The Cross Family
1018 Words
Luna Hart — POV
I woke up feeling disoriented.
For a few seconds, I forgot where I was.
Then reality came crashing back immediately.
Damien.
The attacks.
His father.
Everything.
I sat up slowly, exhaustion still heavy in my body. The room was quiet, but the silence here felt different from home.
Controlled.
Careful.
Nothing like the warm, imperfect noise of the apartment I shared with my mum.
Thinking about her made me stand immediately.
I needed to see her.
After washing up quickly, I stepped outside the room.
The hallway was already active despite how early it felt.
Staff moved quietly downstairs.
Security stood near exits.
Everyone here behaved with strange precision.
Like they’d been trained never to make mistakes.
A woman led me toward another room where my mother was resting.
The moment I saw her sitting up in bed, relief flooded through me.
“Mum.”
She turned immediately, her tired face softening.
“Luna.”
I walked over quickly and hugged her carefully.
For the first time since all this started, I finally felt like I could breathe properly.
“Are you hurt?” she asked immediately, pulling back to look at me.
“No.”
That part was true.
Her expression tightened slightly anyway.
“You look exhausted.”
I laughed weakly.
“That makes two of us.”
She held my hand gently.
“Who are these people?”
The question made me pause.
How exactly was I supposed to explain Damien Cross?
I didn’t even understand him myself.
“They helped us,” I said carefully.
Her eyes searched mine quietly.
“But?”
I sighed softly.
“But I don’t know if I can trust them completely.”
Before my mother could respond, another voice entered calmly from the doorway.
“That’s a smart instinct.”
I turned immediately.
Damien’s father stood there.
Perfectly dressed.
Perfectly composed.
Cold eyes observing everything.
The atmosphere in the room changed instantly.
Even my mother straightened slightly beside me.
Power.
He carried it naturally.
“Mr. Cross,” my mother said politely.
He nodded once.
“Mrs. Hart.”
My chest tightened slightly.
Even the way he spoke sounded calculated.
Controlled.
“I hope you’re recovering well,” he continued.
“You’ve been very kind,” my mother replied softly.
His gaze shifted toward me briefly.
“No,” he said calmly.
“We’ve been practical.”
The answer unsettled me immediately.
Of course Damien got his personality from somewhere.
---
Damien Cross — POV
I watched from the hallway for a moment before entering fully.
Luna noticed me immediately.
Something unreadable crossed her expression before disappearing again.
Still guarded.
Good.
My father glanced toward me briefly.
“You’re late.”
“I was working.”
“You mean avoiding this conversation.”
Silence followed.
Because he wasn’t completely wrong.
Luna looked between us carefully.
Observing.
She notices more than people realize.
“Luna,” my father said calmly, “would you mind giving Damien and I a moment?”
“No.”
The answer came from me immediately.
My father’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Interesting.
“You don’t trust me alone with her?” he asked.
“I trust your intentions less than mine.”
Tension settled instantly.
My mother would’ve called this stubbornness.
My father calls it defiance.
Luna suddenly spoke before the silence became worse.
“I can stay,” she said quietly.
I looked at her immediately.
“No.”
Her brows furrowed.
“Why?”
Because my father studies weaknesses.
And right now—
She’s becoming mine.
“You should rest with your mother,” I said firmly.
Her expression shifted slightly at my tone.
Annoyance.
But also curiosity.
Good.
Curiosity distracts her from danger.
For now.
She finally nodded once and turned back toward her mother.
But before leaving fully, she looked back at me briefly.
And for some reason—
That small glance stayed with me longer than it should have.
---
Luna Hart — POV
The moment I stepped out with my mother, I slowed slightly near the hallway.
I wasn’t trying to listen.
Not exactly.
But their voices carried anyway.
“You’re making reckless decisions,” Damien’s father said coldly.
“She’s not a decision.”
A pause followed.
Then—
“That response alone proves my point.”
My chest tightened slightly.
I shouldn’t have stayed close enough to hear this.
But I couldn’t move either.
“She’s involved now,” Damien continued calmly. “I won’t leave her exposed.”
“And what happens when your enemies realize how important she’s becoming?”
Silence.
Long silence.
Too long.
Then his father spoke again.
“You know what they do to people we care about.”
Something about that sentence felt heavier than the others.
Darker.
More personal.
For the first time, I wondered what kind of life Damien actually grew up in.
Not luxury.
Not money.
Fear.
Control.
Danger.
Maybe that explained him more than anything else.
I quietly moved away before they noticed I was listening.
But one thought stayed in my head the entire time.
Important.
His father said I was becoming important to him.
And the terrifying part?
I wasn’t sure he was wrong anymore.
---
Damien Cross — POV
“She heard part of that conversation.”
My father’s statement came immediately after Luna disappeared down the hallway.
“I know.”
“And you still let her walk away.”
I looked toward the hallway quietly.
“She deserves honesty.”
“No,” my father replied coldly. “She deserves distance.”
My expression hardened again.
“She’s not leaving until this situation is handled.”
“And after?”
Silence.
Because I didn’t know.
That alone irritated me.
I always know.
I always calculate outcomes before problems happen.
But Luna?
She disrupted every system I had.
Every controlled decision.
Every emotional boundary.
My father watched me carefully.
Then finally said the one thing I didn’t want to hear.
“You’re starting to care about her more than you should.”
This time—
I didn’t deny it.
- Writer
