CH 16 After the Spotlight
360 Words
The ride back to the penthouse was wrapped in silence, but not the comfortable kind. Damien sat beside me in the back of the car, one arm stretched across the seat behind me, his gaze fixed out the tinted window.
I wanted to say something — to ask why he had to make that claim so publicly — but the words tangled in my throat.
When we finally reached the penthouse, he swiped his keycard and stepped inside, holding the door open for me without looking back. I followed, the click of my heels echoing against the polished floor.
Damien loosened his tie, setting it on the counter before pouring himself a glass of scotch. “Mason was testing boundaries tonight,” he said finally. “I made sure he knows there are none to cross.”
I crossed my arms. “Boundaries for him… or for me?”
His eyes snapped to mine, sharp. “For both.”
“That’s not how it works, Damien. You don’t get to decide who I am to everyone else without asking me first.”
He took a step toward me, slow, deliberate. “Elara, when it comes to your safety, I don’t ask. I act.”
“That’s not safety,” I said, heat rising in my voice. “That’s control.”
His jaw tightened. “Maybe. But tonight, it kept him from thinking he could use you as leverage.”
I hated that part of me understood his logic. I hated even more the part that didn’t want him to let go.
Damien’s voice softened, the steel in it tempered by something almost vulnerable. “I’m not trying to take your choices, Elara. I’m trying to keep you breathing.”
I looked away, my pulse a steady thud in my ears. “And what happens when I can’t tell the difference anymore?”
For a moment, silence hung between us — heavy, charged. Then Damien closed the space, his hand brushing my cheek, his touch achingly gentle for a man who lived in absolutes.
“You’ll know,” he murmured. “Because I’ll never be your cage… only your shield.”
- Writer
