Chapter 5
1048 Words
"Damien, just a night and nothing more?"... Hailey said.
"Of course," that was the hastened response from Damien.
They move into bed and have the night all together, after which they both slept off so long.
Hailey got up earlier than Damien and left hurriedly while Damien got up a few moments after she had gone.
Damien Williams sat in his penthouse office, staring out at the Minneapolis skyline as the early morning sun bathed the city in gold. Normally, the city's hum of business and power brought him comfort, but today, even the rising sun couldn't ease his mind.
His thoughts were still on Hailey.
He hadn't expected her to affect him like this. When he offered her the deal of just one night, no strings attached, it had seemed straightforward. Damien wasn't one for relationships, not after what happened with Elena. Women were a temporary distraction, a momentary pleasure he could indulge in and then forget. But Hailey was different. She lingered in his mind like a ghost, haunting him in a way he wasn't used to.
He couldn't stop thinking about her from the way she had looked at him the night before, both nervous and determined, the softness of her kiss, and the vulnerability in her eyes that had pulled him in deeper than he intended. It wasn't just physical. He felt something more with her, and that scared him.
For years, Damien had built walls around his heart, keeping everyone out. But Hailey had slipped through, and now she was all he could think about.
When he woke up that morning, she was gone, the bed cold where she had slept. She hadn't said goodbye, just like the first time. It irritated him then, and it irritated him now. He wasn't used to women walking away from him, especially not twice. But Hailey was different. She didn't follow the same rules as everyone else in his world.
Frustrated, Damien turned away from the window and picked up his phone. No messages from her, of course. He hadn't expected any. Hailey wasn't the type to use their night together as leverage. She was fiercely independent, and that only made him want her more.
He thought about calling her but stopped himself. He didn't chase women. If she wanted to see him again, she'd reach out. At least, that's what he told himself. But he wasn't sure he could wait.
His phone buzzed, snapping him out of his thoughts. It was his assistant, Maria.
"Mr. Williams," her voice crackled. "Your meeting with the board is in fifteen minutes."
Damien exhaled, pushing thoughts of Hailey aside. He had more pressing matters when the corporate merger with the Everglade Group was at a crucial stage. This was his arena of business, strategy, and control. No room for emotions here.
"I'll be down shortly," he replied, hanging up.
He straightened his suit and adjusted his tie, preparing for the meeting. But even as he focused on his work, Hailey's face remained in the back of his mind, like a sentence left unfinished.
The boardroom was a far cry from the emotional turmoil inside Damien's mind. Here, everything was controlled with cold and calculated moves. The long glass table gleamed under soft lighting, and seasoned executives sat reviewing the merger documents.
Damien took his seat at the head of the table, his face unreadable. He had perfected the art of masking his emotions in these meetings. No one here would suspect the internal conflict beneath his calm exterior.
The meeting began, but as the discussion turned to profits and projections, his mind wandered back to Hailey. It frustrated him that he needed to focus, but she had left a mark he couldn't erase.
"Mr. Williams, your thoughts on the merger?" Rachel, a board member, asked, pulling him back to the present.
Rachel was capable but too ambitious in a way that felt manipulative. Still, she was an asset to the company, so Damien tolerated her.
"The merger is a smart move," Damien replied, his voice steady. "It expands our market and strengthens our position in Europe. But the current terms don't favor us. We need more control over operations before I agree."
Rachel's expression tightened, though she nodded. "Everglade won't like that. They want an equal partnership."
"They'll have to adjust," Damien said. "We don't do equal. We do control."
The board murmured in agreement, and though Rachel clearly disapproved, she conceded. Damien didn't care if she liked it or not, he wasn't here to please people, but to win.
As the meeting continued, Damien regained his focus, slipping back into the flow of business. This was his world of control, dominance, success. But no matter how intense the discussion got, thoughts of Hailey crept back in, reminding him that he was losing control over something more personal.
Around the evening, Damien returned to his penthouse, the city was awash in the soft glow of sunset. He loosened his tie and poured a drink, immediately thinking of Hailey again. He had managed to push her out of his mind during the day, but now, alone, the restless feeling returned.
He found himself scrolling to her contact, his thumb hovering over the call button. He set the phone down with a sigh. This wasn't him. He didn't chase after women. But Hailey wasn't like anyone else.
Taking a long drink, Damien wrestled with the unfamiliar feeling inside. He had everything as money, power, control, but now, for the first time in years, something felt missing. And that something was Hailey.
He didn't know how to handle it. Emotions were foreign territory, something he had trained himself to see as a weakness. But Hailey had gotten past his defenses, and now he didn't know how to get her out of his mind.
With a deep sigh, Damien drained his glass and made the decision.
Hailey stood in the cramped kitchen of her mother's apartment, absently stirring a pot of soup while her thoughts drifted back to the night she had spent with Damien Williams. The comforting smell of chicken broth filled the air, but her min
d was far from the task at hand, replaying every moment she had shared with him.
He picked up his phone and made the call.
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