Damon’s POV
For a moment, no one moved.
Not the guards gathering behind me, not the shadows shifting at the edges of the corridor, not even the air itself—it all held still, like the world had paused just long enough for this moment to settle into something undeniable. My gaze locked onto them, onto the way his hand held hers like it belonged there, like he had every right to stand in front of me with her at his side, inside my palace, inside my walls, as if none of this belonged to me.
Something cold slid into place beneath the anger, something sharper than rage, something that didn’t burn—it cut. “Let go of her.” The words came out low, controlled, but they carried through the corridor with enough weight that even the guards behind me didn’t dare move without instruction. Nathan didn
