Chapter 9: The Billionaire's Vow.
912 Words
The night was supposed to be silent, but the echoes of danger still lingered in the Blackwood Estate. The intruder had been dragged away, but Serena could still feel his icy grip on her skin, still hear his whisper like a serpent coiling around her mind.
Damian stood in the dimly lit hallway, his broad frame casting a shadow over her. His face was unreadable, but his energy was volcanic—barely contained destruction.
Cole stepped out of the darkness, his gun still in hand. “We’ve secured him. He’s not talking yet.”
Damian’s jaw tightened. “He will.”
A shiver ran down Serena’s spine. The words were a promise.
A death sentence.
Cole nodded. “What do you want me to do?”
Damian’s lips curled into something dangerous. “Break him.”
Serena’s breath hitched.
She had seen glimpses of Damian’s ruthlessness before, but this was different.
This wasn’t just business.
This was personal.
And it was because of her.
Cole disappeared down the hallway, leaving them alone. The silence between them stretched, thick and suffocating.
Damian finally spoke, his voice low. “You’re shaking.”
Serena clenched her fists. “I’m not.”
He stepped closer. “Lying doesn’t suit you.”
She swallowed. He was too close, his presence an intoxicating mix of power and danger. The scent of his cologne wrapped around her, smoky and dark, like a warning she didn’t want to heed.
“I’m fine,” she insisted.
Damian’s eyes burned into hers. “You were almost taken from me.”
She exhaled sharply. “Damian—”
“No,” he cut her off, his voice raw. “Do you understand what that means?”
Serena’s heart pounded. “I know it was dangerous, but—”
“You don’t know,” he growled, stepping even closer. “Because if you did, you’d be terrified.”
“I am terrified,” she admitted, her voice cracking. “But not just of them.”
Damian stilled.
Her eyes burned into his. “I’m scared of you, Damian.”
His face hardened.
She didn’t stop. “You talk about keeping me safe, but you don’t even realize—you’re just as dangerous as the men who want me dead.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I would never hurt you.”
“No,” she whispered. “But you’d destroy anyone who tried.”
His silence was her answer.
And that terrified her more than anything.
The Storm That Followed
Serena didn’t sleep that night.
She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, Damian’s words circling her mind like vultures.
She was pregnant with his child.
That made her his weakness.
And in his world, weaknesses didn’t survive.
A knock at the door made her sit up.
She half-expected it to be one of the staff, but when the door opened—
It was him.
Damian.
Dressed in all black, his hair slightly disheveled, his face unreadable.
Her pulse quickened. “What are you doing here?”
“I can’t sleep.”
Serena swallowed. “That makes two of us.”
A pause. Then—
“Come with me.”
She hesitated. “Where?”
His eyes softened, just barely. “Somewhere I can breathe.”
The Rooftop Confession
The night air was crisp as Damian led her to the rooftop.
It was nothing like she expected.
The space was open, lined with sleek black furniture and a breathtaking view of the city skyline.
But what caught her attention wasn’t the luxury.
It was the piano.
A grand piano sat in the center, its presence oddly out of place in the world of a ruthless billionaire.
Serena turned to Damian. “You play?”
His gaze lingered on the instrument. “Not anymore.”
Her curiosity deepened. “Why?”
Damian walked toward the edge of the rooftop, staring out at the city below.
“When I was a kid, I played for my mother,” he murmured. “She used to say that music was the only thing that made me human.”
Serena’s chest tightened.
Damian Blackwood. The man feared by the world. The man who held her in an iron grip.
And yet, beneath it all—
A boy who once played the piano for his mother.
She stepped closer. “Why did you stop?”
His expression darkened. “Because when she died, so did the last part of me that could create something beautiful.”
Serena’s heart ached.
Damian had lost so much. And now, he was terrified of losing more.
“You are human, Damian,” she whispered.
He turned to her then, his gaze intense. “Not when it comes to you.”
A shiver ran through her. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” he stepped closer, “that I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”
Serena’s breath hitched.
Then—
Damian reached for her hand.
Gently. Carefully.
As if she were something fragile.
Something precious.
“You don’t have to be afraid of me, Serena.” His voice was raw. “You just have to trust me.”
Serena swallowed hard.
Trust.
A dangerous thing to give to a man like Damian Blackwood.
And yet, as he stood before her, as the city lights reflected in his stormy eyes—
She realized she already had.
And that might be the most dangerous thing of all.
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- Writer
