The Billionaire’s Shadow

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Amelia’s POV

My lips part, but no words come out. My chest tightens, and my pulse thrums underneath my veins. I tell myself to move, to say something…. But I just stand there, hidden by the darkness, watching him.

He pushes himself into the room slowly, and the air inside seems to grow ten times hotter, like someone increased the temperature on purpose. I swallow when he stops in front of me, his curly hair teasing his forehead as he leans forward.

For the slightest second, I am filled with the compelling urge to reach out, to push his hair back, to allow the soft curls to graze my fingers.

Instead, I press my hands to my side, curling them into fists.

And he notices.

The ghost of a smile lingers on his lips, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. They remain dark, their intensity curling through me. When he leans away, I release the breath I didn’t know I was holding, but that does nothing to stop my heart from thudding hard against my chest.

“Whiskey,” he murmurs, moving to the shelf.

My tongue finally decides to work. “What?”

“Your dress.” Damian’s voice is measured, yet there is something sinister underneath it. Something that is used to getting obeyed. It makes me straighten, the pulse on my neck bobbing as I think of the right thing to say.

He leans on the shelf, his arm crossed against his chest, his unwavering gaze on me, as if drinking at every inch.

“What is going on?” Noah whispers harshly. “Did you find him?”

“Uh… I… Yeah.” What the hell is wrong with you, Amelia? “I needed to use the bathroom. Someone bumped into me.”

I hate the way my voice sounds. Husky and laced with need. The very things that I do not, in any way, feel.

“s**t!” Noah whispers from the other end. Something drags on the floor. A chair. It causes me to jump, making Damian narrow his eyes.

“Bathroom.” He raises an eyebrow. “Interesting.”

And then, he looks around, before returning his gaze to me. “I don’t think there is any in here, stranger.”

“I didn’t….”

He walks towards me without warning, and the first thing that comes to my mind is to push away from him. So, my legs move slowly underneath his gaze, willing to put whatever distance I can between the two of us.

But Damian does not stop.

And neither does he look away.

At least, not until my back hits the wall behind me. A sharp breath escapes my lips, just as he brings a hand over my head, trapping me. I swallow, as a strange heat overtakes every inch of my bones.

I try to pull my eyes away from his, to look at any other surface but his face. But it is impossible to do. It feels like the air itself is drawn to him, pulling me even closer when every rational thought in me screams to run.

My fingers flatten against the wall behind me, and I realize again that I am holding my breath.

“You didn’t just wander in here, did you?” he drawls, the sound low and rich, sending shots through me. “What do you want?”

“Nothing.” My voice breaks slightly, and I feel the heat creep up my neck. His lips twitched, and I would have been convinced that it was a smile if I didn’t feel him pushing in.

“I hate liars, strangers.”

“I have no reason to lie to you.”

He angles his head, just as Noah’s voice comes up again. “Amelia, be careful. He’s…he’s playing a game. Do not disclose anything.”

“You don’t,” he whispers, hand face inching dangerously closer. “But I have realized early in life that people find weird reasons to do things. And I have a feeling…”

“Amelia, get out of there now!”

But I do the opposite, remaining put as Damian’s other hand moves up in the dark, grazing my chin, gearing me to look closely at him. I suck in a sharp breath, scared that he can hear how hard my heart is beating.

And when his eyes stray to my lips, I think I am going to combust in flames. But it ends in a second, as Damian pulls away from him, his hand dropping from above my head.

“The bathroom is next door,” he says, giving me a once-over. “Don’t come back in here.”

My legs feel like jelly underneath me, yet I force them to work, rushing out of the room before he changes his mind. Outside the door, in the middle of the hallway, I lean against the wall, my breath coming out in rage.

It hurts.

It’s weird that there is no other way to describe the feeling, like my chest is fighting hard against itself. The intensity causes me to double over. I count to ten in my head, my eyes still on the door. He doesn’t come out.

“Amelia, are you insane?” Noah explode. “Why didn’t you get out of there sooner?”

That is the thing. I have no idea either. “I couldn’t, Noah,” I breathe. “I had to goad him out. I needed to know what I was working with.”

“And now?”

“He’s totally unreadable. This is going to be hard.”

“Since when have you never liked a challenge?” Noah teases. But this is different. I can feel it in the way my blood hums.

“Noah…”

“We’ll talk when you return. Just…get out of that house. Now.”

As if on cue, the music suddenly goes off with such finality, and the static from a speaker follows swiftly.

“Attention, everybody.” The voice crawls through the building, sharp and compelling.

“The security guards are crawling the hallways now, searching for someone who gained entrance without an invite. Cooperate with them, please. It will be over in no time, and we can get back to partying.”

I look up at the same time as Noah mutters. “Amelia, that’s you.”

Shit.

Pushing away from the wall, I race towards the landing of the stairs, my lips parting in shock when I see that the doors have been shut. Footsteps echo down the hall behind me.

Way too close.

“Amelia, move!”