HIS TO OWN

The past and Present

11:52pm. Damian’s room, Sullivan Estate.

Damian poured water he didn’t drink.

Eight,that was when he fell for her.

Sixteen,That’s when she broke him

He had come home early from a summer program,the house was quiet.He walked through the garden to cut through to the back door.

That is when he heard her.Sia,at 16 years old her voice shaking while talking to someone.”I don’t want it, Uncle,please I am not in love with Damian. I never will be.”

“If I have to marry someone in that family, let it be anyone else but him because I don’t even like him.”Her uncle tried to calm her. "It’s just a promise, Sia—"

"Then break it," she whispered.Damian stood frozen behind the rose bushes for what felt like an hour,then he left. Didn’t go in. Didn’t say goodnight.

After that he got good at being cold because the girl he had loved since he was 8 years old had told the only man responsible for making decisions that she would rather marry anyone but him.And now?Next month,December 14th.

She is going to be his wife.Damian set the glass down,unbroken,his knuckles white from holding the glass too tight.

He doesn’t want revenge.

He wants the opposite.

He wants to spend the next 4 weeks proving to the 16-year-old girl and the 28-year-old woman that Damian Sullivan is the only man who will ever love her right.

He wants his name to be the only one she says when she is tired, happy, or scared.He wants her to forget she ever said "anyone but him."

The guest room light went off.

"Day 1 starts tomorrow," he said to the dark.

"And I’m not losing this time."

Sunday Morning. 9:12am,sunlight came through the big windows.

The table was set,white plates,coffee,fresh fruits and Croissants.The chef in charge of making breakfast was humming in the kitchen.

Sia came downstairs first,she wore a white short sleeveless dress,hair tied in a bun,no makeup.

She looked 16 again and 28 at the same time.

She sat at the table. Alone.

Then Damian walked in.

Charcoal sweater,gray pants,hair still damp from the shower.

He looked so damn good in that casual wear.

He stopped when he saw her.

Just for a second.

Eight years old. Sixteen years old. Last night at 11:47pm in the guest room.

He pulled out the chair across from her.

Silence.

Mrs. Sullivan came in with her hundred.”Morning, babies."she sounded so happy,must be because of the marriage announcement.

She set down hot chocolate for Sia. Coffee for Damian.

"I Knew you would want this," she said to Sia, smiling. "Just like when you were little."

Sia wrapped her hands around the mug. "Thank you, Auntie."

Damian watched her little fingers,watched the steam.

Watched her take a small sip.

He remembered that night 12 years ago.

“I’m not in love with Damian. I would rather marry anybody but him.”

Now she was sitting across from him and in 4 weeks she would be his wife.

"How did you sleep?" Mrs. Sullivan asked, sitting down.

"Fine," Sia said quickly. Too quickly.

"Good," Damian said at the same time. Low.

They both stopped. Looked at each other.

Mrs. Sullivan smiled like she didn’t notice. "Good. Eat. You’re both too thin."

More silence. Only the sound of forks.

Damian wasn’t eating. He was watching.

The way Sia pushed fruit around her plate.

The way she tucked hair behind her ear when she was nervous.

The way she still drank hot chocolate like a kid.

She wasn’t in love with him.

She told her uncle that.

And he believed her for 12 years.

But now she was here. In his house,wearing the name he had waited for since he was 8.

"Your uncle called," Mrs. Sullivan said to Sia. "Earlier,he said that we need to start preparing for the wedding and to call him back."

Sia froze. Mug halfway to her mouth.

Damian’s jaw ticked.

Her uncle. The same uncle she had cried to.

The man who heard her say she didn’t want Damian.

"Thanks," Sia whispered. "I will call him later." She said not missing that little jaw tick.

Damian picked up his coffee. Took a sip. Didn’t look away from her.

He wasn’t going to be cold anymore.

Cold didn’t work.

Cold is what made her say "anyone but him" at 16.

So he was going to be everything else.

Patient. Present. Possessive.

He was going to be in every room she walked into for the next 4 weeks.

Until "Damian" was the only name she thought of.

He set his cup down.

"Sia," he said.

She looked up. Surprised. He never used her name at the table.

"Come with me to the city today," he said. "There are things to plan. For next month."

Next month, November 14th

Sia blinked. "I... I thought Khoe was handling—"

"I want you to handle it with me," Damian cut in. Not rude. Just firm.

"Wedding. House. Everything."

Mr and Mrs. Sullivan watched them. Smiling into their tea.

Sia hesitated,then nodded once. "Okay."

Damian nodded back.

Inside, his chest did something stupid.

Because she said okay.

Because she didn’t say "ask my uncle."

Because for the first time since he was 8 years old she was choosing to go with him.

He wanted to imprint his name on her life.

On her mornings. On her plans. On her.

But today?

Today he would start with coffee and wedding plans as well as a car ride.That was enough,for now.

The car was quiet,too quiet.

Leather,cold and smelled like Damian’s cologne and coffee and now, faintly, peonies from the bag on the floor.

Sia sat in the passenger seat, hands folded in her lap.

Looking out the window like if she stared hard enough the road would explain what just happened.

Damian drove. One hand on the wheel. The other resting on the console.

Close enough that she could feel the heat of him.

Close enough that she could remember how his hand felt when he opened her door.

Finally she spoke up,”Where are we going first?"

"You already know," Damian said. Low. "Florist. Then the venue coordinator,then—"

"I meant after," Sia interrupted. Then regretted it. "Nevermind."she mumbled.

"Then the house," he finished anyway. "Ours. After the wedding."

“Ours.”The word sat in the car like a third person.

Sia stared at the road. "My uncle said to call him."

Damian’s jaw moved. "You should."

Silence again.

A red light,he stopped and turned to look at her.

She felt it,turned too.

For a second neither of them spoke.

She looked tired,the black dress from last night was gone, but she still had shadows under her eyes.

Looking at him,he looked... different. No suit. No mask. No wall.

Just Damian,The cute and adorable little boy she knew growing up.Then she noticed that his stare had intensified.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Sia asked.

“Like what?"he asked innocently.

“Like you’re trying to figure me out." She answered back.

Damian exhaled through his nose,looked back at the road when it turned green.

"Maybe I am."

"Why? We have known each other for forever."

"Have we?" he asked. "Because the last time we really talked, you were 16."

Sia frowned. "What?"

"Nothing." He gripped the wheel tighter.

He couldn’t say it. Couldn’t say ‘I heard you that night with your uncle.’I heard you say you would never love me and it carved me out.

So he did the opposite of 18-year-old him.

He didn’t run.

"Do you want music?" he asked instead.

Sia shrugged. "Sure."

He turned it on. Low. Some old piano song. No lyrics.

The kind of song that makes you think too much.

They drove for 10 more minutes like that. City creeping closer.

Then Damian broke the silence again. "The house."

"What about it?"

"Ours. After the wedding." He glanced at her. "I want you to pick things. Furniture. Paint. The kitchen. Whatever. I don’t want it to just be mine."

Sia blinked. "You have a designer for that."

"I have you," he said. Simple. Final.

Sia didn’t answer. She looked down at her hands.She couldn’t help but notice that something was off about him,he was not one to talk for this long.

He wanted to touch her. Just her hand. Just to see if she’d pull away.

But he didn’t. Not yet.

He wasn’t going to waste it.

He pulled into the florist parking lot and cut the engine.

Turned to her fully.”Day 1, Sia," he said.

"What?"

"Of the next 4 weeks." His eyes were dark. Serious. No smile.

"I am not going to let you go into this marriage thinking it’s just a promise.

A contract. A will."

Sia’s breath caught. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I’m going to make you want it," Damian said.

Not cruel. Not desperate. Just sure.

"With me. Not because you have to. Not because of the wills."

The car felt 10 degrees warmer.

Sia opened her mouth. Closed it. "Damian—"

"Come on," he said, opening his door. "Florist first."

He walked around and opened her door too. Offered his hand.

She stared at it for 2 seconds. Then took it.

His hand was warm. Bigger than hers. Calloused in places she didn’t expect.

He didn’t let go until they reached the door.

White roses. Peonies. Baby’s breath. Eucalyptus.

The whole shop smelled like a wedding.

The florist lady was talking a mile a minute. "Garden theme? Classic white? Modern blush—"

Sia barely heard her. Because Damian was standing beside her.What was going on?.

Not touching. But every time she moved, his shoulder was there.

"Which ones?" he asked her. Quiet.

Sia pointed at the white peonies. Big. Soft. "These."

"Done," Damian said immediately,to the florist. "Peonies. All arrangements. Bouquets. Centerpieces."

The florist laughed. "Sir, we have other options and a budget to—"

"I don’t care," Damian said. Eyes still on Sia. "She likes these."

Sia’s cheeks went hot.

No one had ever decided that fast just because she did.

She picked up a single white rose.Turned it in her fingers.

"My uncle always said I liked white flowers," she murmured. Mostly to herself.

He didn’t say anything. Just watched her thumb brush the petal.

Watched the way her lashes dropped.

She looked up and caught him staring.

And for a second, she didn’t see the CEO.

She saw a man now, who was looking at her like she was something sacred and fragile.

"Damian," she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Nothing." She put the rose down too fast. "Let’s go."

On the way out, her hand brushed his.

And she didn’t pull away this time.

The car smelled like peonies now.

The bouquet sat in her lap.

Sia glanced at him. Again. And again.

This wasn’t the Damian from 12 years ago.

The cold one,the one who walked past her at dinners,not that she minded.

This Damian held her hand. Picked flowers because she pointed. Said "Day 1" like it meant something.

Is this wedding fever?she thought.

Do grooms get like this?

Nervous? Clingy? Acting like they care?

That had to be it,it was safer.

Because the alternative was,what if he actually wants me?

She cleared her throat. "So... is this a wedding fever thing?"

Damian glanced at her. "What?"

"You know." She gestured vaguely. "The flowers. The ‘Day 1’ thing. The house.

Are you just... panicking? Because it’s close?"

Damian didn’t answer right away. He took the next exit.

Pulled off onto a quiet side street. Trees. No traffic.

Put the car in park.

He turned to her fully.

Sia’s heart jumped. "What—"

"Wedding fever," he repeated. Slow. Like he was tasting the words.

"Yeah. Like, it happens. When the date gets close—"

"Sia." His voice cut through her.

She stopped.

Damian looked at her,really looked.

"This isn’t wedding fever," he said.

Sia swallowed. "Then what is it?"

Damian exhaled,ran a hand through his hair.

His hand came to rest on the console,close to hers. Not touching.

"I have been in love with you since I was 8 years old."

The words landed like a stone in still water.

Sia froze,the bouquet crinkled in her grip. "What."

"You heard me," Damian said. Voice steady.

"I fell for you the first time I saw you.

I’ve been yours since then."

Sia shook her head. "That’s— Damian, that can’t—"

"I heard you too," he cut in. Soft, but it hit like a slap.

"When you were 16. In the garden.

On the phone with your uncle. 2am."

The color drained from Sia’s face.

“I’m not in love with him. I would rather marry anyone but Damian.”Replayed in her head.

"I stood there for 10 minutes," Damian said.

“You said you would rather it be anyone but me.

So I left. And I became anyone but me for 12 years."

Sia’s sat there,unable to compose herself I was 16. I didn’t— I was scared. Of the promise. Of you—"

"I know," Damian said. "You were a kid,so that was then but I am not going into this marriage pretending that I don’t want you."

Sia stared at him. "You want me?"

"I want you," Damian said. No hesitation.