Owned by the cold billionaire

Brothers don't bleed the same

For a moment, Lena truly believed she’d forgotten how to breathe.

Damien Thorn stepped out of the elevator like he owned the penthouse, the city, and the damn sky itself. Taller than Elias. Colder. Sharper. His presence crackled with the kind of energy that made alarms ring in the back of her skull.

If Elias was a storm…

Damien was the eye of it — silent, calculated, deadly.

And he was staring right at her.

Elias didn’t move, didn’t blink. He stayed in front of her, shielding her with his body like Damien was a threat instead of his own blood.

“Damien,” Elias said, voice low enough to scrape the floor.

“Little brother.” Damien’s voice was smooth. Too smooth. Like a blade dipped in honey. “You’ve been busy.”

Lena curled her fingers into Elias’s shirt nervously. Elias didn’t look back, but she felt the way his shoulders tensed under her grip.

“Why are you here?” Elias asked.

Damien’s gaze flicked to Lena again — not curious, not surprised.

Knowing.

Like he’d already read her file and memorized her flaws.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Damien replied. “Bringing someone into the penthouse… unannounced? That’s not like you, Elias.”

Lena felt Elias stiffen, the temperature in the room dropping sharply.

Damien took his time stepping into the living room, his eyes scanning the space, then the bruises faintly shadowing Lena’s arms. His jaw twitched.

Lena felt exposed.

Seen.

Judged.

And she hated it.

Elias stepped half a foot closer to her, blocking Damien’s view.

Damien raised an eyebrow. “So it’s like that.”

“It’s not your concern,” Elias snapped.

Damien let out a low chuckle. “Everything you do is my concern. Especially when it involves people trying to kill you.”

Lena’s heart plummeted.

He knew.

He already knew.

Of course he did — he was a Thorn. And Thorns always knew more than they said.

Elias stepped forward, voice tight. “If you came to lecture me—”

“I came,” Damien cut in smoothly, “because someone made a move last night, and you didn’t tell me.”

Elias’s fists curled. “I had it handled.”

“Clearly,” Damien said, glancing pointedly at Lena. “Is that what we’re calling this? ‘Handled’?”

Lena shrank behind Elias, cheeks burning. Humiliation pricked at her — she wasn’t strong, or powerful, or useful. Just a problem Elias was choosing to solve for reasons she didn’t understand.

Damien kept his eyes on her, dissecting her silently.

Then he asked the one question she dreaded:

“What’s so special about her?”

Elias moved. Fast.

One second he was beside her, the next he was in Damien’s space, jaw locked.

“Don’t,” Elias hissed. “Don’t talk about her like she’s—”

“A liability?” Damien said. “That’s exactly what she is.”

Lena winced. Elias’s fists tightened until the veins popped.

“Her name,” Elias said quietly, dangerously, “is Lena.”

Damien’s gaze softened — not kindly, more like he was observing a piece of evidence. “Lena Hart,” he murmured. “Twenty-three. Works at The Hummingbird Café. Lives alone. No family in the city. No criminal record. And somehow ended up with a target on her back.”

Lena swallowed hard. Her entire life — her tiny, insignificant life — laid out like a report he could grade.

“You did your homework,” Elias said dryly.

“I had to,” Damien said. “You didn’t tell me a damn thing.”

“Because I don’t need your help.”

Damien’s eyes sharpened. “You do. You just don’t want to admit it.”

Something electric passed between the brothers — not anger exactly, but something with teeth. Years of rivalry, resentment, and a kind of loyalty that bordered on self-destruction.

Lena finally found her voice. “I-I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t want to cause—”

Damien held up a hand. “Don’t apologize.”

She blinked.

He wasn’t rude.

He wasn’t cruel.

He was… direct. Unfiltered.

“You didn’t choose this,” Damien said. “But someone did choose you. That’s the part we need to unpack.”

“We?” Elias snapped.

Damien turned to him calmly. “Yes. We.”

Elias breathed out a slow, furious exhale. “This is my problem.”

“No,” Damien said, stepping closer, lowering his voice. “This is a Thorn problem.”

For a moment, Elias’s mask cracked — just a flicker of vulnerability. Lena wasn’t sure Damien caught it. She did.

“Elias,” Damien continued, eyes darkening, “I traced the order.”

Lena froze.

Elias’s face paled slightly. “You what?”

“It wasn’t random,” Damien said. “Someone paid a lot of money to get to her.”

Silence slammed between them.

Lena’s heartbeat turned into thunder.

“Damien,” Elias said slowly, “who?”

Damien stared at him for a long, heavy moment.

Then he finally said it:

“I didn’t want to believe it,” Damien murmured. “But… it was someone inside the company.”

Elias went still.

Utterly still.

“Who?” Elias repeated, voice a death sentence.

Damien glanced at Lena, then back to Elias.

“Elias… it was someone with full access to your schedule. Your travel logs. Your private calls.”

Lena felt Elias’s rage like heat on her skin.

Damien’s voice dropped.

“It was someone who knew exactly when you’d be vulnerable.”

Elias stepped closer, chest rising and falling slowly. “Damien. Who hired them?”

Damien finally exhaled.

“Your assistant,” he said quietly. “Noel.”

The world tilted around Lena.

Noel?

The smiling, efficient assistant who always greeted her warmly?

Who handled Elias’s life like a machine?

Elias’s face darkened with something primal.

“She set Lena up,” Damien said. “And she set you up. The only question is… why?”

Elias didn’t speak.

He didn’t breathe.

He didn’t blink.

Then—

Glass shattered.

Elias had slammed his fist into the counter behind him, the marble cracking under the force.

Damien didn’t flinch.

Lena did.

Elias finally whispered, voice breaking into something cold and lethal:

“She tried to hurt Lena.”

Damien nodded. “And the next step is finding out what she’s planning now.”

Elias turned to Lena, cupping her face gently, contrasting violently with his rage.

“Lena,” he murmured, “I swear to you — no one touches you again. Ever.”

Her eyes widened. Her heart stuttered. There was something in his voice — something raw and honest — that wrapped around her like a promise stronger than steel.

Damien watched the moment with unreadable eyes.

Then he said quietly:

“We should move her.”

Lena blinked. “Move me?”

Damien nodded. “If Noel could track Elias, she can track you. This penthouse isn’t safe.”

Elias’s grip tightened protectively. “She’s not leaving my side.”

Damien raised a brow. “Then she stays with us. Both of us.”

Lena’s heart tripped.

“Us?” she echoed.

Damien shrugged. “You want to live, don’t you?”

Elias shot him a glare. “Subtle.”

Damien smirked slightly. “I’m not the subtle one. You’re the dramatic one.”

Lena let out a shaky breath. “So what happens now?”

Both brothers looked at her.

And for the first time, they answered the same way — in perfect, dangerous unison:

“We hunt.”