A Night With Mr. Woods

CHAPTER 14

The drive back to Damian’s penthouse felt like an eternity. The city lights blurred past the windows, but my mind was stuck replaying every word from that basement. My father. The estate. The folder with my name on it.

Damian’s hand gripped the wheel, his knuckles tight, his jaw locked. He hadn’t spoken since we got out, not even when I tried to ask if he was hurt. His silence was louder than anything Kira or that stranger had said.

I pressed my palms against my knees, trying to stop them from shaking. The silence between us grew heavier until I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Damian,” I whispered. “What aren’t you telling me?”

His eyes flicked toward me, then back to the road. He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he pressed harder on the gas, weaving past another car before finally saying, “That man… he isn’t just connected to my family. He is my uncle.”

I froze. “Your uncle?”

“Yes.” His voice was low, firm, almost like he hated the word. “My father’s brother. He disappeared years ago. Everyone said he left the country after stealing money from the company, but I never believed it was that simple. Now I know he has been working in the shadows this whole time.”

My chest tightened. “And Kira is working with him?”

He nodded once. “It looks that way.”

The air in the car felt colder. My mind ran in circles. If Damian’s uncle was behind this, then what did that mean for me? Why was my father’s estate tied up in their schemes?

When we finally reached the penthouse, Damian shut off the engine and sat back, his eyes closing for a brief moment. I reached for the door handle, but his voice stopped me.

“Allison.”

I turned back. He was looking at me now, his eyes sharp, almost vulnerable beneath the storm. “You cannot keep hiding things from me. Whatever you know about your father, whatever you suspect, I need to hear it. Right now.”

My throat went dry. The truth pressed against my lips, but fear weighed it down. “I told you everything. I just… I only found out about the estate after he died. I didn’t even know there was one until the lawyer contacted me.”

Damian leaned closer, his voice low. “That folder they showed you had more than estate documents. I saw the edge of a ledger, coded numbers. That isn’t simple inheritance paperwork. That is something darker.”

I bit my lip, the memory of my father’s last days rushing back. His hushed phone calls, his nervous glances at the door. I remembered overhearing him once, telling someone that “they must never find out.” At the time I thought it was nothing. Now it all came back like shards cutting into me.

“There was something,” I admitted, my voice trembling. “Before he died, he acted different. Restless. Like he was being watched. One night I heard him say, ‘If anything happens, she’ll be safe.’ I thought he was talking about me, but maybe it was about all of this.”

Damian’s gaze darkened. He reached out, his hand covering mine, steady and firm. “Then your father knew. He knew someone was after him. And that means his death might not have been an accident.”

The words slammed into me like a wave. My chest heaved as I tried to breathe. “You think they killed him?”

Damian didn’t answer right away, and that silence was worse than if he had said yes.

We sat there for a long moment, the city humming faintly outside. Finally, Damian released my hand and opened his door. “We are not safe here. Come inside. We’ll figure out our next step.”

Inside the penthouse, the tension clung to the air. I sat on the edge of the couch while Damian poured two glasses of water. He handed one to me, but my hands were still shaking so badly that I nearly spilled it.

“Drink,” he said softly, almost like he was trying to anchor me.

I forced a sip down, the cool water grounding me just enough to meet his eyes again. “What are we going to do?”

Damian set his glass down. “We need proof. Whatever your father left behind, it’s tied to that estate. And if my uncle wants it buried, then it means he is afraid of what we might uncover.”

I nodded slowly, my heart still racing. “But if we go digging… won’t that put us in even more danger?”

His lips curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “We are already in danger, Allison. The only difference is whether we face it blind or armed with the truth.”

I wanted to believe him, to draw strength from the steadiness in his voice. But deep down, fear gnawed at me. Fear not just for myself, but for him too.

I leaned back against the couch, exhaustion tugging at me. My eyelids burned, but I forced them open. “Damian… if they hurt my father because of this, if they hurt him because of something he knew, then I have to see it through. I need to know.”

His gaze softened, and for a brief moment the cold CEO everyone feared seemed to melt away. He moved closer, his hand brushing mine again. “Then we will find out. Together.”

The word together settled in my chest like a fragile promise.

But before I could let myself rest in it, Damian’s phone buzzed sharply on the table. He picked it up, his brow furrowing as he scanned the screen.

“What is it?” I asked, sitting up straighter.

He hesitated, then showed me the message.

It was a single line, no name attached.

If you want to live, stay away from the estate.

My blood ran cold.

Damian tossed the phone back down, his expression like stone. “They know we’re coming.”

Silence filled the room again, but this time it was different. He looked at me with a fire in his eyes I hadn’t seen before.

“They want us afraid,” he said, his voice steady. “But I don’t back down. And neither should you.”

I wanted to be brave. I wanted to rise to his words. But as I glanced out the window into the dark city below, a chill ran down my spine.

Because somewhere out there, Kira and Damian’s uncle were watching. Waiting.

And I couldn’t shake the feeling that the next move we made would change everything.