Chapter 36
Aria pov
“Damien.” I stood up so fast my chair scraped against the floor. “What are you doing here p>
My heart hammered in my chest. The candlelight that had seemed romantic moments ago now felt harsh and exposing. I could feel the eyes of other diners turning toward us, drawn by the tension crackling in the air.
“I could ask you the same thing,” he said, his gaze flicking to Lucas with undisguised hostility. “You cancelled our meeting because ’something came up.’ Didn’t realize that something was a romantic dinner with Hayes p>
The bitterness in his voice cut through me. I’d never heard Damien sound like this before—raw, unguarded, almost desperate. His jaw was tight, his hands clenched at his sides like he was physically restraining himself.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” Lucas said, standing as well and moving to stand beside me, “but Aria can have dinner with whoever she wants. You don’t own her p>
“Stay out of this, Hayes.” Damien’s voice dropped to a dangerous level. “This is between me and my wife p>
“Ex-wife,” I corrected sharply. “And Lucas is right. Who I have dinner with is none of your concern p>
“Everything about you is my concern,” Damien shot back. “Especially when you’re putting yourself in danger by broadcasting your location to anyone who might be watching p>
“Watching?” Lucas stepped forward, his posture protective. “What’s he talking about, Aria p>
“Nothing,” I said at the same time Damien said, “Marcus p>
The name hung in the air between us, heavy with implication.
“Your brother?” Lucas’s expression darkened. “Is he threatening Aria p>
“He’s threatening all of us,” Damien said, his attention still locked on me. “Which is why broadcasting her location on social media and sitting in a restaurant with floor-to-ceiling windows is spectacularly stupid right now p>
“I didn’t post anything on social media,” I protested.
“But the restaurant did.” Damien pulled out his phone and showed me their Instagram story—a photo of the rooftop garden with Lucas and me visible in the background, tagged with the restaurant’s location. “They post photos of their dining area every night. Anyone following their account would know exactly where you are p>
My blood ran cold. I hadn’t thought about that, hadn’t considered that simply going to dinner could put me at risk. In the three years since I’d left, I’d built my life on being invisible, on keeping Noah safe by staying out of Damien’s world entirely. One dinner had shattered that carefully constructed anonymity.
“So you rushed over here to what, exactly?” Lucas asked, his voice sharp with challenge. “Play the hero? Remind Aria that you exist p>
“I came here to make sure she was safe,” Damien said through gritted teeth. “Something you should have thought about before bringing her to the most photographed restaurant in the city p>
“How was I supposed to know about Marcus?” Lucas shot back. “You’re the one with the homicidal brother, Blackwood. Maybe if you’d handled your family issues better, Aria wouldn’t be in danger in the first place p>
“Don’t.” Damien took a step forward, his hands clenched into fists. “Don’t pretend you know anything about my family or what I’ve been dealing with p>
“I know enough,” Lucas said, not backing down. “I know you threw Aria out when she was pregnant. I know you chose to believe lies over your own wife. I know you spent three years not giving a damn where she was or whether she was even alive p>
“Lucas, stop,” I said, putting a hand on his arm.
But it was too late. Damien’s expression had gone from angry to absolutely murderous.
“You don’t know anything about what happened between us,” he said, his voice deadly quiet. “You don’t know what I’ve spent the last three years dealing with, the guilt that’s eaten me alive every single day, the investigators I hired to try to find her. You don’t know shit about me or my relationship with Aria, so maybe you should shut your mouth before I shut it for you p>
“Is that a threat?” Lucas moved forward, putting himself between Damien and me.
“It’s a promise.” Damien’s eyes were ice-cold now, completely devoid of the vulnerability I’d seen earlier. “Touch her again and I’ll destroy you. Buy out your company, ruin your reputation, make sure you never work in this city again. Stay away from what’s mine p>
“She’s not yours anymore, Blackwood.” Lucas’s voice was calm but firm, a direct challenge. “She hasn’t been yours for years. You gave up that right when you threw her out p>
Damien’s eyes locked on mine, and the intensity in them made my breath catch. “She’s always been mine. I was just too blind to see it p>
The silence that followed was deafening. Other diners were staring now, phones out and recording, and I realized with horror that this confrontation was about to become tomorrow’s headlines.
“We need to leave,” I said quietly, grabbing my purse. “All of us. Now. Before this becomes a spectacle p>
“I’ll take you home,” Damien said immediately.
“Like hell you will,” Lucas countered. “I brought her here, I’ll take her home p>
“Both of you stop,” I snapped, my voice sharp enough to cut through their posturing. “I’ll get my own ride home. Alone. Because apparently neither of you can act like adults for five minutes p>
I walked away from both of them, ignoring Lucas calling my name and very aware of Damien following three steps behind me. My heels clicked against the marble floor, each step echoing my frustration. The maître d’ looked mortified as I passed, probably already calculating the damage control needed for the scene we’d just caused. I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment and anger in equal measure. When I reached the street, I pulled out my phone to call for a car.
Damien’s hand closed gently around my wrist. “Please. Let me take you home. I need to know you’re safe p>
“You need to know I’m safe, or you need to make sure Lucas doesn’t take me home?” I asked, pulling my wrist free.
“Both,” he admitted, and the honesty in his voice surprised me. “I’m not going to apologize for being jealous, Aria. Not when I just watched another man try to kiss my wife p>
“Ex-wife,” I corrected again, but my voice lacked conviction.
“Are we really divorced?” Damien asked quietly. “Because I never signed the papers. And if you’re honest with yourself, neither did you p>
My heart stuttered. “What are you talking about? I signed them three years ago p>
“You signed the preliminary documents,” Damien said. “But the final divorce decree, the one that actually makes it legal? That never got filed. Check with your lawyer if you don’t believe me p>
I stared at him, my mind reeling. “Why p>
“Because I couldn’t do it,” he said simply. “I couldn’t make it real. I kept telling myself I would, that I’d sign them and file them and make it official. But every time I tried, I couldn’t. Some part of me knew that signing those papers meant losing you forever, and I couldn’t make myself do it p>
The admission hung between us. Traffic rushed past on the street. Somewhere behind us, I could hear Lucas arguing with the restaurant staff. But all I could focus on was Damien’s face, the raw vulnerability there.
“Damien”
“I know it doesn’t change anything,” he interrupted. “I know I don’t deserve another chance after everything I did. But legally, technically, you’re still my wife. And the thought of watching Hayes kiss you makes me want to burn the world down p>
A car pulled up to the curb—my ride, summoned before I could stop it. I looked at Damien, at the raw emotion in his eyes, at the vulnerability he was showing me despite the public setting.
“Goodnight, Damien,” I said softly, then got in the car before I could change my mind.
As we pulled away, I looked back to see him still standing there, watching me leave. And beside him, Lucas emerged from the restaurant, his expression unreadable.
Two men. Two completely different futures. And somehow, I was still legally married to the one who’d broken my heart.
I spent the entire next day avoiding both Damien and Lucas, throwing myself into work with the kind of focus that had built my empire in the first place. Meetings, calls, contract reviews—anything to keep my mind occupied and away from the disaster that was my personal life.
But at three o’clock, reality came crashing back in the form of a call from Noah’s preschool.
“Ms. Monroe?” The director’s voice was apologetic. “I’m so sorry to bother you, but there’s been a small situation with Noah p>
My heart stopped. “Is he hurt? What happened p>
“No, no, he’s fine physically,” she assured me quickly. “But there was an incident during the pickup. A man approached Noah in the hallway when his teacher stepped away for just a moment. We have it on the security camera, and while nothing happened, I thought you should know p>
“What man?” I was already grabbing my keys, my entire body flooded with adrenaline. “What did he look like p>