Collateral Damage

Rules Of the House

She didn’t ask him about the footsteps. It sat in her chest for three days that shadow, unmoving,

deliberate but every time she rehearsed the question, it sounded either paranoid or like an

accusation she wasn’t ready to make out loud.

Instead, she tested the boundaries of her cage quietly. On the fourth day, she had the driver take

her somewhere unplanned , a small café near the harbor, nothing suspicious, just lunch.

Damian was waiting when she got back, jaw tight, a man who didn’t do waiting well.

“You went to Marchetti’s,” he said, before she’d set down her bag.

“I did. Excellent pastries.”

“It also has photographers who sit outside most afternoons hoping to catch someone interesting.”

His voice was low, controlled, the words landing like a warning wrapped in politeness. “You

were photographed. It’ll be online by tonight.”

“I didn’t realize I needed permission for lunch.”

“You don’t need my permission.” He stepped closer, close enough that she caught his cologne,

close enough that her pulse betrayed her by picking up. “You need my protection, whether you

want it or not. There are people in my world who’d use you to get to me. I’d rather you resent me

for the rules than end up a headline for a reason neither of us can undo.”

“Then tell me what I’m actually being protected from.”

Something dark and controlled moved behind his eyes. “Not yet.”

“You keep saying that.”

“And I’ll keep saying it until I trust you enough to hear the rest without running.” His hand rose,

slow, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, the same gesture from his office, except this

time his thumb grazed her jaw on the way back, deliberate, lingering half a second too long to be

accidental. “You confuse me, Elena. I married you to make a man suffer. I didn’t plan on wanting

to keep you instead.”

The words hit harder than she expected, low and rough, like he hadn’t meant to say them out

loud.

“What does that mean,” she breathed.

“It means be careful how much you push tonight.” His hand dropped. He stepped back, the

careful control sliding back into place like a door closing. “Because I don’t know how much

longer I can keep pretending this is only business.”

He left her standing in the hallway, heart hammering, hating how much she wanted him to come

back and finish what he’d started.