로그인Aria slowly turned her head. Her dark eyes found Damian standing in the shadows. Her voice was weak and rough from the bruising on her neck."Is Rose okay?" she asked softly.Damian stepped forward into the light. "She is fine. I am going to check on her now. The police need to take her statement."Aria nodded slightly, closing her eyes.Damian looked at Leo, who was standing guard near the foot of the bed. Damian did not need to issue a command. Leo gave a single, firm nod. The cook was not leaving that spot.Damian walked out into the corridor.He found Rose sitting in a wheelchair near the nurses' station. A thick white bandage was taped to the side of her head. Two uniformed police officers were standing in front of her, holding small notebooks.Damian approached them. The officers recognized him and stepped back respectfully."How are you feeling?" Damian asked the teenager.Rose looked up. She loo
The hitman looked at Damian. The man did not try to reach for a weapon. He just reached up, pulling his dark surgical mask down just enough to expose his mouth. He looked at the furious billionaire and gave a slow, sick smile.Then, he threw himself backward out the open window.Aria screamed. The raw, broken sound tore through the room.Damian rushed to the window frame and looked out. He stared down. The man's body lay twisted on the pavement. A small crowd of pedestrians was already gathering around the blood pooling on the asphalt, pointing and shouting.Damian turned his back to the window. He went straight to the bed and pulled Aria into his chest.She did not fight him. The terror was too much. She buried her face in his ruined suit jacket, her small hands grabbing the fabric of his shirt. She cried hard, her entire body shaking against him. Damian wrapped his arms tightly around her, pressing his face into her hair, closing his ey
The plastic bag hit the linoleum floor with a wet thud.Damian was already moving.He sprinted across the cafeteria, his heavy boots skidding against the polished tiles. He shoved his way through the double glass doors, his shoulder violently colliding with a young doctor in the hallway. The man stumbled backward, dropping a stack of clipboards, shouting something in protest. Damian did not stop. He did not even look back. He reached the elevator banks in the main lobby. He slammed the flat of his hand against the call button, hitting it three times in rapid succession.He looked up. The glowing red digital number above the metal doors read 6. It was not moving.He could not wait. The panic clawing at his throat was absolute.Damian abandoned the elevators. He lunged toward the heavy metal fire door of the emergency stairwell, yanked the iron bar, and threw himself into the concrete shaft. He took the stairs three at
Later that evening, the hospital staff moved Aria.The doctor informed her she was being transferred from the busy emergency wing to a highly secure VIP private ward on the third floor. Aria did not even try to fight the decision. She knew exactly who was paying the massive hospital bill. It was Damian's order, and she simply did not have the physical energy or the money to argue.For the next two days, she stayed in the private room.She did not see Damian once.He never walked through the door. But Aria knew he was there. She could feel his heavy, suffocating presence just outside the room. She knew he was sitting in the corridor, standing guard like a silent shadow. She refused to acknowledge him.On the afternoon of her second day in the ward, the hospital was quiet.Rose was sitting in the plastic chair beside the bed, scrolling through her phone. Suddenly, the device buzzed loudly. Rose looked at the screen and sighed.
Aria offered him a weak, tired smile. Her eyes drifted to the fresh, dark bruising along his jawline. She remembered the way he had charged at Damian in the alley."Did you guys fight?" Aria asked quietly.Leo shook his head. "No. I didn't fight him." He pulled a plastic chair closer to the bed and sat heavily. "I wanted to punch him. I really did. But my first priority was making sure you were okay.""I am okay," Aria breathed, resting her hand over her stomach."The doctor said you need to stop taking so much stress," Leo told her. His green eyes were serious. He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees. "Aria. It is not good for you, and it is not good for the child. You have to rest."Aria looked at the line cook. It was the first time she had ever heard him speak this many words at once. He was usually so quiet, hiding behind a wall of cold calculation in the diner kitchen.A small, genuine tease escaped her
The harsh, sterile light of the emergency room burned through Aria’s closed eyelids.She groaned softly. The sound caught in her dry, scratchy throat. Aria opened her eyes slowly. The blinding lights of the hospital ceiling swam into focus. The last thing she remembered was the freezing wind of the alley, the violent crack of her palm connecting with Damian’s jaw, and the terrifying sensation of her own legs giving out beneath her.Panic spiked in her chest. She gasped, her hands flying down to cover her swollen stomach, searching for the firm curve."You are safe."Aria turned her head quickly. A nurse in pale blue scrubs stood near the foot of the bed, adjusting a clear plastic IV bag. The woman offered a warm, professional smile."Your baby is perfectly fine, Miss Hale," the nurse assured her. She stepped closer to check the blood pressure cuff wrapped tightly around Aria's arm. "You fainted. Your blood pressure dropped very low. The d
"I haven't," she lied, her breath hitching. Damian’s grip tightened slightly, not enough to hurt, but enough to make her understand that the lie was useless. "Your heart is telling me something else. It's racing, Aria. Just like it was when you were on my lap. Just like it was when I told you to o
“Or I’ll make it hurt more than it has to.”But there was no mercy in his eyes, only a feral hunger that made her stomach clench. His mouth hovered just above her navel, his exhales ghosting over the damp cotton in warm, deliberate puffs that made her muscles twitch involuntarily. She hated how her
“What kind of notice?”“A litigation warning,” Sara said, her voice trembling. “It says any attempt to hire or solicit this employee will result in immediate legal action for corporate espionage and theft of trade secrets. Aria, it's a priority alert.”Aria stood up so fast the stool toppled over, c
Aria stared at the floor. Don’t look up. Don’t look up.“Damian,” the Bishop said. “Please repeat after me.”“I, Damian,” Damian said. His voice was clear, strong, and cold.“Take you, Cassandra…”“Take you, Cassandra…”Aria felt a pull. A physical weight pressing on the side of her face. She looked







