HE KNOWS*
923 Words
*Chapter 2: He Knows*
The bell above the diner door jingled.
I didn’t look up. "Welcome to Sunny’s Diner. Seating is anywhere--"
The words died in my throat.
Because standing in the doorway was him.
Damian Hart.
In a $5000 black suit that made everyone else in the diner look like they were wearing rags. Two men in suits stood behind him like shadows. Bodyguards.
My hands started shaking so bad I almost dropped the coffee pot. Again.
Gray eyes. Cold. Scanning the room until they found me.
Until they dropped.
To my stomach.
To the small bump I couldn’t hide under my uniform anymore.
Four months.
He took one step inside. Then another. The entire diner went silent. Even the fryer stopped sizzling.
"Hello, Ella," he said.
My real name wasn’t Ella.
He knew.
"Mr. Hart," I managed. My voice was barely a whisper. "Can I... can I get you a table?"
"I don’t want a table." His voice was low. Dangerous. Like the night at the hotel. "I want answers."
The customers were staring now. My manager, Sunny, came out from the back, eyes wide. "Is there a problem here?"
"No problem," Damian said without looking at her. His eyes never left me. "My... employee... and I need to talk. Privately."
Employee. That’s what I was to him. A one-night mistake he paid $10,000 to forget.
"Break room," I whispered. "Through the back."
I led the way, my heart pounding so hard I thought it would break my ribs. I could feel him behind me. Smell his cologne. The same one from that night.
The break room was tiny. Just a table, a microwave, and a chair.
The door closed behind us with a soft click. And then it was just us.
And the baby between us.
Damian turned. For the first time, his cold mask cracked. Just a little.
"How far along are you?"
I hugged my arms around myself. "That’s none of your business."
"It became my business the moment I saw you on my security footage from Club Lux." He took a step closer. "The moment I traced the keycard you stole from my suite."
I stole it? I was going to argue, then remembered I’d shoved it in my purse without thinking.
"Four months," I whispered. "I’m four months pregnant."
Silence.
Damian Hart didn’t react. Not with anger. Not with joy. Just... nothing.
Finally, he said, "The father?"
I laughed. It came out bitter and broken. "You really have to ask?"
His jaw ticked. "Don’t play games with me, Ella."
"My name is Anovia!" The words burst out of me. "Anovia Cole. And you paid me to disappear, remember? There was a note. 'For your trouble. Don’t look for me.' So I did!"
I was crying now. Stupid. I never cry in front of people.
Damian watched me. Then he did something I didn’t expect.
He took off his suit jacket and draped it over my shoulders. It was warm. It smelled like him.
"Sit down," he ordered, but his voice was softer.
I sat.
He leaned against the table, arms crossed. "Here’s what’s going to happen."
"Nothing is going to happen," I cut in. "I don’t want your money. I don’t want anything from you. I’ll raise the baby alone."
"The baby is a Hart." His words were final. Absolute. "And Harts don’t get raised in diners by single mothers working double shifts."
My head snapped up. "Don’t you dare--"
"I’m not taking the baby from you." He cut me off. "But I am taking responsibility."
"Responsibility?" I scoffed. "You mean another check? Another NDA?"
"I mean marriage."
The world stopped.
"What?"
Damian’s gray eyes were serious. "Marry me, Anovia. For the baby. For the company. For the media."
I stared at him. "Are you insane? We don’t even know each other!"
"We know each other enough."
"That was one night!"
"One night that created a Hart heir." He said it like it was a business deal. Because to him, it was. "The board is already asking questions. My mother is asking questions. A pregnant waitress and a billionaire CEO makes headlines. A marriage makes it go away."
I stood up, the jacket falling to the floor. "So that’s what I am to you? A PR problem to fix?"
"That’s what we both are to each other right now." He picked up the jacket and held it out to me again. "A solution."
I wanted to slap him. I wanted to cry. I wanted to run.
But then I thought of Maya. Of the rent. Of giving this baby a name that meant something.
"And if I say no?"
Damian’s expression hardened. "Then I’ll take you to court for custody. And I will win, Anovia. I have the money. I have the lawyers. I have the name."
It wasn’t a threat. It was a fact.
Tears fell down my cheeks. "You’re a monster."
"I’m a Hart." He stepped closer. Close enough that I could feel his breath. "Say yes. We’ll do this properly. Separate rooms. A contract. No feelings involved."
No feelings. Right.
Like the way my heart was racing right now.
Like the way my body still remembered his hands on my waist.
I looked at him. Really looked. Past the suit. Past the billionaire. To the man who looked just as trapped as I felt.
"Fine," I whispered. "But we do this on my terms."
His eyes flickered. "Name them."
"Separate rooms. I keep working until I can’t. And the moment this is over,
- Writer
