CHAPTER 8 — THE MONSTER IS MINE

Damien's POV

I was fuming angrily as I sat in my hotel with a glass of scotch in my hand. My expression was cold and commanding, the same expression that made boardrooms go silent. The same expression the whole corporate world feared.

Adrian was standing by the window and Roman was sitting on the couch, saying nothing. Adrian watched me for a long time before he finally spoke.

"Do you think we have made a monster?" Adrian asked.

I looked at the scotch in my hand and immediately thought of Elena standing in her dining room, chin lifted, eyes bright with fury. She had told me to leave even after everything. I had just helped her regain her company. I gave her the power to make Marcus crawl.

I shattered the glass against the wall and the sound cracked through the room. Scotch ran down the wallpaper as the pieces of glass fell to the floor.

Adrian did not flinch. Roman did not look up.

"Maybe," I said, my eyes flashing gold. "But that monster is mine."

Silence.

I moved fast. I picked up my phone and called my assistant.

"Call a board meeting," I said. "Hart Industries. Tomorrow. 12 noon. I want every board member there. No excuses. No delays."

I hung up.

I was so angry that I needed a place to vent. I needed my control back and to make an example to her that I wasn't someone you can trifle with.

Adrian was pacing the room now, back and forth, back and forth, thinking about the phone call she had received.

"Damien, that call," Adrian said. "That voice. She said it was her dad."

"I heard her," I said.

"Do you think Victor called?" Adrian asked.

I considered it for a brief moment. Victor had saved our companies seven years ago when no one else would. But after that, he made us promise to watch over her.

"It's not possible," I said. "Victor disappeared underground 5 years ago. And he specifically told us to watch over her. If he was alive, he would have contacted us. He would not call her like that and hang up."

Roman was completely quiet. He had been quiet since we left her house. He spoke for the first time. His voice was low and guilty.

"And we didn't," Roman said quietly, his voice guilty.

Me and Adrian looked at him.

"What?" Adrian asked.

"We lost her," Roman said. "7 years ago Victor sent her to London because he was scared. He begged us to protect her but we lost her. She returned 5 years ago but we couldn't pay our debt until now. We can't lose her again."

My hands tightened. My fists clenched until my knuckles went white.

Roman was right. Victor had sent her to London to keep her safe. He had begged us to protect my daughter.

“Don’t let them touch her,” he said, and we had lost her. We had let Marcus and his family get to her. We disappeared for seven years while she grieved and married and suffered for three years while we built our empires and told ourselves we would pay our debt one day.

One day become five years.

Adrian asked, "What do we do?"

I stood up.

"We go back," I said.

Roman stood up too. "Wait."

Adrian stepped in front of me. "Damien, wait. She told us to leave. If we go back now—"

"I don't care what she said," I said. "She is going to go after that call alone. You saw her face. She is going to go."

Roman brought out his phone.

"I placed hidden cameras all over her mansion and car," Roman said quietly.

Adrian and I both turned to look at him.

"What?" Adrian asked.

Roman did not apologize. "I sent my men to put it while we were at the club, now we can track her movement and see where she goes."

I grabbed my keys.

"What are we waiting for?" I said.

We all entered the car and I started driving. Roman was in the back seat, directing us on what way to follow, his phone in his hand, watching her dot move on the map.

"She's in her car," Roman said. "She's driving alone. She's going to the warehouse district. The old Hart warehouse."

My jaw tightened. "Her father's warehouse."

"Yes," Roman said. "The one he loved most."

Damien got impatient. "Roman, connect it to the screen in the car. I want to see it. Now."

Roman connected his phone to the car screen. And then we saw her.

We saw her walk into the dark room. We saw the strange man sitting behind her father's desk and we saw Mrs. Sterling and Clara step out of the shadows.

My stomach dropped.

"She's walking into a trap," Adrian said. "Damien, we need to call the police."

"No time," I said. "Roman, keep watching. Tell me if she moves."

We saw her try to fight. We saw the men grab her. We saw her fall to her knees.

I felt extremely uncomfortable. My chest was tight. My hands were shaking on the wheel.

I took a sharp swerve and stomped on the accelerator. I tucked a pistol into my pocket and rushed into the location to save her.

Adrian was shouting, "Damien! Damien, slow down! The police are on their way!"

"I am not waiting for the police!" I shouted back.

We burst through the warehouse door.

Elena was on the floor, bleeding, surrounded by Mrs. Sterling, Clara, and the strange man. The men who had beaten her were still around her.

"Stop whatever you're doing!" I shouted. "GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Mrs. Sterling turned, her face twisted with hatred. She did not hesitate. She pulled the trigger.

The sound was deafening. The bullet went wild, hitting the ceiling so I lunged at her and attacked them furiously, not waiting for the police that were already on their way. I knocked the gun from her hand. It clattered across the concrete floor.

Adrian tackled one of the men. Roman grabbed another.

Mrs. Sterling and Clara screamed and scrambled back, shoving past the men, as they disappeared into a back door.

The strange man tried to run but Roman caught him and pinned him to the ground.

Elena collapsed into Adrian's arms crying, sobbing and shaking so hard that Adrian had to hold her up.

I felt the jealousy go through me in waves but used every last bit of restraint I had left.

"I thought it was my father," she cried. "I just wanted to see him one more time."

Adrian held her gently. "I know, Elena. I know."

The police came in minutes later, flooding in like a wave. They arrested the strange man and the hired men. They cuffed them and pushed them out.

One officer turned to Elena. "Ma'am, we will take them in. The report will be ready by morning. We will find the two women who escaped."

Elena nodded, barely able to speak.

We took her home.

Adrian drew a bath for her and she sat in the bath for a long time till I could hear the water going cold. When she finally came out, her hair was wet against her neck, her eyes were red, her cheek was swollen.

Roman was waiting with coffee. He made it exactly the way she liked it and handed it to her without saying a word.

She sat down on the couch, holding the cup with both hands like it was the only warm thing left in the world.

I looked at her and said, "Elena, you need to rest. We'll take our leave."

She looked up. Her eyes were wide with panic.

"No," she said. "No. Please. I need you to stay."

Adrian and Roman looked at me as I sat down beside her and pulled her into a hug. She did not resist. She leaned into me and put her head on my chest.

I held her until she slept.

I held her while Adrian quietly cleaned up the kitchen. Roman stood by the window, watching the street for any sign of Mrs. Sterling and Clara coming back while I listened to her breathing. Hands unclenched from my shirt and her tears dried on my chest but I did not move because I didn't want to wake her.

Then, in the morning, my alarm woke us up.

It buzzed loudly on the table beside the couch. Elena stirred on my chest, her eyes fluttering open, confused.

The message on my phone said: ‘Prepare for the Hart board meeting. 12 noon.’

Elena sat up slowly as she looked at the message then she looked at me.

"You called a board meeting?" she asked. Her eyes filled with betrayal.