Chapter 15 — You’re Mine To Protect
1125 Words
“They found us.”
The words barely left Damien’s mouth before another explosion ripped through the hotel.
The suite lights flickered violently.
Smoke thickened beneath the doors.
Adaeze’s heart slammed against her ribs as alarms screamed across the building.
People were shouting outside.
Running.
Crying.
Chaos.
Damien’s arms tightened around her instantly, shielding her body against his chest.
“Move,” he ordered sharply.
The guards reacted immediately.
Weapons drawn.
Protective formation.
Tunde grabbed a gun from one of the tables and checked the magazine quickly.
“We don’t have much time.”
Damien’s eyes darkened dangerously.
“You brought them here?”
Tunde looked furious. “If I betrayed you, I wouldn’t still be standing here.”
Another explosion thundered somewhere below them.
The floor shook hard enough to make Adaeze stumble.
Damien steadied her instantly.
Always catching her.
Always there before she fell.
“Sir!” one of the guards shouted. “The elevators are compromised!”
“Stairs?” Damien asked.
“Blocked.”
Smoke poured thicker into the suite now.
Adaeze coughed painfully.
Fear exploded through her chest.
They were trapped.
Damien noticed her panic immediately.
His hand moved to the back of her neck firmly.
“Adaeze.”
She looked up at him shakily.
“You stay beside me no matter what happens.”
The intensity in his voice made her stomach twist.
“No matter what.”
She nodded silently.
Another crash echoed outside.
Then suddenly—
Gunshots.
Close.
Very close.
The guards immediately raised their weapons.
Tunde cursed under his breath.
“They’re already on this floor.”
Damien’s expression turned cold enough to kill.
“How many?”
“Unknown.”
The suite doors suddenly shook violently from a hard impact.
Adaeze jumped.
Someone was trying to break in.
Her breathing became uneven.
“Oh God—”
Damien grabbed her face suddenly.
Firmly.
Forcing her to look only at him.
“Listen to me carefully.”
The world around her blurred beneath the intensity in his eyes.
“If anything happens, you run with Tunde.”
“What?”
“I’ll hold them off.”
“No!”
The refusal came instantly.
Emotionally.
Desperately.
Something flickered across Damien’s face at her reaction.
But he continued anyway.
“You get the drive and you disappear.”
“I’m not leaving you!”
The suite went silent for half a second.
Even the guards looked toward them.
Because Adaeze sounded terrified at the idea.
Not just scared.
Attached.
Damien stared at her intensely now.
Like her words affected him far more than they should have.
The doors shook again.
Harder.
Wood cracking slightly now.
Tunde moved toward the windows quickly.
“There’s another exit through the maintenance hallway.”
Damien nodded once.
“Good.”
Adaeze grabbed Damien’s arm tightly.
“No. We go together.”
“Adaeze—”
“No!”
Tears filled her eyes now.
Raw panic.
“You don’t get to decide to sacrifice yourself for me!”
His jaw tightened sharply.
“I decide whatever keeps you alive.”
The words slammed into her chest painfully.
Because he meant them.
Completely.
Fully.
Dangerously.
The doors suddenly burst open.
Gunfire exploded instantly.
The guards fired back immediately.
Adaeze screamed as Damien dragged her down behind the marble counter.
Bullets shattered glass everywhere.
Smoke.
Shouting.
Violence.
Everything blurred together.
Damien fired calmly over the counter beside her.
Cold.
Precise.
Deadly.
Nothing about him hesitated.
And somehow that terrified her almost as much as it protected her.
One of the attackers dropped instantly.
Another screamed.
Tunde fired from near the hallway entrance while shouting—
“Move now!”
Damien grabbed Adaeze’s wrist.
“Go!”
She shook her head wildly.
“No!”
Another bullet slammed into the counter inches from her face.
Damien’s expression darkened instantly.
“You are not dying here.”
Neither are you.
The words almost escaped her.
But before she could speak—
A masked attacker suddenly appeared from the smoke directly ahead.
His gun aimed straight toward Adaeze.
Everything slowed.
The attacker fired.
Damien moved instantly.
A violent force slammed into Adaeze as Damien threw himself in front of her.
The gunshot exploded through the suite.
Then silence hit her ears for one horrifying second.
Damien’s body jerked sharply.
Adaeze stopped breathing.
No.
No no no.
Blood spread slowly across Damien’s white shirt.
Bright red.
Too much red.
“DAMIEN!”
Rage exploded across the room instantly.
The guards fired wildly.
The attacker dropped dead immediately.
But Adaeze barely noticed.
Because Damien was bleeding.
Because he took the bullet for her.
Her hands shook violently as she grabbed him.
“No, no, no—”
“I’m fine,” he gritted out.
He was lying.
Blood kept spreading across his side.
Fear ripped through her chest so violently it hurt.
“Damien…”
His eyes locked onto hers.
And even injured—
Even bleeding—
He still looked more worried about her than himself.
“Are you hurt?”
The question shattered something inside her.
“You got shot!”
“And you’re alive.”
Like that was the only thing that mattered.
Another explosion rocked the suite.
Tunde grabbed Adaeze’s arm sharply.
“We have to move!”
“No!”
Damien forced himself upright painfully.
His face had gone pale now.
But his voice remained terrifyingly calm.
“Take her.”
“I’m not leaving you here!”
For the first time since she met him—
Real emotion cracked through Damien’s control completely.
“Adaeze!”
The rawness in his voice stunned her.
Fear.
Actual fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
Then quietly—
Dangerously quietly—
He grabbed her face again.
And whispered the words that changed everything.
“You are the only thing I can’t lose.”
Her heart stopped.
The confession destroyed every remaining wall between them instantly.
Because this wasn’t obsession anymore.
This wasn’t control.
This was love.
Dark.
Terrifying.
All-consuming love.
The kind powerful men felt only once.
And would kill for.
Damien rested his forehead briefly against hers.
One tiny second in the middle of chaos.
Gunfire.
Smoke.
Blood.
And somehow she still felt his heartbeat.
Then his voice lowered painfully.
“Please.”
That single word broke her.
Because Damien Black did not beg.
For anything.
Ever.
Tunde pulled her backward suddenly.
“We have to go NOW!”
Adaeze’s fingers slipped from Damien’s as Tunde dragged her toward the hallway.
“No!”
Damien grabbed his gun again despite the blood soaking through his shirt.
The last thing she saw before smoke swallowed him completely—
Was Damien turning back toward the attackers alone.
Like a man fully prepared to burn the entire world down for her.
- Writer
