Episode 5:Code Black
1635 Words
The knock came at 2:17am.
Not a polite knock. Three sharp raps. Military.
“Ms. Morgan. Code Black. Get dressed. Now.”
I was already awake. The text was still glowing on my phone. “You think he’ll protect you? He can’t even protect himself.”
I threw on jeans and a hoodie. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
When I opened the door, two guards were there. Earpieces. Guns. And Zara, in tactical pants and a bulletproof vest.
“Where’s Damian?” I asked.
“Securing the perimeter,” Zara said. “We have a breach 3 blocks away. Possible threat.”
My blood went cold. “Tolu?”
“Already moved to a safe house. She’s fine.”
Lies. Everything felt like a lie tonight.
They rushed me downstairs. The Lekki house was nothing like the penthouse. Smaller. But now it was crawling with men. Checking windows. Jamming signals.
Damian was in the living room. Still in that white undershirt and suit pants. But now he had a gun in a holster at his back.
He looked up when he saw me. His face was hard again. The ice was back.
“Status?” he asked Zara.
“Two SUVs spotted. No plates. Circling. Could be a distraction.”
“Then we don’t take the bait.” He turned to me. “You’re staying in the safe room.”
“I’m not a child,” I snapped. Fear made me brave. Stupid, but brave. “I want to know what’s happening.”
“Code Black means you don’t get to ask questions,” he said. “It means you do what I say so you don’t die.”
The word die hung in the air.
One of the guards spoke into his radio. “Contact. North gate.”
Damian’s jaw clenched. “Move.”
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me down a hallway. We passed a painting that slid open to reveal a steel door. Biometric lock.
He pressed his thumb to it. The door hissed open.
Inside: a room with no windows. Screens on every wall. Food. Water. One bed.
“24 hours,” he said. “Max.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be outside. Doing my job.”
He turned to leave.
“Damian.” I used his name. The first time. “Don’t die.”
He paused. Didn’t turn around. “I don’t plan to.”
The door shut. Locked.
---
For the first hour I watched the screens.
Camera 1: Front gate. Empty.
Camera 2: Back garden. Empty.
Camera 3: Damian. Pacing. Talking to Zara. Gun visible.
Then Camera 4 flickered. Static. Then black.
My heart stopped.
The intercom crackled. “Adele. Stay down. Do not open the door for anyone but me.”
His voice was calm. Too calm.
Gunshots. Distant. Muffled.
I dropped to the floor behind the bed. My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
“Code Black didn’t save her sister, did it? 5 years ago.”
I gasped. How did they know about his sister?
Another text: “And it won’t save you either.”
The lights flickered. Once. Twice.
The door handle rattled.
“Adele?” A voice. Not Damian’s. Male. Smooth. “Open up. I just want to talk.”
I didn’t answer. Didn’t breathe.
“Adele. We can help each other. You don’t belong to him.”
More gunshots. Closer now.
“Last chance,” the voice said. “Open the door, or we open it for you.”
I grabbed the lamp. Stupid. But it was all I had.
The lock beeped. Someone was trying to hack it.
Then: BANG.
The door flew open.
But it wasn’t the smooth-voiced man.
It was Damian. Shirt torn. Blood on his knuckles. Chest heaving.
He saw me on the floor and his whole body sagged with relief.
“Up,” he ordered. “Now.”
I scrambled up. He pulled me against him, shielding me with his body as we ran.
The house was chaos. Alarms. Shattered glass. Two guards down.
Zara was by the front door, firing. “Vehicle’s here!”
Damian pushed me into an armored SUV. Jumped in after me. Zara slid into the driver’s seat.
“Go,” Damian said.
We peeled out as another SUV came through the gate.
---
We didn’t talk for 20 minutes.
Sirens behind us. Then gone. Zara lost them in traffic.
Finally, Damian spoke. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head. “The texts. They know about your sister.”
His face went blank. “I know.”
“You’re not surprised.”
“No.” He looked out the window. “It’s my brother.”
The world tilted.
“Your... brother?”
“Kunle Carter,” Zara said from the front. “He was supposed to inherit Carter Group. Until the accident.”
“What accident?” I whispered.
Damian’s jaw worked. “5 years ago. My sister, Amara, died. Car crash. Kunle was driving. Drunk.”
“Oh my God.”
“He did 3 years. Got out last month.” Damian’s voice was flat. “He blames me. Says I took the company from him. Says I owe him.”
“And me?”
“You’re leverage,” Zara said. “He wants the company back. He thinks hurting you will make Damian give it up.”
Damian finally looked at me. “I’m sorry. I should have told you.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because you would have said no,” he said simply. “And I needed you to say yes.”
The honesty hurt more than the lies.
We pulled up to a new location. A warehouse. More guards.
Inside, Zara pulled up files on a big screen. Photos of Kunle. Mugshots. Recent surveillance.
“He’s escalating,” Zara said. “First texts. Then the hospital. Now a direct attack.”
“What do we do?” I asked.
Damian walked to me. Put his hands on my shoulders. His hands were still shaking.
“We end this,” he said. “Tonight.”
“How?”
“By using you as bait.”
I flinched. “Excuse me?”
“Not like that,” he said quickly. “We leak that you’re being moved to another location. A fake one. When Kunle goes for it, we catch him.”
“That’s dangerous.”
“Everything is dangerous right now,” he said. “But this way, he comes to us. On our terms.”
I looked at him. Really looked. Tired eyes. Blood on his shirt. But he was here. He came for me.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll do it.”
His eyes widened. “You don’t have to.”
“I signed a contract,” I said. “Page 17. You protect me. Let me help you protect us.”
For a second, he looked like he might argue. Then he nodded. “Okay.”
---
The plan was set for dawn.
I was supposed to “accidentally” tell one of the guards my new location. The guard worked for Kunle. Zara had figured that out 2 hours ago.
We waited.
Damian and I sat in a small office. Just us.
He hadn’t let go of my hand since we got here.
“Can I ask you something?” I said quietly.
“Anything.”
“Why did you really choose me? Out of everyone.”
He was quiet for a long time. “Because you looked at me like I was a person. Not a bank account. Not a headline. Just... a man.”
“And now?”
“Now I look at you and I see the only good decision I’ve made in 5 years.”
My breath caught. Rule 3 screamed in my head.
“Damian—”
“Don’t,” he said. “Don’t say it back. Not yet. Not until this is over.”
I nodded. Tears in my eyes.
At 5am, the guard “accidentally” mentioned the fake location.
At 5:30, we got the alert. Movement.
At 6:00, Kunle walked into the trap.
---
The warehouse echoed with shouts. Police. Sirens.
I watched from a monitor as they cuffed him. He was screaming. “You stole everything from me, Damian! Everything!”
Damian didn’t go down. He stayed with me.
“It’s over,” he said softly. “You’re safe.”
I should have felt relieved. I did. But I also felt... empty.
Later, at the hospital, Tolu was awake. Laughing. Safe.
“You did it,” she said when she saw me. “You saved us.”
“We did it,” I corrected.
That night, back at the Lekki house, Damian knocked on my door again.
No blood this time. Clean shirt. But he still looked tired.
“The contract,” he said. “I want to change it.”
“What part?”
“The 12 months part.” He swallowed. “Make it... indefinite. If you want.”
I stared at him. “Is this business?”
“No,” he said. “This is me. Asking. Not demanding.”
Rule 1: Don’t ask questions.
Rule 2: Don’t get attached.
Rule 3: Don’t fall for the billionaire.
Rule 4: Don’t trust anyone.
Rule 5: The fine print might save you.
Rule 6: Don’t fall for the man who’s trying to be better.
I stepped forward. “What if I already broke Rule 3?”
His eyes darkened. He reached up and tucked hair behind my ear. His thumb brushed my cheek.
“Then I guess we’re both in trouble,” he whispered.
He leaned down.
And for the first time, the billionaire kissed the contract wife.
Not because of a contract.
Because he wanted to.
- Writer
