CHAPTER FIVE - TOO CLOSE
1641 Words
The alarm didn’t scream.
It hummed.
Low.
Constant.
Wrong.
I woke instantly, my heart pounding before my mind could even catch up.
For a few seconds, I remained completely still beneath the covers.
Listening.
The room was dark.
Not the peaceful darkness of night.
This darkness felt deliberate.
The lights flickered once.
Twice.
Then died completely.
My breath caught.
This wasn’t a storm outage.
The estate had backup generators.
Damien had made sure of that.
I remembered the cameras.
The guards.
The security systems.
The rules.
Something had gone wrong.
Something serious.
The door swung open.
I sat upright.
Damien stood in the doorway.
He was dressed in black, his expression harder than I had ever seen it. His eyes moved around the room before settling on me.
“Up.”
His voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
“Now.”
I threw the covers aside.
“What’s happening?”
He crossed the room in three quick strides.
“No questions.”
His hand closed around my wrist.
Firm.
Controlled.
Not painful.
“Move.”
I barely had time to grab my robe before he pulled me toward the door.
The hallway was almost completely dark.
Emergency lights glowed along the floor, casting everything in a faint red haze.
Somewhere downstairs, hurried footsteps echoed.
Voices followed.
Radios crackled.
“East corridor secure.”
“Check the lower level.”
“Where is the breach team?”
My stomach twisted.
Damien moved quickly.
I had to practically jog to keep up.
Then he stopped.
I nearly walked into him.
He turned slightly.
“Behind me.”
I swallowed.
“Damien—”
“Behind me.”
There was something in his voice that made me obey.
We continued.
He stayed between me and every doorway.
Every corner.
Every shadow.
It was strange.
Yesterday, I had been afraid of him.
Tonight, I was afraid of everything except him.
A guard appeared at the end of the hallway.
“Sir.”
“What happened?”
“East perimeter.”
The guard hesitated.
“Someone crossed the outer fence.”
Damien's expression didn't change.
“How many?”
“We're still confirming.”
“Lock down the west side.”
The guard nodded.
Then Damien added coldly,
“And nobody leaves this house.”
“Yes, sir.”
The guard disappeared.
I stared at Damien.
“They're here.”
He didn't answer.
“For me?”
His jaw tightened.
“For leverage.”
The word settled heavily between us.
Leverage.
I suddenly understood what he meant.
They didn't necessarily need to hurt me.
They only needed to use me.
Against him.
Against the Cross family.
Against something Damien was protecting.
Something I still knew nothing about.
We reached a reinforced door.
Damien entered a code.
The lock clicked.
He opened the door and guided me inside.
The room looked nothing like the rest of the house.
No paintings.
No expensive furniture.
No decoration.
Just steel, monitors, emergency equipment, and a heavy table bolted to the floor.
A safe room.
Damien shut the door.
Another lock engaged.
Then another.
Only after everything was secured did he turn toward me.
“Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
His eyes moved over me anyway.
My face.
My hands.
My shoulders.
My posture.
As though he expected to find an injury I hadn't noticed.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
His shoulders lowered slightly.
“Good.”
I stared at him.
“You?”
He paused.
“What?”
“Are you hurt?”
His eyes met mine.
For a moment, he looked genuinely surprised by the question.
“No.”
I nodded.
Neither of us spoke.
The silence was enormous.
Then I noticed something.
My fingers were curled around the front of his jacket.
I hadn't even realized I was holding him.
I released the fabric immediately.
“Sorry.”
Damien looked down at my hand.
Then back at me.
“You don't have to apologize.”
That caught me off guard.
He stepped away.
I expected the distance to make me feel safer.
Instead, it made the room feel colder.
Outside, something crashed.
I flinched.
Damien immediately turned toward the door.
His entire expression changed.
Cold.
Focused.
Ready.
I realized then that the man standing in front of me wasn't simply wealthy.
He wasn't simply powerful.
He was prepared for danger.
And whatever had happened tonight wasn't new to him.
“Damien.”
He looked at me.
“How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That something was going to happen.”
He didn't answer.
My stomach tightened.
“You weren't surprised when the lights went out.”
“No.”
“You weren't surprised when they said someone crossed the fence.”
“No.”
“You expected this.”
His silence answered for him.
I stared at him.
“You knew.”
Damien's expression hardened.
“I suspected.”
“That's not the same thing.”
“It is when you're dealing with people who don't announce themselves.”
“Who are they?”
“People I don't want near you.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It’s the only one you're getting tonight.”
I folded my arms.
“You keep doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Answering questions without actually answering them.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“Because some answers are dangerous.”
“And keeping me ignorant isn't?”
He stepped closer.
Not threatening.
Just close enough that I had to tilt my head slightly to keep looking at him.
“You don't understand what you're involved in.”
“Then explain it.”
“I can't.”
“Can't?”
His voice dropped.
“Won't.”
I stared at him.
There it was.
The wall.
The same wall he had built between himself and everyone else.
But tonight, there was something different behind it.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For me.
A sudden noise came through the speaker.
“Sir.”
Damien turned toward the monitor.
“What?”
“Movement at the east entrance.”
His expression became completely still.
“How many?”
“Three.”
“Armed?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
My heart dropped.
Damien looked at me.
“Stay here.”
I nodded.
He turned toward the door.
“Damien.”
He stopped.
I didn't know why I called his name.
I only knew that the thought of him walking back into that darkness made something inside me panic.
“Come back.”
He looked at me over his shoulder.
For the first time since I had met him, he didn't have an immediate answer.
His eyes softened for half a second.
Then the mask returned.
“I will.”
The door opened.
He disappeared.
I stood there alone.
The monitors showed different parts of the estate.
Empty hallways.
Dark gardens.
Security gates.
Then one screen flickered.
My eyes narrowed.
A figure appeared near the eastern grounds.
Then another.
Then another.
I moved closer to the monitor.
The image sharpened.
Three people.
They were moving carefully through the estate.
One of them stopped.
He looked directly toward the camera.
Then lifted his hand.
My stomach turned.
He knew where the camera was.
He knew he was being watched.
Then the screen went black.
“No…”
I stepped backward.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
My breathing quickened.
Then the intercom crackled.
A voice came through.
“Mrs. Cross?”
I froze.
It wasn't Damien.
It wasn't one of the guards.
It was a stranger.
“Who is this?”
Silence.
Then:
“Your husband should have told you.”
My blood ran cold.
“Told me what?”
A quiet laugh came through the speaker.
“You weren't chosen because of him.”
The line went dead.
I stared at the intercom.
My mind raced.
Chosen?
What did that mean?
Before I could process it, the door opened.
Damien walked in.
His expression was darker than before.
He shut the door behind him.
“What happened?”
I looked at him.
“Someone spoke to me.”
His entire body went still.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“What did they say?”
I hesitated.
“Damien…”
His voice became sharper.
“What did they say?”
I repeated the words.
“You weren't chosen because of him.”
Silence.
Damien's face changed.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Recognition.
I saw it.
And suddenly, I knew.
He understood exactly what the stranger meant.
“You know.”
His eyes met mine.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then Damien walked toward me.
Slowly.
“You need to listen to me.”
“What aren't you telling me?”
“Everything.”
My heart sank.
“Everything?”
He stopped in front of me.
His voice was quieter now.
“They didn't come here tonight because you're my wife.”
“Then why?”
His gaze held mine.
“Because you are connected to something they have been looking for.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“What?”
Damien didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward the sealed door.
Then back at me.
“They know you're here now.”
A cold silence filled the room.
I swallowed.
“And what happens next?”
His expression hardened.
“Now they stop watching the house.”
He stepped closer.
“They start coming for you.”
And somewhere beyond the reinforced walls, another alarm began to hum.
This time, it wasn't low.
It was loud.
And getting closer.
I looked at Damien.
For the first time, I wasn't wondering whether I could trust him.
I was wondering what he had been protecting me from all along.
Because whatever secret had followed me into this house…
It had finally found me.
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