Damien left the meeting with his business partners carrying a weight heavier than steel chains. Their warnings rang in his mind like gongs. You’re compromising the balance. You’re too exposed. You’re making enemies who will not forgive.
But none of that mattered to him. None of it could matter, not when Sera was still missing.
He drove in silence, the city lights painting streaks across his windshield as night deepened. Yet amid the fury and the storm raging inside him, one thought cut through, Amara.
She had been his lifeline these past days—someone who soothed his edges when he was breaking apart. But now that his enemies knew where to look, keeping her in that hotel was like tying her to a stake and painting a target over her chest.
Damien tightened his grip on the wheel. No more ri
