Chapter 3:The Truth Has Teeth
1419 Words
The first thing Selene felt was wrong.
Not the air.
Not the cold.
Not even the silence outside the ballroom.
It was her body.
A sharp, sudden wave twisted low in her stomach, stealing her breath before she could stop it. Her fingers tightened instinctively against the balcony railing, knuckles whitening as she fought to steady herself.
Not now.
Please, not now.
“You’re fine,” she whispered under her breath, the words quick, uneven. “It’s nothing. Just stress.”
But her body didn’t listen.
The dizziness came next, creeping in at the edges of her vision, blurring the lights behind her into soft, unfocused gold. She swallowed hard, forcing herself upright.
Control it.
You have to control it.
Her hand moved before she could stop it, pressing lightly against her abdomen, protective, instinctive.
A secret.
A life.
A risk she couldn’t afford to lose.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” she murmured, her voice barely more than breath. “I won’t let him take you from me.”
“You always talk to yourself when you’re overwhelmed.”
The voice hit her like a physical force.
Low.
Familiar.
Too close.
Selene froze.
For a split second, her heart stopped beating entirely.
Then it came crashing back all at once.
No.
Slowly, carefully, she turned.
Damian stood in the doorway, framed by the warm glow of the ballroom behind him. The light caught the sharp lines of his face, casting shadows that made him look even more dangerous.
More unreadable.
His jacket hung open now, his posture less rigid, but there was nothing relaxed about him.
Not the way he watched her.
Not the way his eyes tracked every movement she made.
Not the way his attention seemed to narrow until the entire world disappeared and left only her.
“You shouldn’t be out here,” she said, forcing calm into her voice.
It came out quieter than she intended.
He didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he stepped forward.
Once.
Twice.
The distance between them shrank too quickly, too easily, until the air itself felt tight again.
“You shouldn’t be lying to me,” he said at last.
Her pulse jumped.
“There’s nothing to lie about.”
His gaze dropped.
Not to her face.
Lower.
Lingering.
Her stomach twisted.
He noticed.
He noticed too much.
Selene straightened, forcing her shoulders back, her expression carefully neutral.
“You’re imagining things,” she added, sharper this time.
Damian didn’t react.
Didn’t blink.
Didn’t even look convinced.
“One moment you’re trying to escape me,” he said, his voice calm, controlled, “the next, you look like you’re about to collapse.”
“I said I needed air.”
“And that gesture?” he asked quietly. “Was that part of it?”
Her breath caught.
For a second, she didn’t understand.
Then she did.
Her hand.
Her stomach.
The way she’d reached for it.
Her heart slammed violently against her ribs.
“That was nothing,” she said quickly.
Too quickly.
His eyes lifted back to hers.
Sharp.
Focused.
Unrelenting.
“Then look at me and say that again.”
Her throat went dry.
No.
Because if she looked at him like that, if she let him get too close, too focused
He would see it.
Everything.
The fear she couldn’t hide.
The truth she couldn’t risk.
The part of her that still reacted to him in ways she hated.
“I don’t owe you anything,” she said instead.
The words were steady.
But her pulse betrayed her.
Damian stepped closer.
The movement was slow, deliberate, giving her time to step away.
She didn’t.
Couldn’t.
Because stepping back meant admitting she was affected.
And she refused to give him that.
“You owe me more than silence,” he said.
Something sharp twisted in her chest.
“Owe you?” she echoed, disbelief breaking through. “You think I owe you anything after what happened?”
The air shifted.
Heavy.
Charged.
Dangerous.
His jaw tightened.
“You left.”
“You let me.”
The words came out before she could stop them.
Too honest.
Too raw.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
The past hung between them, thick and suffocating, filled with things neither of them had said.
Things neither of them had forgotten.
“And now you’re back,” Damian said finally, his voice quieter. “In my world. At my event.”
Selene swallowed hard.
“I didn’t come here for you.”
“Then why are you here?”
Because life doesn’t pause just because it hurts.
Because she didn’t have the luxury of avoiding him forever.
Because of the child growing inside her
“I don’t owe you an explanation,” she repeated.
His gaze held hers for a long moment.
Then something shifted.
Not anger.
Not quite.
Something more controlled.
More dangerous.
His hand lifted.
Slowly.
Selene’s breath caught as his fingers brushed lightly against her arm.
The contact was brief.
Barely there.
But her body reacted instantly, a sharp rush of heat spreading through her veins, betraying everything she was trying to hide.
“You’re shaking,” he murmured.
“I’m cold.”
“You’re lying.”
Her breath hitched.
He stepped closer again.
This time, there was nowhere left to go.
The railing pressed lightly against her back.
Solid.
Unyielding.
A reminder that she was trapped.
Cornered.
His presence filled the space completely, overwhelming her senses. The scent of him, the warmth of him, the memory of him ,it all came rushing back too fast, too strong.
She couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t think.
His gaze dropped again.
Slow.
Deliberate.
To her abdomen.
Selene’s heart stopped.
No.
Don’t.
Don’t look there.
But he already was.
His expression didn’t change immediately.
Which was worse.
Because it meant he was thinking.
Connecting.
Watching.
Her pulse pounded in her ears, loud enough she was sure he could hear it.
“Damian,” she said, her voice tighter now, warning.
He didn’t respond.
Didn’t look away.
Didn’t step back.
Instead, his hand moved.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As if he wasn’t sure what he was reaching for
Or what he might find.
Selene’s breath hitched sharply.
“Don’t.”
The word slipped out before she could stop it.
Too fast.
Too desperate.
His hand paused midair.
That was the moment everything shifted.
Because he heard it.
The fear.
The urgency.
The truth hidden beneath it.
His eyes lifted to hers.
Dark.
Focused.
Certain.
“Don’t?” he repeated softly.
Selene’s chest rose and fell unevenly.
“I said don’t touch me.”
But it was too late.
He didn’t believe her.
She could see it.
Feel it.
In the way his gaze sharpened.
In the way his expression hardened with realization.
“You’ve never reacted like this before,” he said.
Her heart slammed harder.
“People change.”
“Not like this.”
Another step closer.
Barely any space left between them now.
“You flinch,” he continued, his voice quieter, more dangerous. “You avoid me. You won’t meet my eyes when I ask direct questions.”
Selene’s pulse spiraled.
“Maybe I just don’t like you anymore.”
A mistake.
She saw it instantly.
The flicker in his expression.
Sharp.
Cold.
“Lie again,” he said.
Her breath caught.
“I’m not lying.”
“You are.”
His voice dropped lower.
“And you’re not even good at it.”
Anger flared in her chest.
Good.
“You think everything revolves around you,” she snapped. “It doesn’t.”
His gaze didn’t waver.
“This does.”
Her stomach twisted.
He was too close.
Too aware.
Too relentless.
And then
His eyes dropped again.
This time, slower.
More intentional.
Following the line of her body.
Pausing.
Settling.
Right where her hand had been earlier.
Selene stopped breathing.
No.
Please.
No.
His expression changed.
Not fully.
Not obviously.
But enough.
A subtle shift.
A quiet realization forming behind his eyes.
His hand moved again.
Closer this time.
Not hesitant.
Not unsure.
Certain.
Selene’s entire body went rigid.
“Damian”
Her voice broke.
His fingers hovered just inches away from her abdomen.
So close she could feel the heat of his skin.
So close everything threatened to unravel.
His eyes lifted to hers.
And this time
There was no doubt in them.
Only a quiet, terrifying certainty.
“Selene,” he said softly,
his voice no longer questioning
but knowing.
“What… did you do?”
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