Chapter 10: Red Lights
773 Words
The drive to the hospital was a blur of red lights and sirens.
Damien’s hand never left the steering wheel, knuckles white, jaw clenched so tight Aria thought he might shatter his teeth. Her own hands shook in her lap, phone clutched like a lifeline even though it had been silent for the last twenty minutes.
“Don’t think it,” Damien said suddenly, eyes still on the road.
“Don’t think what?” Aria whispered.
“That she’s gone. She’s not. I made sure of it.”
Aria nodded, but her chest felt too tight to breathe.
They screeched into the hospital parking lot. Security was already there, lights flashing, doors held open.
“Room 312,” one of the guards said as they ran past. “We moved her ten minutes ago. Private wing, floor 5.”
Aria didn’t wait. She took the stairs two at a time, Damien right behind her.
Floor 5 was locked down. Guards at every door, guns visible under their jackets.
“Mrs. Voss,” one of them nodded at Aria. “She’s stable. No one got to her.”
Aria let out a sob she didn’t know she was holding.
Damien’s shoulders dropped half an inch, the only sign of relief he’d allow himself.
The door to Room 508 opened.
Her mom was awake, pale but alert, an oxygen mask off for the first time in weeks.
“Mom,” Aria breathed, rushing to her bedside.
Aria’s mom reached out, her hand trembling as it found Aria’s.
“Babe,” she whispered. “You’re okay?”
“I’m okay,” Aria said, tears spilling over. “Because of him.” She glanced at Damien, standing stiffly by the door like he didn’t belong in the moment.
Her mom followed her gaze, then smiled faintly.
“You brought him back.”
Aria swallowed hard. “It’s complicated.”
“Love usually is,” her mom said softly.
Damien stepped forward then, his voice low.
“Mrs. Carter, I’m moving you tonight. Private facility. No one will get to you again.”
Her mom studied him for a long moment, then nodded.
“If you keep my girl safe, I don’t care where you take me.”
Damien nodded once.
Aria stayed by her mom’s bed until the transfer team arrived. She held her hand the whole time, like letting go would make this real.
When they finally left, Damien walked her out to the car in silence.
Once the doors were shut, Aria turned to him.
“Why didn’t he get to her?”
Damien’s jaw tightened.
“Because I was waiting for him.”
Aria frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Damien exhaled slowly.
“Richard’s men tried to breach the original room. My team stopped them. We let them think they’d failed. We moved your mom while they were distracted.”
Aria stared at him.
“You set a trap.”
“I ended it,” Damien said simply.
Aria’s heart pounded.
“Is he…?”
“Arrested,” Damien said. “Right now. Police have him for attempted kidnapping, extortion, and conspiracy. The texts, the photos, the hospital breach all of it’s on record.”
Aria felt like she could breathe again for the first time in days.
Damien reached across the console and took her hand.
“It’s over, Aria. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Aria looked at him, really looked at him. The exhaustion in his eyes. The way his thumb brushed over her knuckles like he couldn’t stop touching her.
“Why?” she whispered.
Damien frowned.
“Why what?”
“Why go this far?” she said. “You could’ve walked away. Let the contract expire. Let me go.”
Damien’s expression softened, and for the first time since the gala, the mask was completely gone.
“Because I never stopped loving you,” he said quietly. “Not for a second.”
Aria’s breath caught.
Before she could answer, her phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
No photo this time. Just one line:
“You win this round, Damien. But the game isn’t over.”
Aria showed it to him, her blood running cold again.
Damien’s jaw clenched.
“Richard’s not behind this.”
“Then who is?” Aria asked.
Damien stared at the message, his eyes dark.
“Someone who wants us both dead.”
He started the car, pulling out of the parking lot fast.
“We’re going home. Now.”
Aria nodded, her hand still in his.
But as they drove away, she couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched.
- Writer
