He was only checking in on her, as any normal friend would.

Who was Damien kidding? He hadn't done friendships since after Vincent, and now... he wasn't necessarily sure if he wanted to be Ella's friend. Sure, they spoke informally to each other, but did that really mean he could just visit her at her own house?

Sighing, he forced himself to get a grip on himself and rang the buzzer located outside the gates. At least she had some sort of system in place that made it harder to enter her home.

"Come in." Ella's voice rang through the mini intercom before she buzzed him in. Damien frowned, entering and shutting the gates behind him. Ella was already opening the front door for him as he walked up the stairs.

"You should really check who it is before you buzz them in, Ella." Damien was almost scolding her, and Ella chuckled despite the rawness she still felt in her throat. It had been about four days since the attack, and suffice to say, Ella was feeling much, much better.

"There's a camera on the gate; I could see who it was." Ella smiled, pointing at the gate. "I have to say though, I was quite surprised." Ella invited him in, walking him into her home. "Don't mind my outfit; I wasn't aware I was going to have guests."

"I should've called before."

"Why? Do I look that bad?" Ella teased him further, watching as the tips of his ears turned pink, and her smile widened. He was so cute.

"Not at all." Damien extended the flowers towards her, wanting to change the topic of conversation.

Ella was beautiful, and maybe that was the problem. It seemed as though every time he saw her, she would only get prettier, and that was making Damien uncomfortable. Even now, when she wore some sort of short, tight leggings with an oversized shirt, her dark hair up into a ponytail, she was still beautiful.

"Lavender?" Ella sniffed the bouquet of flowers, spotting one specific type in the mass.

"They kind of reminded me of you." Damien explained, noticing that she was pleased with his selection. Good, he thought. He had even put more thought than when he purchased some for his mom.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." Ella waved him over to her kitchen as she placed the flowers into a vase. "How's work?"

"It's... work." Damien didn't know how else to explain it. While it had never been an adventure for him, it hadn't really been a chore either... well, up until these days it seemed. "What's the update with that man that attacked you?" It still very much angered him that anyone would ever touch another person like that, but his anger was truly fueled more so because Ella had been the victim. Ella didn't deserve that.

"As it turns out, that watch is from a special collection, so they traced it back to the store and got a list. They have the guy in custody and are questioning him, but it seems like he was just a worker." Ella explained, pouring water into the vase.

"A worker? With that type of watch?" Damien frowned, thinking. "Is he a hit-man?"

"That's what everyone was thinking," Ella pursed her lips. "He's related to Mr. Vanders."

Damien's fist clenched. It was one thing to trash-talk Ella, but it was a whole different thing to send someone to silence her through the means of death. That was crossing the line.

"We don't know anything yet, though." Ella noticed Damien's expression getting dark, and she was quick to pull him out of his haze. She didn't want to hurt Mr. Vanders' reputation through false allegations. They didn't have enough evidence to blame them. "It's just that their connections are weird, but that very well could be a coincidence." Ella rounded her counter to where Damien was.

"You should know that coincidences like these seldom exist in the criminal world." Damien shook his head, and Ella smiled ruefully, nodding.

"Hopeful thinking, I guess." She grabbed his hand, uncurling his fist. "Enough about him. Come, meet Rufus." She pulled him to the back door, and Damien let her pull him by the hand. Just as she opened the back door, a big and fluffy Golden Retriever bounded up to them, stilling when he noticed Damien. Almost immediately, Rufus growled lowly, his canines showing. "Rufus!" Ella was surprised at the the deep bark that left Rufus's mouth. "Down!" Rufus went down, allowing his owner to drag him back in side the house while Damien chuckled.

At least her dog wasn't friendly. He'd keep strangers away.

"I'm so sorry." Ella returned, shaking her head with a blush on her cheeks. "He's usually a happy and friendly pup, but when he meets new people, especially men, I guess he gets jealous." Ella invited him to sit by the patio.

"I'm glad he's not friendly." Damien shrugged, accepting the cool beverage Ella was giving him. "Someone needs to in this household." Damien wasn't meaning it to be funny, but Ella was laughing freely, and Damien thought that maybe he should brush up on his comedic skills. Her laugh was pleasant to hear and to see.

They spent the entire noon outside, talking, and at one point, Damien even rolled up his dress shirt sleeves to help her plant some flowers.

"You really came here in the wrong clothes." Ella laughed, happy that Damien at least didn't dirty his pristine shirt.

"I wasn't expecting my day to escalate to digging." He snarked playfully. He couldn't let an injured person do the work. It was almost as if Ella was silently guilt-tripping him into helping him, but he knew her better.

Suddenly, Rufus ran forward to the back gate. After getting his mini episode, Ella had let him out, and he was much more friendly than Damien thought. The only problem was when Damien go a little too close to Rufus's beloved Ella.

A man dressed in all black with tattoos covering his entire arms entered. Almost instantly, Damien stood up, ready to walk forward to block Ella when she waved at the unknown man. The man waved back, squatting to pet a very happy Rufus.

Damien frowned. Of course, Rufus was all of a sudden a very amorous dog now. Damien looked at Ella questioningly. Was she one of those types of girls? The ones that liked the bad boys? The good girls that hoped to change them into a good man?

"Damien, this is Sam, a friend of mine. Sam, meet Damien, a friend and colleague." Ella presented them, and Damien was quick to assess the man.

"Nice to meet you, man." Sam nodded, having already heard a few comments from Ella about a certain Italian co-worker.

Damien only nodded. Sam wasn't showing any sort of protective or possessive characteristics for Ella, and he seemed a laid-back type of guy. Still, Damien concluded that he didn't like this so called Sam. Sam could only smirk back as he realized why Damien was giving him a hostile welcoming.

"So, princess," Sam emphasized, turned to Ella, doing their own handshake, "how are ya?"

"Well." Ella narrowed her eyes. "I see you're doing well. How's my sister?"

Sam laughed loudly, reaching to pat Ella's head. "She's fine." Sam winked, and Ella flicked his chest.

"Tell her to visit more often. Apparently she sees you now more than her own family." Ella rolled her eyes sassily, and Damien relaxed. It seemed as though Sam had feelings for another Cortesa member.

"Sure, sure." Sam followed Rufus into the house, and Damien nodded. He now understood why Rufus didn't like him around Ella. Jealousy was a thing, alright.

"He's a really nice guy, you know." Ella murmured to Damien, aware of how he had looked at Sam when he first arrived.

Damien only nodded, deciding that he was going to confirm that statement. It was one thing for Ella to consider someone a good person, but it was a whole different thing for Damien to do the same.

Consequently, the two men ended up almost competing to see who could do more for Ella. Whenever Ella needed something, the two would quickly come to her aid. Once Ella was beginning to become suspicious of their behavior though, Sam got a call and stepped away to answer comfortably.

"For someone as poised as you, I'm honestly surprised to see you acting so child-like with Sam." Ella commented to Damien, petting Rufus who laid by her feet, his tail wagging softly against her ankles.

"Child-like? You should know by now that you should trust no one in this world." Damien gruffly responded, watching Sam like a hawk. Damien also wanted to remark how disturbing it was to know that Sam could just slide in to Ella's private property without anyone knowing. He chose not to say anything about that, though.

"I'm pretty good at reading people, Damien. Trust me."

Damien breathed in, nodding slowly. That, she was. She had already proven her skillset to him over the course of the time she had worked with him and adapted to his own personality.

"Well, I've gotta go now." Sam returned, pocketing his phone in his back pocket.

"Duty calls?" Ella quirked her head to the side, examining him.

"Something like that." Sam chuckled, almost nervously as he scratched the back of his head.

"She likes ice cream, Sam. Chocolate, preferably." Ella chuckled when the saw the glint of surprise pass through his blue eyes.

"Of course, you'd know." Sam shook his head, leaning forward to do their signature handshake before he pet Rufus. "See you around, I guess." He nodded at Damien. Something told him that Damien wasn't going to go away anytime soon and that Ella wasn't going to mind at a all.

"We should go, too." Damien stood up, disturbing Rufus once the pup saw a large figure towering over them suddenly.

"'We?'" Ella repeated, confused.

"That is, if you let me treat you to dinner," Damien was not really asking, but at least he was giving Ella an opportunity to answer. He didn't want to leave her just yet, and they both hadn't had dinner either. It was the perfect opportunity.

"Would you mind waiting a few minutes?" She lifted herself from her seat. "I'll just get changed."

"Take your time." Damien nodded, following her into the house. "I'll turn on the car so it can cool down."

Ella rushed upstairs, taking off her loungewear to throw on a simple white sundress and some chapstick. She grabbed her bag before locking Rufus inside her home and leaving. In her rush to not make Damien wait too long, she didn't notice Damien almost gaping at her. Even in a normal dress, with no makeup or hair touch ups, Ella still looked beautiful.

I need to stop seeing this woman, Damien thought as he cleared his throat and reversed out of her driveway.

They spent the evening at some fancy Italian restaurant, and even though Ella wouldn't have minded a casual setting where a burger wouldn't be frowned upon, she also didn't mind the air of elegance that surrounded her every once in a while. Damien also didn't seem to mind the other people around that would gawk at the odd pair every once in a while, but then again, with Ella, why would he pay attention to anyone else?

"Actually, I think I'll take a walk around here." Ella stopped at the parking lot, seeing how the sun set was almost about to happen.

"Here?" Damien looked around, noticing that while it was a highly populated area, it also seemed quite popular for walking dogs or just take a simply jog around town.

"Yeah. I could use some exercise." Ella nodded, "I'll just take a cab back down once I'm finished." She explained upon seeing Damien's confused glare.

Damien was confused; he couldn't see how Ella would bravely put herself out in public where it would soon be dark, without anyone to help her if something happened. He was also glaring just thinking of how anyone could approach her and... he wouldn't let his mind wander that way too much. No.

"I'll walk with you." Damien surprised even himself with that statement. He would never do something like walking just to pass time. No. That would be a waste of time.

"It's okay. I have my phone on me, and I'll be in public." She reassured him, knowing that he was a busy man and probably had better things to do.

"Do want to walk alone?" Damien stopped his advancements towards her, thinking that maybe it wasn't so much of her wanting to actually walk, but maybe she just wanted to get away for a little bit.

Ella's eyes widened, her hands raising to shake. "No! I just don't want- you know what, let's just go." Ella smiled, chuckling as she saw how a couple of people that were exiting the restaurant were looking at them weirdly. "People are going to think we were breaking up or something." Ella explained quietly as they began they walk down the city.

"We could just say that we're actually getting a divorce." Damien offered, and Ella laughed, shaking her head.

They spent the rest of the while just walking and talking about mindless things like good restaurants they saw, a couple of cute dogs, and they even entered a couple of stores.

"These smell nice, don't they?" Ella turned to Damien, seeking him out. She was expecting him to say that he'll wait outside or find him wandering around the store in boredom, but she was pleasantly surprised to find him right by her side, already paying attention to what she was doing.

Damien lifted his hand, gently overlapping Ella's to raise the candle higher to his nose. It smelt like lavender mixed with something else, a more masculine scent, but it did smell nice. "It's nice." He nodded, letting her hand and the candle go.

Ella nodded, dazed. She wasn't one to have contact with men, and now she was acting like a schoolgirl with a crush.

Wordlessly, she tucked the candle into the crook of her arm, grabbing another two to get a deal before walking over to another section. She was hoping Damien would wander off to another section, but no. His large figure and dark yet soft cologne loomed over her own form.

"Would you like a shopping bag, ma'am?" A sales lady came up with a bright smile upon seeing Ella picking up a few items.

"Yes, thank you." Ella nodded, receiving it gratefully, and Damien held it up for her to place her items in it. "I can hold it." Ella said when she noticed that Damien was firmly holding the handle.

"I'll hold it so you can shop comfortably." Damien motioned towards the selection of diffusers she was looking at.

"Thank you." Ella blushed, quickly turned around to try and distract herself from ogling at him. She had always noticed he was quite attractive and handsome. Besides the obvious, which were his looks, he was just a firm and hardworking man. Only recently was Ella discovering his gentle and kind side of his personality, but all of those traits and him added up were enough to have her heart fluttering uncomfortably in her chest.

Rushing to get finished and return back home, she quickly selected only a few other items she was running low in stock on and paid.

"I can hold the bag, Damien." Ella said once Damien, again, was holding the shopping bag for her.

"So can I, Ella." Damien responded, letting her walk through the store doors first. "Come, now." He moved her to the inside of the side walk. The sun had set, and it was dark now, but with the city lights' twinkling, almost everything was lit up.

"We walked pretty far." Ella remarked upon seeing all of the shops pass by.

Damien nodded, watching Ella's steps. "Watch out with the-"

"Oh!" Ella almost tripped, her hand seeking out to hold onto Damien's arm instinctively to prevent her fall. "Oh my goodness." Ella's laughter was slowly bubbling out of her, her cheeks warming into a natural and adorable blush. "That was so embarrassing." She chuckled, and Damien smiled at her reaction.

"You can hold on if your ankle hurts." Damien offered the crook of his arm for her once he noticed that her ankle was bothering her.

"Thank you." Ella slipped her hand through, slightly gripping his arm every once and in a while when she felt the knick at her ankle.

Damien nodded, feeling at ease with her closer to him in the dark night. He looked over at her. She was genuinely just enjoying the evening just as much as he was genuinely just enjoying her. He almost wanted to pull her closer.