THE NAME HE FEARS
1393 Words
⭐ BILLIONAIRE BET
CHAPTER 2 — “THE NAME HE FEARS”
---
Maya waited for Damon’s answer, but he only stared at her—jaw clenched, eyes shadowed, body tense like every muscle was fighting itself.
“I asked you a simple question,” she whispered. “Who are you?”
Damon exhaled, but it wasn’t relief. It was the kind of breath someone takes before stepping into danger.
“You don’t want to know,” he said.
“That’s not for you to decide.”
He winced slightly. Maya’s innocence had a sharpness he wasn’t prepared for. A softness that didn’t bend. And it made something inside him pull tight—something protective, something reckless.
“I’m nobody,” he said quietly.
She shook her head. “People like Theo Drake don’t threaten nobodies.”
A bitter, humorless smile tugged at Damon’s lips. “Theo threatens anyone who doesn’t bow to him.”
“And do you?”
He met her gaze. “Never.”
Maya watched him for a long moment, her chest rising and falling unevenly.
“Then tell me why he looked at me like I was part of a game he already won.”
Damon’s throat worked. “Because Theo Drake doesn’t see people. He sees leverage.”
“Leverage… against you?”
He didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. Silence spoke louder.
Maya took a step closer, lowering her voice.
“You said he’s dangerous. You grabbed my hand like the world was falling apart. And then he—he made a bet about me. Like I’m something he can take.” Her voice trembled. “I have the right to know why.”
Damon dragged a hand through his hair. “I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“Then start by telling me the truth.”
He looked at her, truly looked—and his resolve fractured. Just a little.
But enough.
---
“My real name… isn’t just Damon.”
Maya swallowed. She didn’t dare exhale.
“Then what is it?”
His eyes held hers, trapped between confession and fear.
“Damon Locke.”
She frowned. “Locke… like Locke Enterprises? The company in the news all the time?”
He nodded once.
Maya blinked hard. “But—but those Lockes are billionaires. Old-money billionaires. You can’t—”
His silence finished the sentence for her.
The man standing in a plain shirt and worn-out jeans… was that Damon Locke?
The Locke heir who disappeared from the public eye three years ago?
“No,” she whispered. “No, that doesn’t make sense. Why would someone like you be here, on this campus? Why dress like—”
“Like I’m broke?” he said with a quiet, humorless laugh.
“It’s easier to breathe when people aren’t watching you.”
Maya wasn’t sure if she wanted to sit down or hit him for hiding something this big.
“You’re a billionaire,” she breathed. “You’re actually a billionaire.”
“I’m trying very hard not to be,” Damon said bitterly. “I walked away from that world. From the money. From the power. From everything.”
“Why?”
He looked away, jaw tightening. “Because I’m not my family. And I won’t be the monster they expect.”
Maya hesitated, voice softening. “And Theo Drake? What does he want from you?”
Damon’s hands formed fists at his sides.
“Everything I refused. Everything I left behind.”
---
Her phone buzzed in her hand.
She glanced down—
And her heart dropped.
Unknown Number:
“Stay away from Damon Locke if you want to stay alive.”
Her blood ran cold.
She showed Damon. “Someone just—”
His posture changed instantly. Shoulders squared. Eyes sharpened. Muscles flexed, ready for a fight Maya couldn’t see.
“Did they call? Or was it just a text?” he demanded.
“A text. Damon, what’s going on?”
He took her phone gently but firmly, scanning the message twice.
“This isn’t Theo,” he said darkly. “This is someone else.”
“Someone else?” Maya echoed. “How many people are you running from?”
He met her eyes with heavy regret. “More than you should ever be near.”
Maya’s pulse spiked. “Maybe… maybe I should go.”
Something like panic flickered in Damon’s eyes.
“No. Don’t.” He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Maya, you’re already involved. Theo made sure of that the moment he said your name.”
“I didn’t ask for this!”
“I know.” His voice softened. “And I’m sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t fix anything!”
“I know,” he repeated, pain threading through every word.
---
Suddenly, Maya’s name echoed from across the courtyard.
“Maya! There you are!”
Her friend Lily ran toward them with a bright smile—until she got close enough to sense the tension.
“Um… did I interrupt something?”
Maya opened her mouth but Damon stepped back, returning to the version of himself that blended into shadows.
Nothing to see. Nothing to question.
Except Lily was observant.
And Damon was god-awful at pretending he hadn’t just shaken Maya’s entire reality.
Lily’s eyes narrowed. “Who’s this?”
“No one,” Maya said too quickly.
Damon flinched.
Lily’s gaze darted between them, catching every emotion Maya tried to hide.
“Maya Rivers,” Lily whispered in disbelief, “did you just lie to my face?”
“It’s complicated,” Maya murmured.
Lily crossed her arms. “So he’s either a crush, a threat, or a man-shaped disaster. Knowing your luck…”
Maya sighed. “Lily.”
Lily stepped closer and whispered in her ear:
“Blink twice if he’s dangerous.”
Damon actually choked.
Maya pinched the bridge of her nose. “Lily… please.”
“Fine,” Lily huffed. “But we’re all going to be late for the orientation if—”
She stopped.
Frozen.
Staring.
Because a tall man in a tailored charcoal suit had just stepped into the courtyard, and he walked like he owned the world.
Theo Drake.
Here.
Now.
And smiling straight at Maya like he’d been searching for her.
---
Maya stumbled back as Theo approached with predatory calm.
“Hello again, Maya.”
Damon moved in front of her instantly.
“You don’t belong here,” Damon hissed.
Theo ignored him. “I wanted to see how her big day was going.”
“You’re stalking her,” Damon snapped.
Theo shrugged. “I prefer the term investing early.”
“Leave,” Damon ordered.
Theo stepped closer, voice low and poisonous.
“You left me with nothing the day you disappeared, Damon. Now watch me take something from you.”
He aimed a charming, lethal smile at Maya.
“A tour of the campus, perhaps? I brought a car. A better car.”
His eyes sparkled. “Unlike the one Damon doesn’t have.”
“That’s enough!” Damon barked.
Students stared. Teachers whispered. Lily let out a tiny squeak.
Theo leaned in to Maya, his breath warm and unsettling.
“You don’t know it yet,” he whispered, “but soon… you’ll choose me.”
Maya recoiled. “I won’t.”
Damon stepped forward.
Theo stepped closer.
Both men stared at each other like the world wasn’t big enough for both of them.
And maybe it wasn’t.
---
The faculty door suddenly burst open.
“Students inside!” a security guard yelled.
“We have a situation—someone anonymously reported a threat on campus.”
Maya’s heart lurched.
Damon’s hand shot out toward her.
Theo did the same.
Both reaching.
Both calling her name.
“Maya.”
“Maya.”
Her breath caught.
Her limbs froze.
Her world split in two.
---
CHAPTER 2 CLIFFHANGER
A sharp crack echoed across campus—
A sound that silenced the courtyard instantly.
A gunshot.
Students screamed.
Lily yanked Maya backward.
Damon lunged toward her.
Theo reached for her too.
And from the rooftop above them…
A dark figure lowered a rifle.
---
Maya didn’t even get to scream before someone grabbed her waist from behind and pulled her into the shadows—
Right as the second shot fired.
---
- Writer
