Chapter 3 : A Dangerous Attraction
1193 Words
I didn’t see Damon again until late morning.
After we argued, he had stormed out without another word, and I'd stood there, panting and shaken. His words echoed in my mind.
“On whether or not you make me want to keep you.”
What in the hell was that supposed to mean?
I shook my head, thinking I must be mistaken. I had to stop thinking too much. I needed to stop feeling.
That was easier said than done, however.
The reality was that Damon Blackwood got to me in ways I wasn’t prepared to confess. He made me furious, scared me, but worst of all — he intrigued me. And that was dangerous.
I had to remind myself who he was.
A billionaire with a cold, ruthless heart. Someone who was in control of everything and everyone around him. Someone who would never view me as more than a piece of paper with signatures on it.
I had to keep my guard up.
A gentle knock on the door broke my reverie.
I frowned. Nobody had knocked on my door since I’d come.
“Come in?” I called hesitantly.
The door swung open, and an older woman came in. She was in a black uniform, her gray hair pinned back.
“I’m Helen,” she said, smiling widely. “Mr. Blackwood assigned me to be your personal assistant while you’re here.”
Assistant?
I blinked in confusion. “Oh. Um, nice to meet you.”
Helen looked around the room. “I just wanted to see if you needed anything. Shoes, toiletries, or anything to make you more comfortable?”
I bit my lip. Already, the room was stocked with designer clothes, luxurious bedding, and everything I would never be able to afford in my real life. But none of it felt mine.
“No, I’m OK,” I said quietly.
Helen nodded, but I saw a shadow cross her eyes. Pity? Sympathy?
“You’re not the first woman Mr. Blackwood has brought here,” she said slowly.
My stomach twisted. “Excuse me?”
Her eyes were soft. “I just mean it’s like I’ve seen how this works. He has his rules, and he doesn’t loosen them for anybody.”
I crossed my arms. “Well, I’m not anybody else.”
Helen smiled, though there was sadness in it. “That’s what they all say.”
I swallowed hard.
She didn’t wait for an answer. “I’ll be around if you need anything,” she said before walking out and shutting the door behind her.
I flopped down on the bed, feeling my heart race.
I’m not the first woman.
The thought turned my stomach, and I hated myself for caring. Why did it matter? I wasn’t here for romance. It worked out as a business partnership.
And yet, no matter how much I repeated that to myself, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was entering something far more dangerous than I had ever expected.
Something unrelated to contracts…
And everything that concerns him.
---
The Outsider
I didn’t run into Damon until late that evening.
The sun had set long before, and the city’s skyline glowed through the penthouse’s huge windows. I had spent all day pacing, a prisoner to my thoughts, my head spinning around the words Helen had left me with.
“You’re not the first woman Mr. Blackwood’s brought here.”
It ought not to have upset me. It shouldn’t have mattered.
But it did.
Damon wasn’t supposed to matter to me. He was just the man who owned me for the next nine months. But there was something dangerous about the way he looked at me, the way his presence filled up the room.
I needed to be careful.
When he reached the right floor, the elevator chimed, sending my pulse into overdrive.
Damon entered as though he owned the world. His suit-fitted body was immaculate, smooth, sharp, as he unknotted the black tie and tossed it onto the kitchen counter. He was already rolling up his sleeves, exposing powerful forearms, the muscles tensing as he ran a hand through his dark hair.
The aura of his bearing itself, the crushing loftiness of his demeanor, was paralyzing.
Then his eyes landed on me.
He hesitated for a moment, his dark eyes roving over me, as though he were gauging my mood, my thoughts—like he could strip me bare.
“You have that look like you have something to say,” he said, putting his phone down on the marble counter.
I folded my arms tightly. “I met Helen.”
His face didn’t change, but something flared in his eyes. “And?”
“She told me I am not the first woman you’ve brought here.”
The silence that followed was heavy.
Damon didn’t flinch. He didn’t react at all. But suddenly, the air between us felt heavier.
“That’s none of your business,” he replied smoothly, though his voice was a little tighter.
I laughed a dry, humorless laugh. “Of course it isn’t. Because I’m simply a contract for you, correct?”
His jaw clenched. “That’s what this is, Emilia. A contract. You knew that before you signed it.”
The words hurt, though I knew they were coming.
I raised my chin, not allowing him to see how much that got to me. “Then why are you here? Well, why aren’t you leaving me alone like a sweet little businessman?”
His gaze clouded, and at last, something inside him broke.
“You think I don’t want to stay away?” His voice was low, but it gave me chills. “You think I don’t know precisely how much of a mistake this is?”
My heart pounded.
“Then walk away,” I said in a whisper.
But he didn’t.
He should have.
Rather, he took a step toward me, foot slow, his intention deliberate, until he stood just inches away.
I swallowed, forcing myself to stay still, not willing to give in to the pull between us.
His fingers grazed my wrist—light, barely there—but it jolted me.
I took a sharp breath, my skin sizzling where he touched me.
“You don’t know what you’re doing to me,” he said, his voice raking.
A shiver ran through me. “I think you are the one who doesn’t understand,” I whispered.
His eyes darkened.
The tension was palpable, thick enough to drown in.
And then, before I could hold myself back, before I could take it back, I whispered, “Who was she?”
Damon’s entire body tensed.
A glimmer of something unreadable passed across his face.
He was silent for a long moment.
Then, in a voice so low it sent chills up my spine, he said,
“Someone I lost.”
A lump formed in my throat.
I should have left it at that. I should have let it go.
But I didn’t.
Because after being with Damon Blackwood for the first time…
I saw a c***k in his armor.
And that terrified me.
- Writer
