CHAPTER FOUR — HIS INSTINCT TO PROTECT
904 Words
Ariana barely slept that night.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Damian’s face—sharp, unreadable, dangerously calm—as he stared at her son like the answer to a question he hadn’t yet asked out loud.
Why does your child have my eyes?
The words echoed mercilessly in her mind.
She lay awake on the narrow bed in the company’s private guest suite, Liam curled beside her, breathing softly. Damian had insisted they stay.
“For safety,” he’d said.
She knew better.
It wasn’t about safety.
It was about control.
Ariana gently brushed her fingers through Liam’s hair, her heart aching with fear and love. She had sworn to protect him from this man—from this world of power and money and consequences.
And yet…
Damian Sterling had already stepped into their lives.
Uninvited.
Unavoidable.
---
The next morning, Damian stood in his office, staring at the security footage on his tablet.
Liam in the lobby.
Liam holding Ariana’s hand.
Liam smiling.
Every angle made his chest tighten.
Two years.
The timeline was impossible to ignore.
Damian clenched his jaw.
“You’re distracted,” his head of security said carefully.
“Someone left a child unattended in my lobby yesterday,” Damian replied coldly. “That doesn’t happen by accident.”
The man stiffened. “You think it was intentional?”
“I know it was.”
Damian’s instincts—never wrong—were screaming.
And worse…
So was something else.
Something primal.
Possessive.
Protective.
“Double security on Ariana Hale and the child,” Damian ordered.
“Discreetly.”
The man hesitated. “Sir, is she—”
“I don’t care what she is,” Damian snapped.
“No one touches them.”
The words surprised even him.
---
Ariana felt the shift immediately.
Security guards appeared everywhere.
Doors opened faster.
Eyes followed her.
She clutched Liam’s hand tighter as they walked through the employee corridor.
“Mommy,” Liam whispered, “why are there so many big men?”
Ariana forced a smile. “They’re just doing their jobs.”
She didn’t believe it herself.
When they reached the office assigned to her—temporary, Damian had said—she let out a shaky breath.
This was supposed to be her fresh start.
Instead, it felt like a trap made of gold and glass.
Her phone buzzed.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: Lunch. My office. Don’t bring excuses.
Her stomach dropped.
She didn’t respond.
Two minutes later, her door opened.
Damian stepped inside.
Tall. Imposing. Unavoidable.
Liam looked up and grinned. “Hi!”
Damian’s expression softened instantly.
“Hello,” he said quietly.
Ariana noticed it—the way his voice changed when he spoke to her son.
That terrified her more than his anger ever could.
“We need to talk,” Damian said, eyes on Ariana now.
“I’m working,” she replied stiffly.
“You work for me,” he said evenly.
“And I’m not asking.”
Liam slid off his chair. “I wanna draw dinosaurs.”
Damian crouched immediately. “I’ll have someone bring you paper and crayons.”
Liam’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Yes.”
Ariana stared.
He pressed a button on his phone and gave quiet instructions. Within moments, a staff member appeared with supplies.
Damian watched as Liam settled happily on the floor.
Then he straightened and turned to Ariana.
“You,” he said. “With me.”
Her heart pounded.
They stood alone in his private office moments later, the city stretching endlessly behind him.
“Why are you doing this?” Ariana asked, arms crossed tightly.
“Because I don’t ignore coincidences,” Damian replied.
“And your son is not one.”
Her pulse raced. “He’s just a child.”
“He’s a child who looks like me,” Damian said flatly.
Silence fell between them.
Ariana’s throat burned.
“You don’t know anything,” she whispered.
“I know enough,” Damian replied.
“And I intend to know more.”
She shook her head. “You’re crossing a line.”
Damian stepped closer.
“No,” he said quietly. “You crossed it first—two years ago.”
Her breath hitched.
“You don’t remember,” she said softly.
He frowned. “Remember what?”
Ariana’s heart slammed painfully.
Good. He doesn’t know.
Not yet.
She turned away. “You’re imagining things.”
Damian’s eyes darkened.
“I don’t imagine,” he said. “I confirm.”
He reached into his desk and placed a folder between them.
Ariana’s hands trembled.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Your background check,” Damian replied.
“Which conveniently skips a very important period.”
Her chest tightened.
“Two years ago,” he continued, “you vanished for months.”
She swallowed hard.
“Pregnancy leave,” she said without thinking.
The word hung heavy in the air.
Damian froze.
Slowly, dangerously, he lifted his gaze to hers.
“Pregnancy,” he repeated.
Ariana’s heart shattered.
She had said too much.
Damian took a step closer, his presence overwhelming.
“And the father?” he asked quietly.
Her lips trembled.
“Not your concern.”
His jaw clenched.
“It becomes my concern when a child with my face appears in my building,” he snapped.
“And when that child is suddenly threatened.”
She stiffened. “Threatened
- Writer
