LOGINThe smell of Damien cooking filled the penthouse the next morning. I stood in the doorway for a moment, watching him in the kitchen. His broad shoulders were tense under a simple black t-shirt, hair still damp from a shower. He looked like he hadn’t slept much either. When he turned and saw me, hope flickered in his eyes like a candle fighting the wind.“Good morning,” I said softly, tugging his shirt down my thighs.He turned, flipping pancakes with forced casualness. “Morning. Do you want pancakes? And I even cut them into hearts like a sap. Laugh at me if you want.”I did laugh, soft and genuine, the first real one since the warehouse nightmare. “They’re… aggressively romantic pancakes. You’re really pulling out all the stops, huh?”“Only the best for my girl.” His voice was warm, but careful. He plated two stacks, sliding one across the island toward me.We ate side by side. The conversation flowed easier than yesterday, work, a funny story about his assistant spilling coffee duri
By the time the sun rose, my head throbbed and my chest felt hollow. I stayed in the guest room longer than necessary, staring at the ceiling, replaying every word from last night. Relief that Victor and Marcus were being released warred with a deeper unease.Damien had done it for me. He’d gone against his instincts. But the fact that he could do it at all, that he had the power to make people vanish left a chill I couldn’t shake.Lila’s warnings echoed in my mind, uninvited but persistent. He’s not who you think he is, Elena. There are things he’s buried deep. Dark things. I’d brushed her off back then, convinced she was bitter. Now? I wasn’t so sure.A soft knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts.“Elena?” Damien’s voice was low, careful. “I made coffee. And there’s breakfast if you’re hungry.”I swallowed hard, hugging my knees tighter under the blanket. Part of me wanted to open the door, to let him pull me into his arms and pretend last night had been a bad dream. The other
The 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
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
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 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







