The Stranger's Name
1143 Words
The next morning, i woke up with a headache that pulsed behind my eyes and a taste of whiskey still clinging to my tongue. The curtains in the hotel room were drawn, but sunlight managed to slip through the cracks, painting soft gold lines across the bed.
For a moment, i didn't know where i was. The room was too luxurious, too queit mahogany furniture, sleek design, and a fainy scent of expensive cologne that didn't belong to me.
Then i remembered the rain.
The bar.
Him.
My heart thudded in my chest as i turned over. The sheets were cold, but the other side of the bed was empty. The only trace of him was the rumpled fabric and the scent he'd left behind.
I didn't even know his name.
Not a single damn word about who he was just his eyes, his voice, and the way my body betrayed me when whispered "come here" like a promise i couldn't resist.
I hated myself for it. For how easily I'd given in.
But before i could drown in shame, my phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
You left too soon.
- D
I stared back at the letter on the screen. Just a single letter, but somehow it felt like more.
D.
I typed back before i could think:
You didn't tell me your name.
A minute passed. Then another.
Just when i thought he wouldn't answer, the screen lit up again.
Damon.
Damon.
I whispered it under my breath like a secret .
I should have left it at that. I should have taken it as a one-night escape and never looked back. But fate or whatever cruel force ran my life had other plans.
That evening, I walked into the one place i didn't expect to see him again.
The gala at Steele Dynamics.
My father's company. The one I'd inherited after he and my brother died.
I hated these events. The glittering lights, the champagne, the fake smiles. Everyone wanted something money, influence, or a piece of my family's legacy. I spent every hour pretending i wasn't drowning in the memories of Ethan, my brother, whose presence had always made this company bearable.
Tonight, i wore black. Because grief had become my only name.
But when i turned, the air shifted.
It was him.
Damon Knight.
He stood across the room, surrounded by men in expensive suites, his presence commanding attention like gravity. His gaze met mine instantly as if he'd known i'd come.
My stomach twisted.
What the hell was he doing here?
Before i could escape, one of my board members Mr. Collins approached me, smiling. "Ah, Miss Steele. I'd like to introduce you to our new partner from Knight Enterprises. You'll be seeing a lot of him".
The words hit me like a slap.
Partner.
Knight Enterprises.
And then, the man who'd been nothing but a nameless addiction last night turned to me with a confident, knowing smile.
"Miss Steele", he said smoothly, "we meet again".
My throat went dry. "So this is you didn't tell me your name".
His lips curved. "You didn't ask".
My pulse hammered in my chest as i forced a polite smile, pretending his touch hadn't been on my skin just hours ago. The air between us buzzed with the secret of what had happened.
Mr. Collins chatted on, oblivious to the tension. "I must say, Miss Steele, it's quite the coincidence. Damon and your father worked on a deal before he passed. Seems the universe wanted us to continue the partnership".
The universe.
If only he knew what kind of twisted joke that was.
When the conversation finally ended, I turned to Damon sharply. "You shouldn't be here".
He stepped closer, his voice dropping to that same dangerous tone from last night. "I told you the same thing yesterday. You didn't listen then either".
My heart was a storm. "You were supposed to be a stranger".
His gaze darkened, lingering on my face, my lips. "And yet, here we are".
For a moment, it felt like the rest of the room disappeared. Just him and me two pieces of a story i didn't know was already written in blood.
Because when i looked at him now, something in his eyes caught me not lust, but guilt. A shadow. A secret.
And when i overhead Mr. Collins whispers to another executive:
"Knight's company was involved in the merger Ethan was investigating before he died. That's how he got too close to the truth".
The word suddenly titled.
Ethan.
My brother.
The one thing I'd been running from, searching for, bleeding for.
And the man I'd slept with... was part of it.
I looked at Damon again, and this time, the attraction burned into something else suspicion.
He must've felt it, because his jaw tightened.
"Don't look at me like that".
"How else should i look at you?" I said quietly.
"You've been keeping secrets".
He stepped closer, so close that i could feel the heat of him. "So have you".
For a moment, we were silent.
Then, he said, "We should talk. Somewhere private".
My heart screamed no, but my mouth betrayed me again. "Fine".
The next scene was chaos queit, luxurious chaos. We ended up in his suite, the same damn one from last night. The rain had started again, hitting the windows like a warning.
"Tell me the truth", i said. "Why do you keep showing up in my life?"
He looked at me, the mask of charm fading. "Because i have to".
"Because of business?"
His silence was too long. Too dangerous.
"Because of your brother", he finally said.
The words hit like a bullet.
My legs nearly gave out. "You knew Ethan?"
He nodded slowly. "I knew him. And I'm sorry for what happened".
Tears stung my eyes. "Sorry? You knew him? How? Why didn't you say anything?"
His voice lowered to a whisper. "Because I'm the last person you'd want to hear it from".
Before i could ask what he meant, he stepped closer again and suddenly, everything that had burned between us last night erupted again, hotter, more painful.
He brushed a strand of wet hair from my face. "You can hate me all you want, Aurora. But that doesn't change what happened between us".
My name on his lips made me shiver.
I didn't know whether to slap him or kiss him, so i did neither. I just stood there, caught between desire and fury, between the ghost of my brother and the man who'd somehow become my reason to keep breathing.
As the rain hammered against the windows, I whispered the only thing that made sense.
"Who are you really, Damon?"
He looked at me, eyes cold and haunted.
Then he said quietly:
"I'm the man who caused your brother's death".
- Writer
