تسجيل الدخولThe silence in the penthouse was deafening. I stood a few feet away from Damien, arms wrapped tightly around myself like a shield. My wrists still burned from the rope, and every part of my body felt heavy with exhaustion and fear. The man I loved was standing right in front of me, but for the first time since we met, he felt dangerously unfamiliar.“Elena,” Damien said softly, taking one careful step toward me. “Please don’t do this. Don’t pull away from me right now.”I took a step back, my voice trembling but determined. “I need you to let them go.”He froze. “What?”“Victor and Marcus,” I said, my eyes filling with tears again. “You have them, don’t you? I heard the call. You gave the orders. You have them somewhere right now.”Damien’s jaw tightened. He didn’t deny it. “They kidnapped you, Elena. They tied you up. They were going to demand ransom and God knows what else if I didn’t pay. They’re dangerous.”“I know what they did,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “But they’re still
I sat huddled on the dirty mattress, knees pulled tight to my chest, wrists burning from the rough rope. The small room felt like a tomb, no windows, no fresh air, just the single bare bulb swinging slightly above me and the faint smell of fear.Every few minutes I strained to listen, pressing my ear against the thin wall. At first I could still hear muffled voices, Victor and Marcus arguing about money, about how much they should demand, about what they would do once they got it. But now even those had faded. The house had gone strangely quiet. Too quiet.My heart wouldn’t stop racing. I kept replaying everything in my head. This is my fault. I lied to Damien. I came here alone. I walked straight into their trap like a naïve little girl who still wanted her father to love her. Tears slipped down my cheeks again. I wiped them angrily with my shoulder. Crying wouldn’t help. I needed to think. I needed to find a way out.Then I heard it, a low voice on the other side of the wall. Not Vi
Damien sat in the back of his black SUV, the city lights streaking past the tinted windows as they sped toward the old neighborhood. His phone was on speaker, connected to three different lines at once. The calm mask he wore for the world was still firmly in place, but his eyes were cold steel.“Status,” he said into the phone, voice low and even.A gravelly voice answered first, Reyes, his most trusted fixer. “We’re in position. Two hostiles confirmed in the kitchen are still there. Girl is still tied up in the living room. She looks scared but unharmed. They’re still arguing about the ransom amount, ten million, cash that they want to collect from you.”Damien’s jaw flexed. “Good. Move on my word. I want Victor and Marcus taken quietly. No shots. No witnesses. Bring them to the warehouse on the east side. I’ll handle the rest.” He said, coldly.“Copy that,” Reyes replied. “You sure you don’t want us to extract the girl first? She’s pretty shaken up.”“No,” Damien said firmly. “Get h
Damien stood in the middle of the penthouse living room still in disbelief, phone still in his hand, staring at the tracking dot blinking on the screen. Victor’s house, he thought to himself again, like it was all some kind of dream. Of course it was Victor’s fucking house. He had told Elena not to go. She had promised. And now she was there alone, after lying to him about meeting Sofia. The betrayal stung sharper than he wanted to admit, but right now, anger wasn’t useful. Cold focus was. He walked to the bar cart, poured himself a glass of whiskey, and took a slow sip. His hand didn’t shake. His breathing stayed even. But inside, something dark and familiar uncoiled the part of him he had tried to bury since Elena came into his life. He made another call. “Blackwood,” a gravelly voice answered on the second ring. “What do you need?” “I just sent Victor Voss’s address. The old one on 14th. I need eyes on it right now. Thermal, audio if possible. The lady inside is my wife. Con
My fingers slipped on the lock again.“Come on, come on…” I whispered desperately, heart slamming against my ribs.The footsteps behind me grew louder, heavy and very suspicious. A hand grabbed my shoulder and yanked me back hard. I stumbled, nearly falling, but caught myself against the wall.“Elena, stop!” Victor barked, his voice no longer sounding tired or fatherly. It was sharp and cold, reminded me of the voice I was used to. The abusive and mean voice.I spun around, breathing fast. “Let me go! I knew this was a mistake. I should never have come.”Victor’s face twisted into something ugly. The sickly, regretful father from moments ago was gone. In his place stood the man I had grown up fearing the drunk, the manipulator, the liar.Before I could move, the shadow from the hallway stepped into the light. I was shocked to see it was Marcus. Of course they planned the whole thing together, how could I not have seen it.He looked bigger than I remembered, eyes gleaming with satisfac
The call from Victor kept replaying in my head like a broken record I couldn’t turn off. “I have proof… This could destroy everything.”I tried to push it away, I really did. I spent the whole next morning forcing myself to focus on normal things, making coffee, laughing at Damien’s terrible pancake attempt, letting him pull me onto his lap for slow kisses that made my toes curl. But every time there was a quiet moment, Victor’s raspy voice crept back in.What if he actually had something real? What if I was ignoring important information just because I was scared of rocking the boat again?Damien noticed I was distracted. Of course he did. He always did.“You okay?” he asked while we were cleaning up breakfast. He came up behind me at the sink, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing a kiss to my shoulder. “You’ve been quiet since that call last night.”I leaned back into him, trying to sound casual. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking about school stuff. Finals are coming up and m
I woke up sore in places I didn’t even know could hurt. The bedroom was dark except for the soft gray light leaking through the blinds. Damien was already awake, watching me intensely like I was going to run away. His hair was a mess, eyes heavy like he didn't get any sleep, but there was somethin
The penthouse felt too quiet that afternoon. I was curled on the couch in the living room, legs tucked under me, scrolling through old lecture notes on my laptop. Damien was in his office down the hall, voice low on some conference call. I could hear the occasional sharp word drift out, but nothing
The drive back from campus was quiet, too quiet. Damien's hand rested on my thigh the whole way. I kept my legs pressed together, trying to ignore the lingering ache between them, the faint wetness that hadn't quite dried. Every bump in the road made me clench, and I hated how my body reacted like
The hallway felt longer than usual. Teachers and students parted without me asking. The office door was already cracked open. I pushed it wider and stepped inside.Damien stood by the window, hands in bus pockets, back to me. The room smelled of his cologne. He didn't turn right away. Just let Mr s







