Chapter 10 — The Locker Key
1295 Words
“You remembered something.”
Damien’s voice cut through the silence sharply.
Adaeze’s breathing became uneven.
The memories were crashing back too fast now.
Rain-soaked streets.
Richard screaming.
Blood on the edge of a broken glass table.
And her own shaking hands stuffing something small into her bag before running into the London night.
“Oh my God…”
Damien stepped closer immediately.
“What did you remember?”
Adaeze looked up at him slowly.
Fear filled every part of her face.
“A train station.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Which station?”
“I—I don’t know.” She pressed trembling fingers against her forehead. “Everything is blurry.”
Damien watched her carefully.
“You hid the drive there.”
It wasn’t a question.
Adaeze swallowed hard.
“I think so.”
The penthouse suddenly felt too small.
Too quiet.
Too dangerous.
Because now there was proof.
She really had something powerful men were willing to kill for.
Damien turned toward one of his guards instantly.
“Get me every train station surveillance archive from London seven years ago.”
The guard blinked. “Seven years—?”
“Now.”
“Yes, sir.”
The man disappeared immediately.
Adaeze stared at Damien in disbelief.
“You can’t seriously think old footage still exists.”
Damien looked at her calmly.
“Money keeps things alive.”
Of course it did.
This man probably bought governments when he got bored.
Her chest tightened again.
“What if they find it first?”
Damien stepped closer slowly.
“They won’t.”
The certainty in his voice should’ve comforted her.
Instead, it terrified her.
Because Damien Black never sounded uncertain about anything.
Not even violence.
One of the guards suddenly approached.
“Sir, the perimeter is secure.”
Damien nodded once.
Then his attention returned fully to Adaeze.
“You’re staying here tonight.”
Her eyes widened instantly.
“What?”
“It wasn’t a request.”
“I’m not staying in your penthouse.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“Adaeze.”
“You don’t get to order me around every second!”
The frustration exploded out of her before she could stop it.
“First the clothes, then the dinners, then your guards following me everywhere—”
“Because people are trying to kidnap you!”
His voice thundered through the penthouse so sharply that silence crashed down immediately afterward.
Adaeze froze.
So did he.
Because Damien rarely lost control.
But she noticed it now.
The fear underneath his anger.
Real fear.
For her.
Damien exhaled slowly and lowered his voice again.
“You are not safe alone anymore.”
The words hit differently this time.
Softer.
Honest.
Adaeze looked away quickly.
Because somehow that honesty affected her more than his dominance ever did.
“I don’t even understand why you care this much,” she whispered.
Silence.
Dangerous silence.
Then—
“Neither do I.”
Her heartbeat stumbled.
The confession came so quietly she almost thought she imagined it.
But the look in Damien’s eyes told her she didn’t.
And suddenly the room felt too intimate.
Too charged.
One of the guards cleared his throat awkwardly from nearby.
“Sir…”
Damien’s expression hardened instantly again.
“What?”
“We found another message.”
The atmosphere shifted immediately.
The guard handed him a phone.
Damien read the screen silently.
Then his eyes darkened.
“What now?” Adaeze asked carefully.
Instead of answering, Damien handed her the phone.
A video was playing.
Her blood ran cold instantly.
It was footage of her apartment building.
Recorded tonight.
The camera zoomed slowly toward her window.
Then toward her front door.
A distorted male voice spoke from behind the camera.
“You can hide behind Damien Black all you want…”
The video cut suddenly to a close-up image.
A photograph.
Of Chike.
Adaeze stopped breathing.
No.
No no no.
Her younger brother smiled in the picture completely unaware someone had been watching him.
The voice returned.
“But eventually…”
The video glitched.
Then ended with four words across the screen.
WE TAKE EVERYTHING BACK.
Adaeze’s knees weakened instantly.
“Chike.”
Panic exploded through her chest.
“They know about Chike.”
Damien took the phone back calmly, but she saw the fury building underneath his composure.
“Get security to his campus now,” he ordered immediately.
“Yes, sir.”
“And move him somewhere private.”
The guard nodded quickly and rushed off.
Adaeze grabbed Damien’s arm before he could walk away.
For the first time since meeting him—
She touched him first.
“Please.”
The fear in her voice stopped him instantly.
“Don’t let anything happen to my brother.”
Damien looked down at her hand gripping his sleeve.
Then back into her eyes.
And something shifted between them again.
Something deeper.
More dangerous.
“He’ll be protected.”
“You promise?”
His gaze held hers steadily.
“Yes.”
The certainty in his voice nearly broke her.
Because nobody had ever sounded that certain about protecting her before.
Not even her father.
Not even herself.
Then suddenly—
Chioma walked into the penthouse.
And froze.
Her eyes immediately landed on Adaeze’s hand still holding Damien’s arm.
Jealousy flashed across her face before she hid it quickly.
“Sir,” she said carefully. “The London team is on the line.”
Damien nodded once.
“Take the call in my office.”
Chioma hesitated.
“Alone?”
The question hung strangely in the air.
Adaeze noticed it instantly.
And so did Damien.
“Yes,” he said coldly.
Chioma’s jaw tightened slightly before she walked away.
But not before throwing Adaeze one sharp look.
Adaeze slowly released Damien’s arm.
“She hates me.”
Damien barely reacted. “Chioma hates everybody.”
“That’s comforting.”
A faint shadow of amusement crossed his face again.
Tiny.
Brief.
Then gone.
“You should rest.”
Adaeze laughed softly in disbelief.
“Rest? After all this?”
“You’ll think clearer after sleeping.”
“And what about you?”
His expression darkened slightly.
“I don’t sleep much.”
Of course he didn’t.
Men like Damien probably had wars running through their heads constantly.
Adaeze suddenly noticed blood near his wrist.
Her eyes widened.
“You’re hurt.”
Damien glanced down briefly.
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s bleeding.”
“A scratch.”
But it wasn’t just a scratch.
The cut along his wrist looked deep enough to matter.
Without thinking, Adaeze grabbed his hand gently.
Damien went completely still.
The entire room seemed to pause with him.
“You need stitches,” she whispered.
His eyes locked onto hers instantly.
Intensely.
Like the simple touch affected him far more than it should have.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them breathed properly.
And for one dangerous second—
Everything else disappeared.
The kidnapping.
The threats.
The violence.
It all faded beneath the way he was looking at her now.
Like she’d touched something inside him nobody else ever reached.
Then suddenly—
The penthouse lights shut off.
Darkness swallowed the room instantly.
Adaeze gasped.
“What happened?”
Emergency red lights flickered on weakly across the penthouse.
One of the guards shouted from somewhere nearby—
“Sir! The security system’s been breached again!”
Damien’s entire body tensed instantly.
Then the massive television screen across the penthouse suddenly turned on by itself.
Static filled the screen.
Before slowly—
A live video appeared.
Adaeze’s blood froze.
It was Chike.
Tied to a chair.
Bruised.
Terrified.
And a familiar voice whispered through the speakers—
“Twenty-four hours starts now.”
- Writer
