Chapter Six – Blood on Silk
907 Words
📖 The Billionaire’s Forbidden Game
Chapter Six – Blood on Silk
The bruise bloomed purple across her wrist by morning.
Aria stood in front of the mirror, pulling down her sleeve, tugging it higher, testing if the fabric could hide it. She hated how her hands shook. Hated the raw scrape of memory when she closed her eyes and felt that masked stranger’s grip again.
Emily’s knock came before she could steady herself. “Breakfast!” her best friend sang from the hallway. “Don’t make me come in there and drag you out.”
Aria forced her voice steady. “Two minutes!”
She yanked the sleeve back down and pasted on a smile before opening the door.
Emily was already waiting with a tray balanced precariously, croissants and coffee steaming. Her blue eyes sparkled until they landed on Aria.
“You look pale,” Emily said instantly, frowning. “Are you okay?”
Aria nodded too quickly. “Didn’t sleep much. Time zones still messing with me.”
Emily narrowed her eyes. Then her gaze dropped to the edge of Aria’s sleeve where the faintest shadow of bruising peeked out.
“What’s that?”
Aria’s heart skipped. She tugged the cuff lower. “Oh nothing. I tripped on the sidewalk yesterday. Clumsy.” She forced a laugh. “Don’t worry.”
Emily didn’t look convinced, but she let it slide for now. She only squeezed Aria’s hand and said softly, “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
The words nearly undid her. But Aria only nodded, her throat too tight to reply.
It was impossible to forget the night before because Damian wouldn’t let her.
By midday, her phone lit up with an unknown number. Check your door.
She opened it to find a sleek black car waiting at the curb. A driver leaned against it, eyes sharp, posture military.
“My orders are to stay with you,” he said simply.
Orders. Not a request. Damian’s doing, obviously.
Everywhere she turned, she felt it his reach, his control. A pair of unfamiliar men stationed at the hotel entrance. The sudden absence of strangers lingering too close on the street. The heavy weight of being watched, not just by enemies but by him.
Part of her hated it. Part of her breathed easier.
Damian was a storm violent, unyielding, impossible to ignore. And now the storm was circling her, drawing her in whether she wanted it or not
That evening, Emily begged Aria to join the family for dinner. “It’ll be casual,” she promised.
But casual in the Volkov household didn’t exist.
The dining room in Viktor Volkov’s penthouse was a cathedral of power floor to ceiling windows pouring twilight over black marble floors, chandeliers gleaming like cold fire. The long table stretched endlessly, the air thick with the scent of rich wine and something metallic beneath.
Viktor sat at the head, his presence as sharp as a blade. To his right, Damian lounged with deceptive ease, though his eyes missed nothing. Other family members dotted the table, but it was Viktor and Damian who set the air crackling.
Aria tried to disappear into the background, but Viktor’s voice cut like a whip.
“The Riccis are moving again. The missing shipment was no accident.” His gaze slid to Damian. “You said you’d handle it. Have you?”
Damian’s jaw flexed. “I found the leak. I’m plugging it.”
“And?”
“And,” Damian said smoothly, “when I’m done, no one will dare cross us again.”
The words sent a chill down Aria’s spine. There was no mistaking his meaning.
She toyed with her fork, 🍽️ keeping her face neutral. But inside, fear churned. This wasn’t whispered suspicion anymore. This was confirmation. The Volkov empire wasn’t glittering hotels and champagne it was blood on silk.
And she was sitting at their table.
After dinner, she tried to slip away. But Damian was faster.
He caught her in the hallway, his hand brushing her wrist too close to the bruise. She flinched before she could stop herself.
His eyes darkened instantly. “He hurt you worse than I thought.”
She pulled back. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.” His voice was low, dangerous. “You shouldn’t have been out there alone.”
Her chest tightened. “So what, now you’ve got men following me everywhere? Watching me?”
“Yes.”
The bluntness stole her breath.
“I don’t need protection,” she snapped.
“You do.” He stepped closer, his body heat searing. “You don’t understand, Aria. This world my world doesn’t care about innocence. They’ll use you to get to me. And I can’t let that happen.”
Her throat tightened. “So I’m just supposed to give up control? Let you decide where I go, what I do?”
His eyes locked on hers, fierce and unyielding. “I don’t want to control you. I want to keep you alive.”
Something raw flickered across his face honesty, maybe even vulnerability. It unsettled her more than the danger.
Because Damian Volkov didn’t beg. But for one heartbeat, it felt like he was begging her to trust him.
By the time she returned to her hotel room, her head spun.
She wanted distance. She wanted clarity. But when she reached for her clutch, a simmers hotter?
- Writer
