Before I knew Him
1535 Words
Chapter 9
Before I Knew Him
The call ended, but the voice stayed in my head.
You already know.
I stared at my phone as though the screen might suddenly explain everything.
Nia was watching me.
Samuel was watching the door.
Nobody spoke.
I looked down at the photograph again.
My father.
Samuel.
Victor Hale.
And Damian.
Damian was young in the photograph.
Too young.
His face was softer. His eyes had not yet learned the coldness I knew so well.
But it was him.
There was no mistake.
I turned the photograph over.
Nothing.
No date.
No writing.
No explanation.
Just four men standing outside a building I had never seen before.
Why was Damian there?
I asked again.
Samuel did not answer.
I looked at Nia.
And you knew?
She lowered her eyes.
I knew Dad knew Damian.
That is not what I asked.
Her silence answered me.
I felt something inside me crack.
How long?
Nia took a slow breath.
Before you met him.
That was all she said.
Before I met him.
The words echoed in my head.
I laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
So the first time I met Damian was not the first time Damian knew my family.
No.
My voice became smaller.
Did he know me?
Nia looked at Samuel.
Samuel answered.
He knew of you.
My stomach turned.
What does that mean?
Your father talked about you.
Did Damian ever see me?
Samuel hesitated.
Yes.
When?
Before you met him.
I shook my head.
Where?
He looked at Nia.
She finally stepped forward.
Amara, there are things Dad did not want you to know.
Then he should have told me.
He wanted to.
Then why did he not?
Because he was afraid he would not have enough time.
My anger disappeared for a second.
What do you mean?
Nia looked toward the old window.
Dad knew someone was watching him.
He knew Victor?
Yes.
For years.
Then why did he not go to the police?
Because Victor was not the kind of man you simply reported.
I looked at the photograph.
And Damian?
Nia closed her eyes.
Damian was involved in something with Victor.
My heart sank.
What kind of something?
Business.
That is what Dad told me.
You do not believe that.
She looked at me.
I believe that was how it started.
And how did it end?
She did not answer.
Samuel walked toward the table.
Damian was young. Ambitious. Desperate to make something of himself. Victor saw that.
I remembered Damian at twenty-one.
The rented apartment.
The old car.
The nights he stayed awake working on business plans.
The way he used to tell me he would one day build something nobody could take away from him.
He had been desperate.
And Victor had money.
So Victor helped him?
Samuel shook his head.
Victor never helps anyone.
He invests.
What did he invest in?
Damian.
The room became silent.
I looked at him.
What?
Samuel continued.
Victor gave Damian money.
Not enough to make him rich.
Enough to make him dependent.
My chest tightened.
For what?
Samuel's expression hardened.
Loyalty.
I thought of the Damian I knew.
The man who hated owing anyone.
The man who once told me that if he ever became successful, he would never forget what it felt like to have nothing.
I suddenly wondered how much of his success had started with Victor.
Did my father know?
Yes.
Did he try to stop it?
Yes.
Did Damian listen?
At first, no.
My heart beat faster.
And then?
Samuel looked at the photograph.
Then he realized what Victor really wanted.
What did he want?
Samuel did not answer.
Nia did.
You.
I stared at her.
Me?
Victor became interested in you because of Damian.
My skin went cold.
No.
Yes.
That does not make sense.
It will.
I stepped backward.
I do not understand.
Nia came closer.
Dad discovered that Victor had been asking questions about you.
My breathing became shallow.
What kind of questions?
Where you went.
Who you spent time with.
Where you studied.
Who your friends were.
I felt sick.
Why?
Because of Damian.
I shook my head.
Why would Victor care about Damian's girlfriend?
Because you were not just Damian's girlfriend.
I looked at her.
You were his weakness.
The words hit harder than anything else.
I remembered every time Damian had told me he loved me.
Every time he held my hand.
Every time he looked at me as though I was the only person in the room.
Was that love?
Or had I simply been the easiest way to control him?
I turned toward Samuel.
Did Damian know?
Yes.
When?
Before he left you.
My eyes burned.
So when he broke up with me...
He was trying to protect you.
I laughed bitterly.
Everyone keeps saying that.
But nobody has told me what actually happened.
Samuel looked at me for a long moment.
Because the truth is worse than the lie Damian gave you.
I swallowed.
Tell me.
He shook his head.
Not here.
Why?
Because this house is no longer safe.
As if the universe had been waiting for those words, headlights swept across the windows.
All three of us froze.
A car.
It stopped outside.
Samuel immediately turned off the lights.
Nia grabbed my hand.
Stay behind me.
My heart was pounding.
Footsteps sounded outside.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Someone walked toward the front door.
Samuel motioned for us to move away from the windows.
The footsteps stopped.
Then came three knocks.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Nobody moved.
Another knock.
Samuel whispered.
Do not make a sound.
The door handle moved.
Someone tried to open it.
Locked.
My fingers tightened around Nia's.
Then my phone vibrated.
I nearly screamed.
I looked down.
A message.
Unknown number.
You should have listened when I told you to stop.
Another message arrived.
Leave the house.
Now.
A third message.
Before he comes inside.
I looked at Samuel.
Who is outside?
He did not answer.
The handle moved again.
Harder this time.
Then suddenly
Silence.
The footsteps disappeared.
We waited.
One minute.
Two.
Five.
Nothing.
Samuel finally moved toward the door.
Nia grabbed his arm.
Do not.
He looked at her.
If they wanted us dead, we would already be dead.
He opened the door carefully.
Nobody was there.
Only rain.
And a small black box sitting on the doorstep.
Samuel stared at it.
Do not touch it, Nia whispered.
But I already knew what it was.
Another message.
Another piece of the past.
Samuel crouched beside the box.
There was a name written across the top.
Damian Cole.
My heart stopped.
Why would someone leave something for Damian here?
Samuel looked at me.
Because this was never only about your father.
He opened the box.
Inside was a phone.
Old.
Cracked.
Dead.
And beneath it was a folded piece of paper.
Samuel picked it up.
His expression changed as he read it.
What does it say? I asked.
He looked at me.
Then he handed it to me.
My hands trembled.
There were only six words.
He never told her the real reason.
I looked at Samuel.
Real reason for what?
He did not answer.
My phone rang again.
This time, the caller ID was not unknown.
It was Damian.
I stared at his name.
For three years, I had wished he would call.
Now that he was calling, I was terrified to answer.
Nia looked at me.
Do not pick up.
But I did.
Hello?
For a moment, there was only breathing.
Then Damian spoke.
Amara.
His voice sounded different.
Afraid.
Where are you?
I looked at Samuel.
I am with Nia.
Where?
I hesitated.
Then I heard something in his voice that made my stomach twist.
Please tell me you are not at the old house.
I froze.
How do you know about the house?
Silence.
Damian breathed out slowly.
Who took you there?
I looked at Samuel.
Then at Nia.
My voice dropped.
Your father.
Another silence.
Damian finally spoke.
Amara, listen to me carefully.
Leave that house.
Why?
Because Victor knows you are there.
My heart stopped.
How?
Because I made a mistake.
What mistake?
His voice cracked.
I should never have let you find the photograph.
I looked at the photograph in my hand.
Damian...
Yes?
I swallowed.
Were you in my life because my father asked you to protect me?
He did not answer.
I closed my eyes.
Were you?
Finally, Damian whispered.
No.
I opened my eyes.
Then why?
His silence lasted so long that I thought the call had disconnected.
Then he said the words that changed everything.
Because I loved you before I ever knew I was supposed to stay away from you.
The call ended.
I stood completely still.
For the first time that night, I understood something.
Maybe Damian had not entered my life because my father sent him.
Maybe he had entered it despite my father.
And if that was true...
Then there was only one question left.
What had made him choose to destroy the woman he loved?
And what had Victor Dampson threatened to take from him if he refused?
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