Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

At the main dining table, Damien thought it was time to introduce Amelia to the rest of the people at their table. While he didn't plan to introduce his mother to the guests, he knew it was important that she got acquainted with Katherine's family.

Their guests that evening were curious about who Amelia was, especially after joining the main table. There were a few murmurs, but Katherine and Damien chose to ignore them and decided to focus on getting through dinner.

He leaned towards Amelia and whispered, "You should meet Katherine's family."

"Of course. I would love that," she replied.

Damien was about to stand when one of his security came to report an incident from the basement parking. "Then call an ambulance," he told the man while sounding like it should have been a pretty obvious thing to do.

Still whispering, the security said, "That's what we were about to do. But she begged not to." Then he glanced at Katherine briefly before lowering his head again and added, "The woman asked for Miss Young."

Damien's brows furrowed in confusion. "Who is this woman?"

The man opened his mouth to speak but stopped and pressed the comms in his ear. "Copy that." He then addressed Damien again. "Boss, I was told that the woman appeared to be the same person whom Miss Young had encountered in the alley yesterday."

Damien's jaw clenched. "Where is she now?"

"They're still at the basement parking, Sir."

Thinking that he should deal with it himself and not tell Katherine, he got up from his seat and excused himself. But, of course, Katherine noticed that something was wrong right away, so she held his arm and stopped him. "What's wrong?"

It would be odd that he'd disappear during their engagement party, but it would be stranger if the two of them did. He tried to play it off with a smile and kissed her forehead to not worry her. "Everything's okay. I just need to check on something. I'll be right back."

Damien and the security left through the door to the side of the event hall and hurried their way towards the private elevator. The elevator door opened, and they stepped into the car, pressing the basement parking button. A hand stuck between the doors before it closed, stopping it from closing entirely. He was half surprised to see Katherine outside the car, slightly panting. She must have run after him.

"Tell me what's happening," she demanded.

He stepped aside to let her join them in the car and then filled her in on what's going on in the basement as they descended. If he initially thought he could put things off, he changed his mind, knowing full well that she wouldn't let go of it. The ride was fast, and they reached the basement car park in less than a minute.

"Are you sure it's her?" Katherine probed as they stepped out. 

Damien didn't have to answer when they saw two of his men coming their way, one of them carrying a woman who looked like she'd passed out, and her arm had a cloth wrapped around it to stop the bleeding. Red blotches stained the white fabric.

Katherine immediately knew that it was the same woman from yesterday because she wore the same clothes, only this time they were bloody. Her heartbeat raced, unsure what she was supposed to feel upon seeing the woman in a vulnerable state.

"Bring her to an empty room on the third floor—the farthest room away from any rooms that are occupied by guests. I'll call Jeffrey to check on her," Damien ordered his security, and they followed.

When his men left, Katherine and Damien headed back to the party. She felt extremely uncomfortable and was quiet during the elevator ride. "What could she be doing here? Why would she look for me?" she asked when they stepped out.

"I don't know…"

"I need to ask her questions." Her head was muddled, and all she could think about now was that woman.

"We'll do that later. This is why I didn't want you to come with me when they reported. You'll be distracted all night."

Katherine stopped in her tracks and faced him. "How could I not be distracted? She came here! I specifically told her I didn't want anything to do with her, and yet she came here. Tonight of all nights when my family is here. She's a dangerous person, Damien, and whoever is after her might drag us all into her mess. My grandfather is here—Nana is here! I can't let them be in danger…"

She was evidently worried. Her hands clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She wouldn't have been like this had he insisted that she waited at the party instead of coming with him. He could deal with the knowledge of what happened and put off telling her about it until after the party. But lying to her again would just add another dent in their relationship. 

"You know I would never put them in danger." Reaching out to her, Damien took her hands and uncurled them, kissing the back of one and then the other until they relaxed. Her face softened when he told her, "We're going back inside, and I need you to put on your best smile. You don't want your grandfather to worry, do you?"

She shook her head, a sigh escaping from her lips.

Damien smiled and then kissed her forehead. "Let's get this over with and then deal with whatever that woman is here for after. She's guarded. There's nothing to worry about. Can you do that?"

Katherine took a few cleansing breaths and pushed her worries aside. "Okay."

The two went back to the party, and they introduced Amelia to the rest of the family at the main table. Katherine's aunt was surprised, but she gladly shook hands with Amelia. William's mother didn't say much as per usual, but she welcomed Amelia with a smile. Alianna was so shocked to learn about Damien's birth mother, given that she didn't even know Miriam wasn't his birth mom, but she was definitely ecstatic to meet Amelia and pulled her into a hug. Katherine had to pipe her down so as to not cause too much commotion.

The couple went from table to table, shook hands with guests after guests, took pictures, and chatted about future partnerships after the guests gave their best wishes to the couple's upcoming marriage.

Katherine felt much better throughout the rest of the party. She'd told Amelia about the situation, and the latter handled the news better than Katherine did. Katherine was a worrywart, unlike Amelia, who quickly tamped her worries and smiled like everything was normal.

Katherine used to be like that—able to flip the switch right away while she was still in Shadow. Ever since she got reunited with her real family and surrounded by Damien and his family, pretending was harder for her—afraid that she'd bring destruction to the people she loved because of her past.

She justified not trusting Chloe—the woman who got injured at the basement parking—because of her fear of bringing danger to her family. Just last night, she was reminded of how Shadow agents were trained when she told Damien the story about her mission in Poland. Most were cold-blooded soldiers who wouldn't bat an eye when they kill. So why would she risk bringing that woman near her family?