Bound To The Devil

– Damien’s POV

Damien sat on the couch, rubbing his temples as he listened to Luca fuss over which flowers to bring for Valarie.

"She’s recovering, not going on a date," Damien muttered, watching his soft-hearted lover carefully arrange a bouquet.

Luca shot him a glare. "She’s my sister. And it’s polite to bring flowers when visiting someone sick."

Damien groaned. "She’s not sick. She’s injured. There’s a difference."

But Luca wasn’t listening. He was already picking out another bouquet—one for Sebastian.

Damien’s eye twitched. "You’ve got to be fucking kidding me."

Luca turned to him with an innocent smile. "What? He saved Valarie, didn’t he?"

Damien scowled. "That doesn’t mean we bring him flowers."

"Why not?" Luca blinked. "It’s a nice gesture."

"It’s a fucking absurd gesture."

Ava, who had been watching from the side, suddenly jumped in. "I wanna go too!"

Damien groaned. "No."

"But why?" Ava pouted, climbing onto Luca’s lap dramatically. "I wanna see Auntie Val!"

Luca kissed her forehead. "Of course you can come, sweetheart."

Damien shot him a look. "Luca—"

Luca turned his wide, pleading eyes on him. "Please, Damien? She loves Ava. And it’ll cheer her up."

Damien sighed, rubbing his face. This man was going to be the death of him.

"Fine," he muttered.

Ava cheered, clapping her hands. "Yay! And we’re bringing flowers for Papa's friend too, right?"

Damien shot up from his seat. "Like hell we are!"

Luca merely hummed, holding up the second bouquet.

Damien groaned again. This was going to be a long fucking day.

– Sebastian’s POV

Sebastian sat in his grand estate, lost in thought. His goddess—his Valarie—was upstairs, resting. He had spent the entire night watching over her, resisting the temptation to claim what was already his.

Then the door opened, and his men hesitated before allowing the guests inside.

Interesting.

Sebastian leaned back, watching as Damien Volkov walked in first, looking as irritated as ever. Behind him was Luca, holding—flowers?

Sebastian arched a brow.

"You actually came, again" he mused, his voice carrying amusement.

Damien scoffed. "Luca insisted."

Luca stepped forward, his soft brown eyes warm. "I wanted to thank you, Sebastian Vasillev." He held out the bouquet with both hands. "For saving my sister."

Sebastian stared at him, slightly taken aback. Flowers? For him?

His cold, ruthless reputation had never warranted gifts before. He looked down at the bouquet, then at Luca’s earnest face.

Slowly, he accepted.

"Well, this is a first," Sebastian murmured, inspecting the flowers. "No one’s ever given me something so… delicate."