Chapter 7: Not Safe Anymore
650 Words
The hospital smelled like antiseptic and fear.
Aria was running before Damien even parked the car. Her heels clicked against the marble floors, echoing down the empty hallway. Room 312. Mom’s room.
Damien was right behind her, phone pressed to his ear, voice low and clipped.
“Get security on every floor. Now. And I want to sweep her room in five minutes.”
Aria pushed the door open.
Her mom was asleep, peaceful, machines beeping steadily beside her. No one else was in the room. No sign of trouble.
Aria exhaled, knees nearly giving out.
Damien shut the door behind them, his jaw tight.
“She’s safe. For now.”
Aria turned on him, eyes burning.
“For now? Damien, what does that message mean? Is your father behind this?”
Damien ran a hand through his hair, pacing the small space.
“I don’t know. But he’s the only one who would know you’re here. And he’s the only one ruthless enough to use your mom against you.”
Aria sank into the chair beside her mom’s bed, hands shaking.
“I thought signing that contract would make it easier. Safer.”
“It was supposed to,” Damien said quietly. He knelt in front of her, making her look at him. “Aria, listen to me. I’ve been protecting you for three years. From him. From the press. From myself.”
She stared at him, heart pounding.
“Protecting me by leaving me?”
“Protecting you by staying away,” he said. “Every time I thought about calling you, my father would send me a photo. Of you leaving work. Of you visiting your mom. A reminder that he was watching.”
Aria’s throat tightened.
“You’ve been watching me this whole time?”
Damien nodded, thumb brushing over her knuckles.
“I couldn’t be with you. But I couldn’t stop making sure you were okay.”
The truth of it hit her like a wave. All that anger, all that hurt, and underneath it was him. Still choosing her, even when it destroyed him.
A nurse knocked and poked her head in.
“Is everything okay here?”
Damien stood, straightening his suit, mask sliding back into place.
“Everything’s fine. Just family.”
The nurse nodded and left.
Aria looked up at him, voice barely above a whisper.
“So what do we do now?”
Damien’s eyes darkened.
“We end this. Before he hurts you. Before he hurts her.”
He pulled his phone out and typed quickly.
“I’m calling an emergency board meeting for tomorrow. We’re moving the merger date up. Once it’s done, my father loses control. And he loses leverage over you.”
“And until then?” Aria asked.
Damien’s jaw clenched.
“Until then, you don’t leave my sight. You sleep in my room. You eat with me. You go nowhere alone.”
Aria blinked.
“What?”
“I’m not losing you again,” he said simply. “Not to him. Not to anything.”
Aria opened her mouth to argue, but the look in his eyes stopped her.
Terrified. Possessive. Desperate.
“Fine,” she whispered. “But only until it’s over.”
Damien nodded, relief flashing across his face for half a second before it was gone.
He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, fingers lingering.
“Get some rest. I’ll be right outside.”
Aria watched him leave, shutting the door softly behind him.
As soon as it closed, her phone buzzed again.
Same unknown number.
A new photo.
Her mom, sleeping. Taken through the hospital window ten minutes ago.
Underneath:
“Tick tock, Mrs. Voss. You have 48 hours.”
Aria’s blood ran cold.
She looked up just as Damien’s voice came through the door, low and furious.
“I’m going to kill him.”
- Writer
