CHAPTER 6 — Shadows at the Gate
1702 Words
The banging eventually stopped.
But the silence it left behind was worse.
Ariella sat on the edge of her bed, wrapped in a thick cashmere blanket. Her hands shook so badly she pressed them between her knees just to keep them still.
Damien stood at her window with his arms folded, staring out into the night as if he could see through the layers of snow and darkness.
Elias stood by the door, unmoving, like a sentry carved from stone.
No one spoke for several minutes.
Finally Ariella whispered, “Is he gone?”
Damien didn’t turn around.
“He left the gate… but he’s not gone.”
Ariella’s breath hitched. “What do you mean?”
Elias answered, voice calm but unsettlingly blunt.
“He wasn’t here to get in. He was here to make a statement.”
Ariella swallowed hard.
“About what?”
Elias looked straight at her.
“You.”
Her heart lurched painfully.
Damien shot him a warning glare. “Elias.”
“She asked,” Elias replied mildly.
“Not like that.”
Ariella lifted a trembling hand. “Stop… please. Just tell me what is happening.”
Neither spoke.
That alone terrified her more than anything.
She felt small suddenly — horribly small — in her own bedroom with two men who knew far more about danger than she ever had.
Slowly, Damien stepped away from the window and came to sit beside her. The mattress dipped under his weight, his warmth radiating through the blanket.
“Ariella,” he said gently, “this isn’t the first time you’ve been targeted.”
Her body went cold.
She stared at him. “…What?”
Damien’s jaw flexed. “You were too young to remember. And your father thought it best to keep you unaware.”
“My father?” Her voice rose. “What does he have to do with any of this?”
Elias exhaled a long breath.
“Everything.”
Ariella pressed a hand to her ribs as if she could physically hold herself together.
“My father never told me I was in danger.”
Damien reached slowly for her hand. “He wanted to protect you.”
She pulled her hand away.
He flinched — only slightly, but enough for her to see it.
“Protect me by keeping me ignorant?” she whispered.
“Ariella—”
“And now someone is back for me? Because of him?”
Damien hesitated.
“Yes.”
The floor felt like it shifted under her.
And then she asked the question she dreaded:
“Who… who is he?”
Damien and Elias exchanged another look. But this time, she didn’t let it pass unspoken.
“Tell me,” she said firmly. “Both of you. Tell me exactly what you know.”
But before either could answer—
A soft knock came at her bedroom door.
All three turned sharply.
Then Gina’s false-sweet voice drifted through the wood:
“Ariella dear… is everything alright? We heard such strange noises outside. Your father is very anxious.”
Elias closed his eyes in irritation.
Damien muttered, “Perfect timing.”
Ariella stood quickly. “Don’t open it,” Damien warned.
“She’ll barge in if I don’t answer,” Ariella whispered.
Damien swore under his breath.
Ariella stepped toward the door, smoothing her hair, pressing her expression into something neutral.
She cracked it open.
Gina stood there wearing a silk robe and concern that looked almost real — if someone didn’t know her.
Behind her, Ophelia peered with wide, bright, nosy eyes.
“Ariella,” Gina said softly, “what happened tonight? Why are there guards running around? Did something… frighten you?”
Ariella held the edge of the door.
“No. Everything is fine.”
“But darling—”
Ariella lifted her chin. “I said everything is fine.”
From behind Ariella, Damien appeared slowly, placing a steadying hand on her back.
Gina’s eyes flicked to it.
And for a brief second — a tiny, almost imperceptible moment — Ariella saw jealousy.
Jealousy so sharp it almost cracked Gina’s smile.
“Oh,” Gina said, recovering quickly, “Dr. Navarro. I didn’t realize you were still here.”
Damien’s expression didn’t shift.
“I’ll remain as long as Ariella needs me.”
Ariella felt Ophelia’s glare like heat on her skin.
Ophelia narrowed her eyes. “Damien, you’re acting like her fiancé.”
Damien didn’t blink. “Protecting my patient is part of my job.”
“Is it?” Ophelia snapped. “Because it looks like your job is suddenly very personal.”
Ariella stepped partially in front of Damien.
“We don’t need interference tonight.”
Ophelia scoffed. “You never need anything, do you? Except constant attention.”
Ariella’s chest tightened. But before she could respond, Damien stepped forward.
“Ophelia,” he said coolly, “go to bed.”
She looked stunned — then furious.
Gina quickly grabbed her daughter’s arm, covering with a laugh.
“Oh, teenagers and their tempers. We will leave you all. Just call if you need anything, dear.”
But her eyes lingered too long on Damien.
Too long on Ariella.
Too long on the tension in the room.
Ariella closed the door.
She turned, exhaling shakily. “They know something happened. I can’t hide this.”
Damien approached her slowly.
“You deserve the truth. But you deserve it privately, without them listening on the other side of the wall.”
Elias nodded. “We’ll continue downstairs. Somewhere secure.”
Ariella looked between them.
Two men who clearly knew far more about her life than she ever had.
“Okay,” she said softly. “Let’s go.”
---
The Private Study
Damien led her to her father’s private study — but not the public one used for business guests. This one was hidden behind a panel wall, accessible only by a code Damien entered without hesitation.
Ariella blinked.
“You know the code?”
Damien paused. “…Your father gave it to me. Years ago.”
Elias added, “Only your father, Damien, and I have access. And now you.”
Ariella felt her stomach twist at the implication:
This wasn’t new.
This danger wasn’t new.
She had just never been allowed to see it.
Inside, the study was dim and cold.
Not lived-in, but functional.
A place for secrets, not comfort.
Damien motioned for her to sit.
“Ariella,” he began slowly, “the man at the gate tonight isn’t a stranger.”
Her heart pounded. “Then who—”
“He’s someone from your father’s past,” Elias said quietly.
She gripped the armrest. “From his business?”
“Yes,” Damien answered. “Your father made powerful allies… and powerful enemies.”
Ariella’s voice trembled. “Enemies of what?”
Damien leaned forward.
“Ariella… your father was not always the honorable businessman you know today.”
Everything inside her went still.
“What do you mean?”
Elias stepped closer, his voice low.
“Your father used to work with very dangerous people. International syndicates. Political financiers. Underground groups that don’t forget debts.”
Ariella stared at him.
Her lips parted in disbelief.
“No… no, my father wouldn’t—”
“He did,” Damien said gently. “But he left all of that behind before you were born. He tried to bury that life forever.”
Ariella felt dizzy.
Like she was falling backward through time.
“And that man?” she whispered.
“The one watching me since the gala?”
“He belonged to that world,” Elias said.
Damien’s voice dropped lower.
“And he may not be the only one.”
Ariella felt tears sting her eyes.
Her voice cracked.
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
Damien reached for her hand — slowly this time, giving her the chance to pull away.
She didn’t.
“Ariella,” he whispered, “your father thought you would be safer not knowing.”
“But I’m not safe,” she whispered. “Not anymore.”
Elias leaned against the wall. “Which is why your father hired us.”
Ariella turned sharply.
“Hired you? When? Why?”
Damien looked directly into her eyes.
“Because someone made a threat the day you turned sixteen.”
She froze.
“What… what kind of threat?”
Damien’s eyes softened in pain she didn’t understand.
“Someone threatened to take you.”
Ariella’s breath left her body.
Every hair on her arms rose.
Her voice barely came out.
“…Take me?”
Elias nodded once.
No expression.
No comfort.
“Yes.”
Ariella stood abruptly, pushing the chair back.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly as the walls seemed to close in.
“So all these years… I’ve been living in a fantasy. Thinking my life was normal. Thinking my family was normal.”
Damien stood quickly. “Ariella, please—”
“No,” she snapped. “Don’t touch me. Not now.”
He froze.
She had never raised her voice at him before.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“I trusted you,” she whispered. “Both of you. But you kept this from me.”
Elias looked away.
Damien looked gutted.
“Ariella,” Damien said softly, “you were just a child. We were ordered not to tell you.”
Her voice cracked, broken and hollow.
“And now?”
Damien stepped closer very slowly, desperate but gentle.
“Now,” he whispered, “I’m telling you everything. Because you’re not a child anymore. And because—”
He stopped.
His jaw tightened.
“Because what?” she demanded.
Silence.
Elias looked at Damien sharply.
Damien swallowed hard, voice barely audible:
“Because losing you tonight…
terrified me in a way I can’t explain.”
Ariella stared at him.
And something painful and warm twisted inside her chest.
But before she could speak—
A distant crash echoed through the house.
All three stiffened.
Damien cursed under his breath. Elias reached for the concealed weapon inside his coat.
Another crash.
Then—
A chilling sound:
Ophelia’s scream.
---
- Writer
