Marchello grinned. "I do alright. Made a nice deal this week. Big shipment coming in. You should see the crates."

Damian turned his head slightly. One nod. Just a single nod toward his assistant, who stood discreetly in the back.

Thirty seconds later, Marchello's phone buzzed.

He pulled it out, blinked. Blinked again. Then his smile faltered.

He swiped his screen. His eyes widened. "What the-"

Another buzz.

And then another.

Marchello's face went pale.

"No... That's impossible. You can't-" He looked at Damian, frantic now. "You didn't."

Damian stood, drink in hand, not spilling a drop. "Your entire shipment is being held at customs under an anonymous tip for human trafficking. You'll be lucky if you get out of this building without losing everything."

"You son of a bitch-"

"Oh," Damian added, glancing at his phone. "Also... your offshore accounts are frozen. Wire fraud. Someone tipped the banks. I wonder who."

Marchello backed away, stammering, eyes darting around the room. He looked like a man drowning in the air.

Damian stepped forward, his voice barely above a whisper. "Next time you speak about something of mine, I'll take more than your money. I'll take your life."

Then he smiled.

It was the smile of a man who buried people with clean hands.

Marchello stumbled out of sight.

Silence stretched between them.

Luca stared at him, his breath uneven. "You did that... for me?"

Damian sat back down, fingers steepled. "Yes , Luca. I did that because I won't tolerate disrespect from anybody towards you. Other than myself, of course..."

He looked Luca over slowly, deliberately.

"And because I enjoy watching men learn the consequences of their words."

"You're insane," Luca whispered.

"Possibly," Damian replied. "But that doesn't matter."

On the stage, a masked woman with wide and full lips introduced the next item a sealed briefcase with biometric locks, resting on a velvet pedestal.

"Encrypted information," the announcer purred. "Compromising files involving political elites, international bank accounts, and government secrets. It's rare and dangerous."

Damian's entire demeanor changed. He leaned forward, the temperature around him cooling instantly. Luca could feel it.

"What is it?" Luca asked.

Damian didn't answer.

The bidding began.

"Two million."

"Three-point-five."

"Four."

Damian's voice cut through the crowd like a knife dipped in ice.

"Six million."

Heads turned.

"Seven," another bidder called out.

"Eight."

Then:

"Hundred million," Damian said. "Final."

The gavel slammed down.

"Sold."

Luca stared at him, disbelieving. "You just spent hundred million dollars in less than two minutes."

"I would've spent more," Damian murmured. "For what that case might hold? It's a worthy bargain."

"What's in it?" Luca pressed. "What the hell did you just buy?"

Damian turned to him slowly, eyes dark and unreadable. "Something that could help me uncover the truth. Except it just turns out to be a trap."

"Uncover what exactly?"

Damian stepped closer. His voice dropped, almost gentle. "Of who was involved in your brother's death."

Luca froze.

His blood went cold and stomach turned.

He searched Damian's face, wanting to find a lie but there wasn't one.

"Really?" he whispered.

"I suspect. But we'll soon find out."

Luca swallowed hard. "Okay?"

Damian's lips curved in something too dangerous to be called a smile.

"Let's go. There's one more stop for you."

They came out and the blacked-out SUV descended into the beating heart of the city's underbelly.

They arrived at an inconspicuous building behind a casino-ordinary on the outside, but the second the elevator descended past the lowest floor, everything changed.

Thick steel doors slid open to reveal a hidden world.

Gunmetal walls. Blood-red carpets. And guards who looked like they were trained to kill without blinking.

The Vault.

Damian's private empire.

The scent of cigars, blood and old money, filled the air. Weapons were displayed behind bulletproof glass. Men in suits with veiled threats in their eyes paced like wolves. One wrong look could get you killed here.

Luca stepped inside a room at Damien's lead, tension snapping across his shoulders.

Everyone turned to look at him.

He could feel the judgement and curiosity.

Someone muttered, just loud enough.

"What's a male prostitute doing here?"

Someone else chuckled and put his hand on Luca shoulder. "He must be here to suck our dicks."

Before Luca could react, a hand caught the man's arm mid-motion. In one smooth movement, Damian slammed the guy's face into the wall.

The man groaned, blood dripping from his nose.

Damian leaned in close.

"Touch him ever again," he said softly, "and I'll skin your wife in front of your kids."

Silence rippled outward like a nuclear shockwave.

No one dared move or speak.

Damian straightened his jacket, grabbed Luca by the wrist, in a harsh manner and walked to the middle.

One of the older bosses, Tomas Vescari, sneered. "You bring your toy to the table now, Moretti?."

Another leaned forward. "He's pretty. But isn't this a place for serious bussiness?"

Damien circled the table slowly.

"Since do you all dare to question my decisions? You shall treat him with respect or else." His face then turned serious and he started talking about bussiness.

"There's been a leak in our South American pipeline," he said. "Drugs. Money. Ships rerouted and ambushed before arrival."

"I tracked it," Damian continued. "And the pattern always leads back to one man."

He stopped behind one of you-Andrei Petrov.

"You're accusing me?" Andrei scoffed.

"I'm not accusing," Damian said.

He pulled a sleek pistol from his jacket.

"I'm executing you based on facts."

Bang.

Blood splattered across the marble. Andrei slumped in his seat, a hole through his forehead.

Luca didn't even have time to react before Damian spoke again.

"Anyone with any objection?"

No one moved.

"Good."

The meeting continued on for a while.

Later on, in Damian's private suite above the chamber, Luca stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, still shaking at how easily Damien could kill. He knew the man was ruthless but witnessing it firsthand was another experience entirely.

Damian poured himself whiskey behind him.

"You look like you want to scream," he said.

"Because I don't belong anywhere near this madness!"

"You didn't seem to mind when I pulled the trigger."

"I was in shock."

Damian set the glass down, slow and deliberate. "You were not."

Luca's breath hitched.

Damian stepped closer, stalking him like a panther. "You're angry. That's good. I need you to be angry. But don't lie to me."

He pressed his hand to Luca's chest. Right over his heart.

"You wanted that man to die. And I made it happen."

"You're insane," Luca whispered.

"I'm efficient."

"You killed someone like it meant nothing."

Damian leaned in, lips brushing the shell of Luca's ear.

"You think this world has space for mercy?"

He handed Luca a matte black pistol.

Luca stared at it like it might explode.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Use it," Damian said. "Or keep being prey."

Luca swallowed.

"This was my brother's life?" he asked. "Deals, blood, secrets?"

Damian's eyes darkened. He just stepped close again. "You want revenge? Then step into my world fully. Stop pretending you're clean."

There was a long pause. Luca's fists clenched. His heart wasn't just beating fast, it was slamming, as if it too wanted to escape this twisted, volatile space between them.

Then he snapped.

With a low growl, Luca shoved Damian backward hard until his spine hit the wall with a sharp thud. Damian grunted, his jaw ticking, but his eyes lit up like he'd been waiting for this.

"You're not the only one who can take control," Luca snarled.

Their mouths crashed together in a brutal collision of teeth and spit and fury. It wasn't just a kiss, it was a claim and a challenge. Luca bit down on Damian's lower lip until he tasted blood, then licked it off with a sneer.

"You think I'm just your toy?" Luca whispered against Damian's mouth.

Damian's growl vibrated through both their chests. He grabbed Luca by the throat tight enough to make him gasp and slammed him around, spinning him to face the glass wall of the suite.

Luca's palms hit the cold surface. His breath fogged it.

Damian's body pressed against his from behind, one hand pinning his neck, the other tearing at the belt around Luca's waist with brutal efficiency.

"I don't want obedience," Damian hissed against his ear. "I want resistance. I want to break you piece by piece until the only thing you beg for is me."

The belt slid free with a sharp hiss.

Clothes came next, the shirts shredded, pants shoved down with impatient hands. Damian's mouth was everywhere. Teeth scraping along Luca's shoulder, biting down on his collarbone until Luca moaned angry, raw, involuntary.

"Fucking hate you," Luca spat.

"Good," Damian muttered. "Hate me while I ruin you."

His hand shoved between Luca's legs, rough and possessive. He didn't tease. He took. Palming him, stroking him just enough to make Luca's hips buck. But when Luca tried to gain control tried to grind back Damian stopped altogether.

"Beg."

"Go to hell."

Damian smiled darkly and leaned in. His tongue traced the shell of Luca's ear. "Then I guess you don't want me to fuck you tonight."

Luca's hands curled into fists against the glass. His voice was a whisper-shout. Desperate. Furious.

"You're such a bastard."

"And yet your cock is hard."

A single touch lower now dragging between his thighs, and Luca shuddered. Damian pushed his own pants down enough to free himself, grinding the thick, hot length of him between Luca's cheeks with a promise of what was coming. He spat into his hand, slicked himself quickly, and leaned his weight in slow, threatening.

Damian grabbed him by the jaw, yanked his face to the side, forcing him to look into his eyes.

"Say you want this."

There was venom in Luca's voice. But submission in his body.

"I want it," he hissed.

"Good."

Damian didn't ease in gently.

He pushed inside with one hard, unforgiving thrust, drawing a gasp so loud from Luca it fogged the glass again. Luca's body clenched around him, legs trembling, hands slipping as he tried to hold onto something anything that wasn't Damian.

Damian didn't give him a chance.

He fucked him like he was owned him.

The sound of skin slapping skin echoed through the room, mixing with Luca's ragged groans and Damian's low grunts.

Each thrust was a punishment. A promise and a reminder that Luca was no longer untouched by this world. He was deep in it now being taken by the man who'd torn his life apart.

Damian leaned forward, one hand braced on the glass beside Luca's. The other wrapped around Luca's cock and began stroking in time with his thrusts.

"You're going to come for me, Luca," he growled into his ear. "You're going to come like a whore who's finally found his master."

"F-fuck you-"

"You already are."

Luca tried to fight it. But he was drowning.

In lust. In anger. In Damian's scent and heat and brutal, unrelenting rhythm.

When he came, it was violent. Shaking. He nearly collapsed against the glass as he spilled in Damian's hand, crying out with a sound that was half-curse, half-ecstasy.

But Damian wasn't done.

He pulled out just long enough to flip Luca around, eyes wild, hair damp, chest heaving and shoved him back against the glass. Their eyes locked.

And then Damian was inside him again.

This time, he kissed him possesively while he moved.

Teeth dragging across lips, tongues tangling, hands roaming like he wanted to own every inch of Luca's body from the inside out.

He came with a hiss of Luca's name, burying himself deep, gripping Luca's hip so tightly it would leave bruises. They were shaking, both of them, pressed together, breathless, blood-hot and strung out.

The silence that followed wasn't peaceful.

It was charged.

Damian pulled out slowly, breathing hard, and grabbed a towel to clean them both. When he came back, he tossed Luca's torn shirt over his bare chest.

His legs were still trembling. "Why do I feel like I'm drowning in you?" he whispered hoarsely.

Damian didn't smile.

He walked to the nightstand, opened the drawer, and pulled out what he gave to him on the first night.

Then he answered his question.

"Because you are."

The next morning Luca woke up to the burning gaze of Damian who sat a few feet away from the bed on a chair that definitely wasn't there yesterday.

"Are you watching me sleep?" Luca asked, his words a gentle slur.

"What does it look like?" Damian replied, his voice dry as he responded.

Luca didn't know how to respond, He was still a little asleep to be truthful but he forced himself off the bed and walked to the window, the sunlight bathed his face and for the first time he was able to see it, the city this building overlooked in all it's tainted beauty.

"Beautiful." The words escaped his mouth before he could think and he immediately regretted it.

"You'll get tired of it." Damian said coldly as he placed a grey suit on the bed.

"You're heading out?"

"We." He corrected as he turned his back and went back into what Luca assumed was his closet, He followed him and was immediately blown away by the size of the space, Closet wouldn't do justice to the space he found himself in as it had more similarities with a Louis Vuitton Store.

"Isn't this a little overkill?"

"More will always be better than less. Pick an outfit and get ready, we leave in an hour." Damian stated then stomped out of the closet leaving Luca alone to wander the racks and sections of tailored designer suites.

After wandering for about ten minutes Luca finally picked out a black silk shirt with blood red rose patterns and grey khakis with faint red lines running from top to bottom. He took the clothes out of the closet and placed them on the bed, he noticed that the clothes Damian had placed were no longer there so it probably meant he had already gotten dressed and was now waiting for him.

He let out a defeated sigh as he picked up the towel and toothbrush that had been left for him and walked into the shower.

Luca stood in front of the collosal mirror, his eyes locked on his reflection as he wore the clothes he had picked out but even though it seemed like he was in the present every single piece of his attention was fixated on the collar that branded him like a dog, His hands and legs may have not been locked in shackles but in his mind, he was a prisoner, a prisoner to a man who could change his mind at any moment and put a bullet through his skull, A shiver ran through him as he thought of his bloody body at Damians feet but it was nothing in comparison to the shiver he felt when the events of last night flooded his mind, Every thrust, every sound they made, passionate, raw, burning hotter than the sun's surface with every touch and now he felt dirty, like he was covered in filth that wouldn't wash away no matter how many showers he took. The more he thought about the more the disgusted he felt with himself, Damian had used him, fucked him like he owned him and he did nothing but take it and moan like a fucked up whore....

"You must be thinking about me," Damian's voice suddenly broke him out of his trance and tossed him back into reality and only then did he see the look of pure disgust and anger that burned in his eyes.

"You flatter yourself," Luca lied as he turned to face him, Damian looked at him for a second then his eyes went down to his feet and up to his head, Luca suddenly felt naked at the mere gaze of this man, he hated it but for some reason he liked the look of desire in Damian's blue eyes.

"Wow." He thought to himself. Damian took three step forward and now he was face to face with Luca, He was a little taller but by just leaning down a little bit they were at eye level, He brought his face close to Luca's ear and his lips brushed against Luca's lobe sending an unexplainable amount of shock and pleasure through his body then he whispered "Get your ass downstairs, we leave in 15." and with those words he left the room and Luca was once alone left with his thoughts and a painfully hardened dick.

He let out a pained sigh at his own weakness before straightening up and walking out of the bedroom.

As his feet touched the final step that led into the room where Damian was waiting for him a sweet smell immediately filled his nostrils, he breathed it in, enjoying it immensely as he walked into what was supposed to be a dinning but had more in common with a conference room with the number of chairs that surrounded the long table, Damian sat at the head of the table, scrolling through a tablet that was placed on the table and not even paying the slightest bit of attention to Luca who had taken a seat at the far end of the table. The help brought over a plate of scrambled eggs, toast and a cup of orange juice and placed it in front of Luca then gave a respectful bow and walked back to a corner where she stood still like a statue. Luca looked closely at her and realized that she didn't look as scared as the first time he had seen her, now she looked a lot more comfortable and a lot less scared of the man who bit into toast like he had no problem in the world.

"Where are we going?" Luca finally asked a question that had been burning in his mind, Damian raised his head and looked at him for and unbearable few seconds before responding.

"You'll see." He said calmly then refocused his attention on the tablet.

"That's not an answer to my question," Luca hissed.

"True. But it's the one you're gonna get, So eat." Damian said with a tone that made it perfectly clear to Luca where he stood, He might have a seat at the table but it didn't belong to him.