CHAPTER FIVE: The Contract
1051 Words
Aria POV
I didn’t sleep at all.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Damian standing too close to me inside my apartment.
I am.
The way he said those words replayed endlessly in my head until sunrise painted London grey outside my windows.
Dangerous.
That was the only word capable of describing Damian De Luca.
Dangerous eyes.
Dangerous voice.
Dangerous patience.
And somehow, despite everything collapsing around me, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
That terrified me.
By morning, the scandal had become a full public disaster.
News vans crowded outside my apartment building. Reporters stood across the street with cameras ready, waiting for me to appear like hungry predators circling wounded prey.
I stared down from the window in horror.
How had my life become this overnight?
My phone rang suddenly.
Unknown number.
I hesitated before answering carefully.
“Hello?”
“Don’t leave the apartment.”
My pulse reacted instantly.
Damian.
His deep voice slid through me far too easily now.
I moved away from the window. “There are reporters everywhere.”
“I know.”
“How?”
A pause.
“Because I had security monitoring the building since four this morning.”
I blinked in shock.
“You what?”
“You’re not safe alone right now.”
The possessiveness in his voice unsettled me deeply.
And yet
Part of me liked hearing someone sound protective over me for once.
I hated that part.
“I can handle reporters,” I muttered weakly.
“No,” Damian said calmly. “You can’t.”
The brutal honesty irritated me immediately.
“You’re very controlling.”
“I’m very realistic.”
Before I could argue again, he spoke.
“Come downstairs.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Because I’m outside.”
My stomach dropped instantly.
Of course he was.
I shouldn’t have gone down there.
Every rational thought in my head told me this situation was becoming increasingly dangerous emotionally.
But ten minutes later, I still found myself stepping out of the building carefully while flashes exploded instantly around me.
“Aria!”
“Did Luca cheat?”
“Are you seeing Damian De Luca?”
“Did the brothers fight over you?”
Panic surged through me immediately.
Then suddenly,
A large hand pressed firmly against my lower back.
“Move.”
Damian’s voice.
Low.
Controlled.
Protective.
The reporters immediately stepped backward the moment they saw him.
Not because he raised his voice.
Because power radiated from him effortlessly.
He guided me toward a black car waiting near the curb, his hand remaining against my back the entire time.
The simple touch burned through the thin fabric of my dress.
Once inside the car, I finally exhaled shakily.
Damian shut the door before sliding in beside me.
“You okay?”
The question startled me.
Nobody had asked me that in a long time.
“I don’t know.”
His eyes studied my face carefully before he handed me a tablet.
“Look.”
I frowned before taking it.
My stomach twisted instantly.
More articles.
Except these were worse.
“Sources claim Aria Moretti struggled emotionally throughout the marriage.”
“Friends close to Luca say he stayed out of guilt.”
“Insiders suggest Aria became obsessive.”
My hands began trembling.
None of this was true.
“He’s destroying me,” I whispered.
Damian’s expression turned terrifyingly cold.
“Yes.”
The calmness in his voice frightened me more than anger would have.
“He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
Pain climbed painfully up my throat.
“I gave everything to him.”
Damian stared at me for several seconds before speaking quietly.
“That was your mistake.”
I looked at him sharply.
“You gave everything to a man who earned none of it.”
The intensity in his voice stunned me silent.
Nobody had ever defended me this fiercely before.
Not even myself.
Damian reached over suddenly and took the tablet gently from my hands after noticing how badly they were shaking.
“You can still stop this.”
“How?”
He held my gaze steadily.
“Marry me.”
The words settled heavily between us again.
I looked away immediately.
“This is insane.”
“No,” Damian said calmly. “It’s strategic.”
“You’re talking about marriage like a merger.”
“That’s because emotions complicate things.”
A bitter laugh escaped me. “You really don’t believe in love, do you?”
Something dangerous flickered behind his eyes then.
“You think this is about love?”
The question made my pulse skip strangely.
I swallowed hard.
“I think you don’t even know what love feels like.”
The atmosphere inside the car shifted instantly.
Damian became very still.
Very quiet.
Then slowly, He leaned closer.
My heartbeat stumbled violently.
Close enough now that I could see every detail of his face.
The faint scar near his jaw.
The dark lashes around those terrifying grey eyes.
The tension in his expression.
“You’re wrong,” he said softly.
The roughness in his voice sent heat crawling through my body.
“I know exactly what love feels like.”
My breathing became uneven.
The way he looked at me suddenly
God.
It felt far too personal.
Too intense.
Like there was something huge beneath the surface waiting to break apart.
Then Damian said quietly “The difference between me and Luca is that I would never humiliate the woman I love.”
Silence crashed through the car.
I stared at him.
Woman I love.
Did he realize what he just implied?
Or was I imagining things?
My pulse hammered violently while Damian continued watching me with an expression impossible to read completely.
Then finally, he leaned back slightly.
“You have two choices, Aria.”
His voice returned to controlled calmness again.
“You disappear quietly while Luca destroys your reputation… or you become my wife and nobody touches you again.”
The certainty in his tone sent chills through me.
Because deep down
I believed him.
Damian noticed my hesitation immediately.
His gaze darkened slightly.
“I’m not asking for forever.”
The lie in his voice was subtle.
But it was there.
And somehow…
I think we both heard it.
- Writer
