Chapter 39
Damien pov
“Oh God.” Aria’s voice was barely a whisper. “He was watching us. He saw us through the window, saw Noah”
“Mama p>
We both spun to find Noah standing in the hallway, rubbing his eyes sleepily. “What was that noise p>
“Just an accident, baby,” Aria said, moving quickly to block his view of the broken window. “Go back to bed, okay p>
“But”
“Now, Noah.” Her voice was sharper than I’d ever heard it. “Please p>
Something in her tone must have scared him because he nodded and scurried back to his room without further argument.
The moment he was gone, Aria turned on me with fury blazing in her eyes.
“This is your fault,” she said, her voice shaking. “Your brother, your family drama, your mess. And now my son—our son—is in danger because of it p>
“I know.” I pulled out my phone, already dialing my security team. “I’m handling it p>
“Handling it?” She laughed, a harsh sound with no humor in it. “How? By throwing money at the problem? By hiring more guards? Marcus just threw a brick through my window while we were having dinner with our son ten feet away. He could have hurt Noah. He could have”
Her voice broke completely, and I watched as three years of carefully constructed armor cracked wide open.
“This is why I didn’t tell you about him,” she said, tears streaming down her face now. “This is why I disappeared, why I built a life where you couldn’t find us. Because I knew that being near you meant danger, meant chaos, meant everything I’d worked so hard to escape p>
“Aria”
“Don’t.” She held up a hand, stopping me. “Just don’t. I need you to leave. Now. Before Noah wakes up again, before this gets any worse, before”
“I’m not leaving you alone with a broken window and Marcus out there,” I said firmly. “My security team is on their way. They’ll secure the apartment, fix the window, make sure you’re safe p>
“And then what?” She wrapped her arms around herself again, her whole body trembling. “He’ll just find another way to get to us. Another threat, another scare tactic, another reminder that being connected to you means never being safe p>
“Then come stay at my penthouse,” I said. “Both of you. It has better security than this place, cameras on every floor, guards at all entrances. Marcus can’t get in without p>
“No.” The word was flat, absolute. “I’m not moving into your home like we’re some happy family playing house. I’m not pretending this is normal or okay or fixable p>
“Then what do you want me to do?” I asked, frustration bleeding into my voice despite my best efforts. “Tell me what you need and I’ll do it. Anything p>
“I need you to fix this,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I need you to make Marcus go away, to make it safe for Noah to exist in your world. I need you to prove that you can actually protect us instead of just making promises you can’t keep p>
“I will.” I stepped closer, close enough to see the tears on her cheeks, the fear in her eyes. “I swear to you, Aria. I will end this. Whatever it takes p>
“How?” She looked up at me, and the vulnerability in her expression nearly destroyed me. “How are you going to stop someone who has nothing to lose and everything to gain from hurting us p>
Before I could answer, my phone rang. Davidson, my head of security.
“Sir, we have a problem,” he said without preamble. “Marcus Blackwood was spotted outside Ms. Monroe’s building twenty minutes ago. We tried to apprehend him but he escaped before we could make contact p>
“Keep looking,” I ordered. “I want him found tonight. I don’t care what resources you have to use p>
“There’s more, sir.” Davidson’s voice was grim. “We found his apartment. He’s been living in Ravenwood for at least three months, and he’s been documenting everything. Photos of Ms. Monroe, of Noah, of you. Schedules, routines, security weak points. This isn’t a spontaneous threat. This is a planned operation p>
My blood ran cold. “What does he want p>
“Based on the documents we found, he wants Blackwood Enterprises. All of it. He’s planning a hostile takeover, and he’s using your son as leverage to make you sign over your controlling shares p>
I looked at Aria, saw her watching me with growing alarm as she picked up pieces of the conversation.
“I’ll call you back,” I said to Davidson, then ended the call.
“What did he say?” Aria demanded. “What did they find p>
I told her. All of it. The apartment, the surveillance, the documentation, Marcus’s endgame. I watched her face go pale, watched her legs nearly give out as the full scope of the threat sank in.
“He wants your company,” she said dully. “He’s going to use Noah to blackmail you into giving it to him p>
“He’s going to try,” I corrected. “But I won’t let it get that far p>
“How are you going to stop him?” She sank onto the couch, her head in her hands. “He’s been planning this for months, Damien. He knows everything about us, about our routines, about where we’re vulnerable. How do you fight someone who’s that prepared p>
“By being smarter,” I said, sitting beside her. “By using his obsession with revenge against him. By giving him exactly what he thinks he wants and then destroying him with it p>
She looked up at me, confusion and hope warring in her expression. “What does that mean p>
“It means I’m going to offer him the company,” I said quietly. “All of it. I’ll arrange a meeting, tell him I’m ready to negotiate terms, make him think he’s won p>
“And then p>
“And then I’ll have him exactly where I want him,” I said. “One place, one time, surrounded by witnesses and security. He makes his play, we have him arrested for extortion and threatening a minor. Game over p>
“That’s your plan?” Aria looked skeptical. “Lure him into a trap and hope he’s stupid enough to fall for it p>
“He will be,” I said with certainty. “Because his need for revenge has made him sloppy. He threw a brick through your window tonight, Aria. That wasn’t strategic, that was emotional. He’s losing control, getting desperate, and desperate people make mistakes p>
“And if you’re wrong?” She asked quietly. “If he sees through the trap? If he gets to Noah before we can stop him p>
“Then I’ll die protecting our son,” I said simply. “But it won’t come to that. I promise you p>
We sat in silence for a moment, the sound of distant sirens growing closer as my security team approached.
“I can’t lose him,” Aria whispered finally. “Noah is everything to me. Everything I built, everything I survived, it was all for him. If something happened to him because of your family”
“Nothing will happen to him,” I interrupted, taking her hand carefully. “I know you don’t trust me yet. I know I haven’t earned that. But trust that I love our son, and there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do to keep him safe p>
She looked down at our joined hands, at the way my fingers wrapped around hers like they belonged there.
“I’m scared,” she admitted. “More scared than I’ve been since the day I found out I was pregnant and alone p>
“You’re not alone anymore,” I said quietly. “Whether you want me or not, whether you trust me or not, you’re not facing this alone. I’m here. I’m not leaving. And I will fix this p>
The sound of footsteps in the hallway announced the arrival of my security team. Within minutes, they were securing the apartment, photographing evidence, installing temporary boarding over the broken window.
Through it all, Aria sat on the couch with her arms wrapped around herself, looking smaller and more vulnerable than I’d ever seen her.
“Stay at my place tonight,” I said again as the team finished their work. “Just for tonight. Until we can upgrade security here and make sure it’s safe p>
“Damien”
“Please.” I crouched in front of her, meeting her eyes. “I can’t leave you here knowing Marcus might come back. I can’t drive away and wonder all night if you’re safe. Please. For Noah’s sake if not your own p>
She studied my face for a long moment, searching for something I hoped she found.
“Just for tonight,” she said finally. “And we’re taking separate rooms. This doesn’t change anything between us p>
“Understood.” I stood and offered her my hand. “I’ll help you pack a bag for you and Noah p>
Twenty minutes later, we were carrying a sleeping Noah to my car, his small body limp and trusting in my arms. He didn’t wake even when I buckled him into the car seat I’d had installed that afternoon, just sighed and snuggled deeper into his blanket.
Aria sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window at the city lights, her expression unreadable.
“Thank you,” I said quietly as I navigated through late-night traffic. “For trusting me with this. I know it wasn’t easy p>
“I’m not doing it for you,” she said without looking at me. “I’m doing it for Noah. Because keeping him safe matters more than my pride or my anger or anything else p>
“I know,” I said. “But thank you anyway p>
We drove the rest of the way in silence.
When we arrived at my building, I carried Noah up to the penthouse while Aria followed with their bags. The place suddenly felt too big, too cold, too much like the mausoleum it had been for the last three years.
“Guest room is down the hall,” I said quietly. “Second door on the left. It has an attached bathroom and Noah can sleep in the bed with you if you’d prefer p>
“Thank you.” Aria took Noah from my arms, and our hands brushed in the transfer. She jerked back like I’d burned her. “Goodnight, Damien p>
“Goodnight,” I said, watching as she disappeared down the hallway with our son.
I stood alone in my living room, surrounded by expensive furniture and emptiness, and wondered how I’d gotten here. How I’d gone from having nothing to having everything that mattered—and still being completely alone.
Tomorrow I would set my trap for Marcus. Tomorrow I would start putting all the pieces in place to end this threat once and for all.
But tonight, I had my family under my roof for the first time ever, even if they were only here out of necessity rather than choice.
It was more than I deserved. And somehow, it still wasn’t enough.