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Breathless

Author: Lara Hills
last update Last Updated: 2025-11-10 05:11:53

Carl didn’t raise his voice when he was angry. That was the problem.

He smiled. Too calmly. Too easily. Like he was enjoying the sound of his own control.

Dinner was perfect — too perfect. The kind of perfection that only existed when something was about to break. The silver gleamed. The candles burned low. The servants moved like ghosts.

And across from me was Damon. My bodyguard. My secret. My sin.

He stood behind Carl’s chair, silent, composed, his expression unreadable. But I could feel him — the tension in his stance, the way his hand hovered close to his jacket like he was ready for anything.

I’d begged Father to let Damon stay, and Carl had agreed too easily. That alone should’ve been my warning.

Carl leaned back in his seat, sipping wine. His eyes flicked between me and Damon with that half-smile that never reached his eyes.

“So,” he said finally, voice soft. “How are you settling in, Aria?”

I forced a smile. “It’s home now.”

“Home,” he repeated, tasting the word. “Good. I lik
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  • Protecting the Billionaire’s Daughter   The Night I Let Myself Feel

    Aria’s POVCarl had been acting strange all day—sweet, attentive, almost… excited. I didn’t understand why until he appeared in the doorway of my room, smiling like he was hiding something behind his back.“Aria,” he said softly, “get dressed. Nothing too fancy. I’m taking you somewhere.”I blinked. “Somewhere… where?”“You’ll see.”He winked and disappeared before I could protest.Thirty minutes later, when he led me outside, I actually froze.He’d turned the small back garden into something out of a romantic movie—golden fairy lights strung above, a table set for two, candles flickering in the warm evening breeze, soft music playing somewhere in the background.“Carl…” I whispered, breath catching. “You did all this?”“For us,” he said simply.Not “for you.”For us.My heart did something strange in my chest—like it skipped and doubled back.He pulled out my chair for me with a soft smile. “I wanted to do something special. You deserve that. And more.”The warmth in his voice made m

  • Protecting the Billionaire’s Daughter   The Pregnancy

    Aria’s POVDinner had barely started when a wave of dizziness swept over me. I set down my fork, trying to steady myself, but the room seemed to tilt. The crystal glasses glimmered and blurred; the candlelight danced like flames on water.“Aria?” Carl’s voice, soft but laced with concern, cut through the haze. His hand grazed mine, gentle, grounding. “Are you alright?”“I… I think I need some air,” I whispered, but my words were swallowed by the spinning room. My knees buckled, and I felt myself falling.Carl’s reflexes were faster than my senses could register. He caught me before I hit the floor, his arms steady, eyes wide with alarm. “Aria!”“Damn it,” I muttered under my breath, embarrassed and weak. I tried to compose myself, but my body betrayed me. Before I could even protest, I blacked out.The next thing I knew, Carl’s concerned face was hovering over me. The maids had rushed in, and someone—Carl, I assumed—was calling for a doctor. My pulse raced, but not from the fainting.

  • Protecting the Billionaire’s Daughter   The Proposition

    Aria’s POVI had barely finished brushing my hair when I sensed someone behind me.“I’d like a word with you, Aria.”My heart nearly jumped out of my body.Carl’s mother stood in the doorway, dressed in a silk robe, arms folded gracefully, her expression calm… too calm. The type of calm that meant someone was about to ruin your entire peace with a single sentence.I swallowed. “Of course, ma’am.”She stepped inside, shutting the door behind her with a soft click that somehow felt like a gunshot.“I’ll get straight to it,” she said, walking toward me. “I saw you leave your room the other night.”My blood froze.“I saw you leave to meet Damon.”……No air. No movement. No life.“And I don’t judge you for it,” she continued smoothly, adjusting her robe like she was preparing for a tea party conversation instead of the verbal grenade she’d just dropped. “Damon is… attractive.”She actually sighed. A soft, knowing, feminine sigh.I blinked, confused and embarrassed and horrified all at once

  • Protecting the Billionaire’s Daughter   His Fire, Her Betrayal

    Damon’s POVI knew the second I opened that door that something was wrong.I’d knocked, called Carl’s name, even said it was an emergency, but the silence on the other side of that office door was strange—thick, loaded, suspicious. I didn’t expect to walk in on anything. I didn’t expect to see what I saw.I didn’t expect to see her like that.Aria.Pressed against Carl.His mouth on hers.Her robe half open.His hand gripping her ass like it belonged to him.For a split second, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. The world went silent, even though I knew I’d just barged in. It went dark, even though the lights were on.All I saw was them.His hand.Her lips.Their bodies too close for innocence.My chest twisted so hard it felt like something snapped.Then Aria’s eyes lifted and met mine.She froze. Carl froze.And I—I died a little.I didn’t wait for an explanation. I didn’t want one. Carl brushed past me instantly to get to his mother—of course he did, because she was apparently “

  • Protecting the Billionaire’s Daughter   Between Want and Fear

    I couldn’t breathe when we got home.The entire ride back from the hospital left my nerves twisted so tightly I thought they’d snap. Carl’s mother talked nonstop about her ankle—how it “nearly fell off” and how the doctor “clearly didn’t know brilliance when he saw her”—but all I heard was Damon’s words echoing inside me.You belong to me.I replayed it again and again as we stepped into the mansion. Carl walked his mother to her room, fussing, and Damon disappeared down the hall like a shadow cutting itself away from light.And me?I stood in the middle of the living room, frozen, shaking, because I had no idea what to do.If I didn’t go to Damon tonight… God knows what he might do. What he might say. Who he might say it to.But at the same time…A part of me—one I pretended didn’t exist—wanted to walk into Carl’s room instead. To feel the warmth of his hands, the confusion in his breath, the sincerity in the way he kissed me earlier. There was something soft about him now, something

  • Protecting the Billionaire’s Daughter   Drama, Desire, and a Twisted Ankle

    Carl didn’t even look back as he rushed down the steps to meet his mother. She was already waving her arms like a hurricane, calling his name as if the world depended on it. Damon lingered by the door, still frozen in place, his expression dumbstruck. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of him standing there.I adjusted my silk robe, the fabric sliding softly over my skin. My hand lingered at the sash for a moment longer than necessary, and I felt Damon’s gaze burn into my back as I passed him. Our eyes met briefly — sharp, electric — but neither of us spoke. I could feel the weight of everything unsaid pressing between us, a storm waiting to break.“Quickly, get in!” Carl’s mother commanded as we approached the car. Her voice carried the kind of urgency reserved for disasters that were actually minor. “My ankle, it’s a tragedy! You’ll see! The swelling alone! Oh, why did I even try these shoes?”Damon’s jaw flexed, and I caught the way his hand tightened over the steering wheel. He

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