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Luca wasn't letting Damien out of his sight.

Not after that.

Not after three days of radio silence, mafia politics, and self-sacrificial bullshit.

So when Damien stood, stretching like some overworked CEO, Luca did the only logical thing.

He grabbed his wrist.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Damien blinked down at him, amused. "To handle business."

Luca did not let go. "Oh, so now you suddenly want to let me in?"

Damien smirked. "Baby steps, sweetheart."

Luca narrowed his eyes.

Fine.

If Damien was going to handle business, then Luca was coming with him.

Vincent almost choked when Luca walked into the meeting room beside Damien.

Half the men seated at the long, imposing table stared. Some of them looked surprised. Others?

Others looked pissed.

Luca ignored them.

He sat down right beside Damien like he belonged there.

Because he did.

The meeting started. Talk of shipments, alliances, negotiations. The usual.

Luca only half-listened—until someone at the far end of the table made the mistake of speaking.

"The boyfriend shouldn't be here."

Silence.

The air in the room shifted.

Luca barely had time to react before Damien leaned forward, gold eyes sharp.

"Say that again," he said, voice smooth but lethal.

The man hesitated. "I just meant—"

"I heard what you meant." Damien's voice was calm. Too calm. "But clearly, you don't understand something."

The room was dead silent.

And then, Damien leaned back, grinning.

"Luca isn't just my boyfriend." His voice dropped, lazy but dangerous. "He's my heart. So if you have a problem with him, you have a problem with me."

Luca wasn't breathing.

The entire room wasn't breathing.

Because Damien, in front of his entire empire, had just declared who mattered most.

Him.

Luca.

Luca felt a sharp pang in his chest. He'd known Damien cared. But this?

This was different.

This was undeniable.

The meeting ended shortly after.

Some men had been quietly furious. Others had accepted it without a fight.

But Damien?

Damien had looked victorious.

Now, back in his office, he leaned against his desk, smirking at Luca.

"Enjoy the show?"

Luca rolled his eyes. "You're impossible."

Damien chuckled. "And yet, you love me."

Luca sighed, but he couldn't deny it.

Damien was Damien. Unruly, dangerous, reckless.

But he was his.

And now, the world knew it too.

Luca was still processing everything.

The declaration. The meeting. The weight of Damien's words.

It had been one thing to be Damien's partner in their personal life.

But this?

Being acknowledged in front of the entire empire?

That was a whole different level.

And Luca didn't know how to feel about it.

The next morning, Luca woke up to changes.

It started small.

People nodded at him when he passed. Not just polite, dismissive nods. Respectful ones.

The guards at the headquarters—who usually barely acknowledged him—stood a little straighter when he entered.

Even Vincent, stoic and unbothered Vincent, had greeted him with a short, "Morning, boss."

Luca had choked on his coffee.

Boss?

Boss?

He wasn't the boss of anything!

Damien had laughed when he told him, clearly enjoying the chaos he'd caused.

"Get used to it, sweetheart," he had said, kissing Luca's temple. "You're royalty now."

Luca had shoved him away.

He wasn't royalty. He was just—just Luca.

But it was too late.

Damien had put him beside the throne.

And now, the world saw him differently.

It wasn't long before Luca had to deal with it head-on.

A man—one of the older associates—approached him one afternoon.

"Forgive my bluntness," the man said, "but do you know what you're getting into?"

Luca stared. "Excuse me?"

The man sighed. "Damien may love you, but this world is ruthless. If you stand beside him, you'll be a target. You already are."

Luca didn't flinch.

"I know."

The man's brows lifted slightly, surprised. "And that doesn't scare you?"

Luca folded his arms.

"Of course it does," he admitted. "But Damien doesn't get to carry all of this alone."

A pause.

Then, the man chuckled.

"Maybe you are meant to be here," he mused before walking away.

Luca watched him go, heart pounding.

He hadn't realized it until now.

But maybe... Maybe he was.

That night, Luca sat beside Damien on their balcony, sipping wine.

Damien, half-draped over Luca like a lazy cat, murmured, "You seemed deep in thought today."

Luca hummed.

"Just... realizing things."

Damien glanced at him. "Like?"

Luca took a slow sip before finally saying, "I don't want to be a shadow in your world."

Damien stilled.

"I don't want to be just 'the boyfriend.' I don't need power, I don't need a title," Luca continued, "but if I'm going to be by your side, I want it to be real. Not just a declaration to shut people up."

Silence.

Then—

A low chuckle.

Damien turned, pressing a soft kiss to Luca's knuckles.

"You've always been real, sweetheart." His golden eyes shimmered under the moonlight. "I just needed the world to catch up."

Luca's chest ached.

Damien had seen him as his equal long before today.

And now?

Now, Luca was finally seeing it too.

A throne beside a king.

A kingdom built for two.

And Luca?

Luca was finally ready to wear his crown.

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