CHAPTER 7
1172 Words
The rooftop was quiet, save for the distant hum of traffic below. The night air carried a sharp chill, but Naomi barely felt it as she stepped forward, her heart hammering against her ribs. She shouldn’t have come. Ethan would be furious if he knew. But Damian was right about one thing, she always came.
A shadow shifted near the rooftop’s edge. Then, Damian stepped into the dim light, his presence commanding as ever. The city lights cast sharp angles on his face, highlighting the smirk that curled his lips.
“I knew you wouldn’t disappoint,” he murmured, hands in his pockets, exuding effortless control. “Still so predictable, Naomi.” He said.
Her fingers clenched at her sides. “What do you want, Damian? I don’t need you”
His smirk widened. “Straight to the point. I always loved that about you.” He took a step closer, his voice dropping. “I wanted to see for myself if Ethan still had his hooks in you. If he made you forget what we had.”
Naomi swallowed, forcing steel into her voice. “We had nothing but a broken marriage.”
Damian tilted his head. “Then why are you here?”
The silence between them crackled with tension. She hated that he could still effortlessly pull at the strings of her emotions. He always knew exactly how to manipulate her, what to say, how to look at her, how to make her remember.
She lifted her chin. “If you’re bluffing about someone getting hurt, I swear”
“Bluffing?” He laughed softly, then reached into his coat pocket, pulling out his phone. With a swipe of his thumb, he turned the screen toward her. Naomi’s breath caught.
On the screen was a live feed of a darkened room, a chair, and someone tied to it. Their head was bowed, but she recognized the jacket instantly.
Ethan’s brother.
A cold wave of dread washed over her. “You bastard,” she hissed, stepping toward him.
Damian caught her wrist easily, tugging her flush against him. His voice was a whisper against her ear. “You’re going to listen very carefully, Naomi. Because from this moment on, every move you make will determine who survives this night.”
Her pulse pounded, but she didn’t struggle. She couldn’t afford to.
Damian released her slowly, his fingers brushing her skin as he let go. “Now,” he said, tucking his phone away, “let’s talk about how this ends.”
Naomi’s breath came fast, her mind racing as she stared into Damian’s cold, calculating eyes. He had always been dangerous, but this? This was a new level of cruelty. She forced herself to stay calm, to think.
“What do you want, Damian?” she asked again, her voice tight.
He tilted his head, his smirk widening. “Finally, the right question.” He said, leaning in slightly, his breath warm against her cheek. “I want you, Naomi.”
Her stomach twisted. “That’s never going to happen, you want me, you don’t need me.”
He chuckled, low and dark. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. You think you have a choice, but you don’t.” He tapped his pocket where his phone rested. “Ethan’s brother certainly doesn’t.”
Naomi’s fists clenched. “Let him go.”
Damian exhaled slowly, as if bored. “You don’t dictate the terms here, sweetheart. I do.” He stepped back, giving her space, but the distance felt like a trap rather than a reprieve. “Here’s how this is going to be. You come back to me. No more running, no more Ethan, no more pretending you don’t still feel it.” His voice dropped to a near-whisper. “That fire between us.”
She wanted to deny it, to spit in his face and walk away, but the weight of Ethan’s brother’s life hung between them like a loaded gun.
“And if I don’t?” she asked, though she already knew the answer.
Damian’s smirk faded. “Then I put an end to everything. And I promise you, sweetheart, you won’t like how it ends.”
Her pulse pounded, her thoughts whirling. She needed to find a way out of this, to save Ethan’s brother without handing herself over to Damian.
“What’s it going to be, Naomi?” Damian asked, his patience thinning. “Tick tock.”
If that’s what you want, then I’ll come with you. Naomi responded
His eyes gleamed with triumph. “Good girl.”
“But you let Ethan’s brother go. First, deal?”
Damian exhaled, considering her. Then, he pulled out his phone again, tapping the screen. A voice crackled through the speaker. “Bring him to the drop site at Pier 17. Alive.”
Naomi let out a shaky breath. Step one, done. Now, she just had to figure out how to destroy Damian before he destroyed her or anything she cared about.
The drive to The Sapphire Tower, Damian’s luxury penthouse in the heart of Manhattan, was suffocating. The city lights blurred past the tinted windows as she sat rigid in the plush leather seat of his car, every instinct screaming at her to run. But she couldn’t. Not yet.
Damian sat beside her, one hand draped casually over his knee, watching her with unreadable eyes. “You’re thinking too much,” he murmured. “You always did.”
She ignored him, focusing instead on the plan forming in her mind. If she could get to Ethan, and warn him, maybe they could turn the tables before it was too late, she also thought about Ethan, but he had his security detail around. Only that his brother was in line and time was running while Damian always seemed to be one step ahead.
The car pulled into the underground garage of The Sapphire Tower, the hum of the engine fading as the doors locked with an ominous click. Damian stepped out first, then turned to her, offering his hand with a smirk. “Welcome home, Naomi.”
She ignored his hand and stepped out on her own. She felt she was a warrior in an enemy zone.
Inside, the penthouse was as opulent as she remembered the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Central Park, sleek black leather furniture, and a bar stocked with the finest whiskey money could buy. Damian led her to the sitting area, gesturing for her to sit.
“Drink?” he asked, pouring himself a glass.
She shook her head. “Let’s just get this over with, I’m here now.”
He sighed, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. “Always so impatient”, he said, staring at her breast.
Naomi’s gaze flicked to the locked door at the end of the hall. If she could just get her hands on his phone, find out where Ethan’s brother was being held before the drop…
She had one shot. And she wasn’t going to waste it.
- Writer
