Chapter 6: The Shadows Watching Me
1016 Words
The black car didn’t move.
I watched it from behind the curtain for over ten minutes, my pulse steady and high. No one got in or out. No lights turned on. Just tinted windows and a running engine, like whoever was inside wanted to make damn sure I knew I was being watched.
I double checked the locks on Damon’s penthouse door.
Then I grabbed his hoodie off the back of the couch, pulled it on, and sank onto the bed his scent wrapped around me, grounding me.
Maybe it was nothing.
Maybe it was everything.
By midnight, Damon still wasn’t back.
I stared at my phone. Nothing. No text. No call. Just silence that grew heavier with every passing minute.
I tried distracting myself by sorting through the mountain of gifts he’d given me earlier. But even the silk lingerie and sparkling jewelry couldn’t stop the voice in the back of my mind:
What kind of danger is he in? And what kind of danger does that mean for you?
I pulled his hoodie tighter, curled up on the edge of the bed, and eventually somehow I fell asleep.
I woke to hands on my thighs.
Warm. Rough. Possessive.
I jolted awake, heart racing until I saw those familiar green eyes above me.
“Damon.” My voice cracked with relief.
He was crouched over me on the bed, sweat dampening his collar, blood on his knuckles.
“You’re hurt.”
He shook his head. “Not mine.”
That wasn’t comforting.
“What happened?”
He didn’t answer right away. Just leaned down and kissed me slow and deep, like he needed to remind himself I was real, that this was still his sanctuary.
Then he pulled back and said, “You’re not safe here anymore.”
I sat up fast. “Why? What’s going on?”
His jaw clenched. “The man I went to meet tonight? He wasn’t alone. Someone tipped him off. It was a setup.”
My stomach dropped. “Were you ambushed?”
“I was expected.” He stood, pacing. “Which means someone in my inner circle is leaking information. And that car outside?”
“You saw it too?”
He nodded. “It’s not one of mine.”
Dread tightened my throat. “Are they watching me?”
He came back over, gripping my face gently in his hands. “They won’t get near you, Eva. I won’t let them.”
Within the hour, Damon had his men sweep the building and station guards outside the penthouse.
Still, I felt the fear slither beneath my skin.
“Why would someone target me?” I asked as we sat on the bed.
“Because you’re mine. And because hurting you would hurt me.”
My heart thudded painfully. “Is this what it means to be with you? Always looking over my shoulder?”
He ran his thumb along my jaw. “It means being protected by the most dangerous man in the city. And being loved harder than you ever imagined.”
I swallowed. “You love me?”
His eyes darkened. “I’m trying not to. But it’s already too late.”
His lips found mine again slow, burning, full of all the tension he couldn’t say out loud.
He kissed me like it was the only thing keeping him sane.
Like my body was his anchor in the chaos.
He laid me back on the bed, the sheets cool against my thighs as he slipped my hoodie off, baring me to his eyes.
No teasing this time. No rough edges. Just him slow, raw, present.
“Let me take care of you” he whispered against my skin.
And he did.
Mouth and hands trailing reverent worship from neck to navel, until I was gasping, writhing, whispering his name like a prayer.
He made love to me like I was a promise he intended to keep.
And for a while, I forgot about the shadows watching us.
Afterward, we lay tangled together. Damon’s chest rose and fell beneath my cheek, his heart beating slow and steady.
“I want to disappear with you,” I murmured. “Just vanish.”
“I’ve thought about it,” he said softly. “A place in Italy. Mountains, wine, quiet. No guns. No enemies.”
“What’s stopping you?”
He exhaled. “Revenge. There are still people I need to break.”
Silence stretched between us.
“Would you take me with you?” I finally asked.
He looked down at me. “There’s not a version of that future where you’re not by my side.”
The next morning came too quickly.
I stood in front of the mirror in one of the new dresses he’d bought me a sleek black bodycon and noticed something I hadn’t before.
A thin red laser dot on my shoulder.
It disappeared the second I moved, but I saw it.
And I knew.
They had a sniper watching the apartment.
I rushed into the hallway. “Damon!”
He came out of his office instantly, hand on his gun. “What?”
“There was a red dot on my shoulder like a sniper.”
His face turned to stone. “Get your coat. We’re leaving. Now.”
By the time we got to the underground garage, his men were already in formation.
He shoved a duffel bag into my hands. Inside were passports, cash, a burner phone.
“What the hell is going on?” I snapped, panic rising. “Who’s after me?”
He looked at me, dead serious. “There’s something I need to tell you. About my past. About a man I once trusted someone I thought was family.”
I clutched the bag tighter. “Damon, just say it.”
He opened the passenger door for me. “His name’s Mateo. I left him for dead four years ago in Colombia. Looks like he’s finally come back.”
I froze.
“And he’s not just after me anymore. He’s after you too.”
- Writer
