Chapter Eight

I needed to get out of this house.

Away from Damian. Away from his mother. From this tight stranglehold, they were trying to have on my life.

But the thing was there was nowhere else for me to go.

And Damian knew that.

Once I put Leo to bed with a book, I paced the small apartment so my mind wouldn’t race.

I needed a plan.

I couldn’t sit here and wait for Damian to determine my fate.

But all roads lead back to the same bitter fact: I was broke, homeless, and had no real way of putting up a fight against his influence.

Maybe I could run again, but after everything, would I be able to?

Would he let me?

I shook the thought away.

I was not his prisoner.

I refused to be.

A knock on the door caused me to freeze.

I knew who it was before I even twisted the knob.

Damian loomed in the frame, one hand braced against it, a full-body scan of my flushed face that made me feel like he already knew precisely what was going through my head.

"We need to talk," he said.

I folded my arms. "I don’t think we do."

His jaw ticked. "Leo stays. That’s not up for debate."

My heart clenched. “I didn’t say that I was going to take him away.”

“But you were considering another run, weren’t you?”

I sucked in a sharp breath.

Damian stepped forward, lowering his voice. “Where would you even go, Aria? Do you have money? A safe place to stay?"

I lifted my chin. "I’d figure it out."

He exhaled harshly. "You’re stubborn."

"And you’re controlling."

His lips twitched. "Only when I need to be."

I glared. “You don’t have to be anything. Leo is my son. My responsibility. You don’t just get to walk in and take over.”

His gaze darkened. "The hell I don’t."

Heat crackled around us,  thick and suffocating.

“You think I’m going to just sit back and let you do this all by yourself?” His voice was low, dangerous. “That I’m going to allow you to run again?”

I swallowed hard. "You don’t own me, Damian."

His hand flew out to grip my waist and pull me flush against him. My breath hitched.

His heat, his strength - it was too much.

His fingers tightened, keeping me pinned there. "No, I don’t own you, Aria. But I will defend what’s mine.”

I gasped; my heart thumped harshly inside my ribs.

“Leo’s not an object,” I whispered.

His eyes flickered. "I wasn’t talking about Leo."

There was an electric energy between us.

My heart raced, my body betraying me.

I should push him away. I should fight.

But I couldn’t move.

Damian’s fingers burned up my arm, his touch slow and deliberate. “You can lie to yourself all you want, but we both know the reality.”

I convulsed, my nails clawing into his chest. "And what truth is that?"

His lips were close to my ear.

"You want me."

I hated that he was right.

I hated that I responded to him with my body, that my breath hitched when he touched me, my heart sped up when he stepped too close.

I hated him for making me feel that way.

But more than anything

I loathed myself for wanting him back.

My breath hitched.

Damian’s words wound around me, constricting like a chain that couldn’t be snapped.

You want me.

I wanted to deny it. To push him away. To scream that he was wrong.

But I couldn’t.

Because of the way my body quaked in response to his touch, the way my pulse quickened in his presence

It was all the evidence he needed.

You gripped my waist even more tightly, your fingers digging into my skin. "Say it, Aria."

I shook my head and felt my breath become shallow. "You’re arrogant."

His lips curled into a smirk. "And you’re a liar."

My nails dug into his chest. "Let me go, Damian."

He moved closer, his breath and exhaled space on my ear. "Tell me you don’t feel it. You tell me that’s not what you want, and I’ll step back.’

I clenched my jaw.

He was playing a game with fire.

And I was losing.

My silence was his answer.

Damian backed me against the wall with a low growl, his giant form swallowing every inch of us.

“You drive me crazy,” he said in a low voice, his fingers following a slow trail up and down my arm.

I swallowed hard. "Good."

His dark eyes sparkled with amusement. “You’re playing with fire, sweetheart.”

I raised my chin, willing my voice to remain steady. "Then burn me."

A muscle ticked in his jaw.

And then—

His lips slammed into mine.

A fiery heat ignited between us, intense and primal.

I let out a gasp, the fingers of one hand twisting in his shirt as he pushed me as hard as he could against the wall.

Damian wasn’t gentle.

He kissed me as though he was laying claim, as though he had waited too damn long for this moment.

And maybe

Maybe I had, too.

A moan escaped my lips, and his hold on my waist tightened, his body against mine.

It was his scent- smoky, rich, simply intoxicating - flooding my senses.

I shouldn’t be doing this.

I shouldn’t be wanting this.

But God, I did.

I bucked against him, wanting more.

But just as quickly as it began

Damian pulled away.

I drew in a breath; part of me cried out at the loss of contact. "What—"

He grasped my chin, his thumb gliding on my puffy lips. His eyes burned into mine. "This changes nothing, Aria."

A sudden ache shot through my chest. "Then why did you…?”

“Because I had to,” he rasped, fingers digging in tighter. "Because you make me crazy."

I swallowed hard. “You think I don’t want to feel the same?”

His jaw clenched. "Then stop fighting me."

I let out a bitter laugh. "That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one who needs to watch out. You’re not the one who stands to lose everything.”

His eyes darkened. “You think I’ve got nothing to lose?

I bit my lip, hesitating. "Then prove it."

An uncomfortable silence stretched between us, heavy with unvoiced words.

And then

The moment shattered anew with the sound of a door slamming downstairs.

We both froze.

Damian’s attention was drawn to the hallway. "Stay here."

Panic shot through me. "Damian"

But he was already gone, striding to the stairs with the confidence of a man who feared nothing.”

I wasn’t so lucky.

Heart racing, stomach a knot, I tagged after him.

And when I got to the bottom of the stack, 

My blood ran cold.

Damian was in a stiff position, body tense.

And across from him

His mother.

Her cold eyes landed on me, sharp and calculating. I’m glad to see you’re getting cozy, Miss Hayes.”

My fingers curled into fists. "What do you want?"

Her lips curled into a smirk. “I came to remind you of your station.”

Damian’s jaw clenched. "Enough, Mother."

She brushed him off, moving in closer. "You think you belong here? That you have a future together with my son?” She let out a quiet laugh. “You’re just a fleeting distraction.”

Something inside me snapped.

I stepped forward, standing toe-to-toe with her frostbitten glare. “You don’t get to make that decision.”

Damian’s mother tipped her head to the side, a glimmer of amusement in her eyes. "Oh, darling."

Her smirk widened.

"You already lost."

A cold shudder bubbled up inside of me.

And in that moment

I knew she had plans for me.

Plans I wasn’t going to wiggle out of so easily.