Attention
621 Words
The estate changed the second my parents arrived.
Everything became sharper.
More formal.
Staff moving constantly through the halls. Business calls echoing from offices downstairs. Expensive dinners stretching late into the night while conversations about investments and contracts filled the rooms.
And Damon—
Damon became impossible to reach.
Cold.
Controlled.
Untouchable again.
It started the moment he greeted my parents at the front entrance.
Polite smile.
Firm handshake with my father.
A kiss against my mother’s cheek.
Then his eyes found me only briefly before moving away like I was nothing dangerous at all.
Like he hadn’t pinned me against kitchen counters and kissed me hard enough to ruin sleep for days.
The distance drove me insane.
Every interaction after that felt painfully normal.
Too normal.
At breakfast he barely acknowledged me.
During meetings he stayed locked inside his office with my father for hours.
And whenever our eyes met accidentally, he looked away first.
Like he regretted everything.
That hurt more than it should have.
By dinner the tension inside me had sharpened into something restless.
The dining room glowed softly beneath warm lighting, crystal glasses reflecting gold across the long table while conversation moved easily around me.
My mother sat to my left.
Isla beside me on the right.
Across from me sat Damon.
And next to him—
My father.
The position felt intentional somehow.
Cruel.
Damon looked devastating tonight.
Black dress shirt.
Sleeves rolled again.
One hand resting loosely near his whiskey glass while he spoke calmly with my father about markets and expansion deals like he wasn’t destroying my ability to focus every time he lifted his eyes.
He barely looked at me.
That was the problem.
Not once since dinner started.
Like I meant absolutely nothing to him now.
The coldness settled beneath my skin slowly.
I hated it.
Hated how badly I wanted his attention again.
The conversation drifted around me in fragments.
Something about overseas investors.
Something about property acquisitions.
I stopped listening the moment Damon loosened his cuff slightly and reached for his drink.
My pulse tightened immediately.
Bad decisions.
Always.
Slowly, carefully, I slipped my heel from my shoe beneath the table.
No one noticed.
Not my mother laughing softly beside me.
Not Isla texting under the table.
Not my father midway through another business story.
And definitely not Damon.
Not yet.
I extended my leg slowly beneath the tablecloth until the pointed heel brushed lightly against the inside of his thigh.
The reaction was immediate.
His voice stopped mid-sentence.
Barely.
So subtle no one else noticed.
But I did.
Heat flashed low through me instantly.
I moved my foot again.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Dragging the heel lightly higher against his leg beneath the table.
Damon’s gaze lifted slowly to mine.
And for the first time all night—
I saw it.
That darkness again.
Cold composure cracking just slightly around the edges.
My stomach tightened hard.
He continued the conversation with my father like nothing happened.
Controlled.
But his eyes stayed locked on mine now.
Warning me.
I pressed my heel higher anyway.
A dangerous pulse of satisfaction hit when his jaw tightened once.
“Alina,” my mother said suddenly, pulling my attention away.
I looked over too quickly. “Hm?”
She smiled lightly. “You’re quiet tonight.”
Before I could answer, Damon spoke calmly from across the table.
“She usually is when she’s thinking too much.”
The double meaning hit instantly.
Heat flooded my face.
His gaze remained steady on mine while he lifted his whiskey glass slowly to his mouth.
Composed.
Untouchable.
Meanwhile beneath the table, my pulse was completely uneven.
And somehow—
That only made me want to push him further.
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