Chapter 7 — They Were Watching Her
1287 Words
“No…”
Adaeze’s voice barely came out above a whisper.
Her fingers tightened around the photograph as terror spread slowly through her body.
This couldn’t be happening.
None of this made sense.
Why would anyone kidnap Damien Black’s sister because of her?
She looked up at Damien again.
Wrong move.
Because his face had become terrifyingly unreadable.
Not emotional.
Not panicked.
Worse.
Calculated.
The kind of expression powerful men wore before deciding who survives.
“Damien…” she whispered shakily. “I swear I don’t know anything about this.”
Silence.
The room held its breath.
Every guard.
Every assistant.
Every person standing there waited for Damien’s reaction.
Because whatever he said next would decide everything.
Finally—
“I know.”
The words hit her so hard she nearly staggered.
Adaeze blinked in shock. “You… believe me?”
Damien stepped toward her slowly.
“Yes.”
Relief almost made her knees weak.
Almost.
Because there was still something dangerous in his eyes.
Something darker than suspicion.
Recognition.
“You’re scared,” he observed quietly.
“Obviously!”
“No.” His gaze sharpened. “This fear is different.”
Adaeze looked away instantly.
Because suddenly—
Old memories were clawing their way back up.
Things she buried years ago.
Things connected to London.
To Richard.
To a night she tried desperately to forget.
Damien noticed immediately.
“Talk to me.”
Her laugh came out shaky. “You say that like you’re capable of normal human conversation.”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“Adaeze.”
The way he said her name made her stomach twist.
Sharp.
Demanding.
Intimate.
She closed her eyes briefly.
“I don’t know why they would say that,” she whispered. “I swear.”
Damien stared at her for a long moment.
Then suddenly turned toward the guards.
“Everybody out.”
The room instantly emptied.
Nobody argued.
Nobody hesitated.
Within seconds, only Damien and Adaeze remained inside the penthouse living room.
The silence became heavier immediately.
More personal.
More dangerous.
Damien walked toward the massive windows overlooking the ocean.
His back faced her now.
But somehow he still controlled the entire room.
“You’re hiding something.”
The words were calm.
Certain.
Adaeze’s heartbeat quickened painfully.
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.”
She gripped the photograph tighter.
“You investigate everybody. Maybe investigate your enemies better.”
His eyes finally lifted toward her reflection in the glass.
“I already did.”
Something about his tone made fear crawl slowly into her stomach.
Then he turned around fully.
“And every trail somehow leads back to you.”
Adaeze’s chest tightened instantly.
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair?” He laughed softly. Coldly. “My sister was kidnapped tonight.”
Pain flashed across his face briefly.
Tiny.
But real.
And suddenly Adaeze remembered—
Underneath all the power and control…
This man was terrified.
For Serena.
She exhaled shakily. “I want to help.”
Damien watched her carefully.
“Then tell me the truth.”
“I am telling you the truth!”
His expression hardened slightly.
“No. You’re telling me pieces.”
Adaeze’s frustration exploded instantly.
“What exactly do you want from me?!”
“The part you’re hiding.”
Silence.
Sharp.
Painful.
Then quietly—
“I lived in London for almost a year.”
Damien went still.
Completely still.
She noticed immediately.
And somehow that made everything worse.
“I never finished my masters program there,” she continued slowly. “Because something happened.”
“What?”
Adaeze swallowed hard.
“I got involved with the wrong people.”
Damien’s eyes darkened instantly.
“Richard.”
She nodded once.
“He wasn’t just abusive.” Her voice became smaller now. “He was connected to dangerous men.”
The room suddenly felt colder.
“What kind of dangerous?”
Adaeze hesitated.
Because speaking those memories aloud felt like reopening wounds that never healed properly.
“I didn’t know at first,” she whispered. “Richard was charming in the beginning. Protective. Wealthy. Everything looked normal.”
Damien moved closer slowly.
Listening carefully.
Then she said the words she’d never fully admitted aloud before.
“I think he used me.”
Something dangerous flickered across Damien’s face.
“How?”
“I used to attend events with him. Dinners. Private parties. Meetings.” Her stomach twisted painfully. “He liked showing me off.”
Damien’s jaw tightened.
Hard.
“And?”
“One night… I overheard something.”
Her voice shook now.
Real fear.
Old fear.
“The men Richard worked with weren’t businessmen.”
Silence.
Then Damien asked quietly—
“What were they?”
Adaeze’s lips parted slowly.
“I think they trafficked information.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Explain.”
“I don’t know everything,” she said quickly. “But powerful people paid them to destroy reputations. Steal identities. Hide money. Ruin lives.”
Damien stared at her intensely now.
“And you heard something you weren’t supposed to.”
It wasn’t a question.
Adaeze nodded slowly.
“One night, Richard got violent because he thought I told someone what I overheard.”
Her chest tightened painfully at the memory.
The shouting.
The broken glass.
The bruises.
The blood.
Damien noticed the shift in her expression instantly.
And something inside him snapped visibly.
“He hit you.”
Not a question.
Adaeze looked away.
Damien’s hands curled into fists at his sides.
The atmosphere around him became lethal.
“He nearly killed me once,” she admitted quietly.
The silence afterward was terrifying.
Because Damien stopped looking human entirely.
No softness.
No control.
Only rage.
Dark, cold rage.
“Adaeze.”
The way he said her name now sounded dangerous.
She forced herself to continue before fear stopped her.
“I escaped London after that. I changed numbers. Moved apartments. Cut contact with everybody.”
Damien stepped closer.
“And Richard found you again.”
“Yes.”
“Because somebody gave him your location.”
Adaeze frowned slightly.
“What?”
Damien’s expression sharpened dangerously.
“You disappeared too well.”
Her pulse slowed.
“What does that mean?”
“It means men like Richard don’t randomly rediscover women who vanish.” His eyes locked onto hers. “Somebody handed you back to him.”
Fear slid down her spine slowly.
No.
No no no.
“That’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
Her mind instantly flashed to Amara.
Then away again.
No.
Amara was her best friend.
Amara helped her survive after London.
Amara comforted her.
Loved her.
Didn’t she?
Damien studied her face carefully.
“You just thought of someone.”
Adaeze shook her head quickly. “No.”
“Adaeze.”
“No.”
His voice lowered.
“Who?”
Before she could answer—
A loud crash echoed somewhere deeper inside the penthouse.
Both of them froze instantly.
Then came screaming.
A woman screaming.
Serena.
Damien moved first.
Fast.
Deadly.
He grabbed a gun from the side drawer so smoothly it shocked Adaeze.
Her blood turned cold.
Gun?
Before she could process it, Damien grabbed her wrist hard.
“Stay behind me.”
Fear exploded inside her chest as more shouting echoed through the penthouse.
Footsteps.
Men yelling.
Glass shattering.
And then—
A gunshot.
Adaeze flinched violently.
Damien’s grip on her tightened instantly.
His expression became murderous.
“Don’t let go of me,” he said quietly.
The command sent chills through her entire body.
Because suddenly—
Adaeze realized this wasn’t business anymore.
This wasn’t obsession.
This wasn’t even protection.
War had just entered Damien Black’s home.
And somehow—
She was the reason for it.
- Writer
