in her apartment, Aurora carried Noah to bed and tucked him in.
Then she sat on the edge of her own mattress, staring at the dress she hadn't had a reason to wear in years.
She had stepped into Damien's world tonight.
But what scared her wasn't how well she fit into it.
It was how badly she didn't want to leave.