“What’s going on?” I whispered, fumbling to fix the clothes on my body.
He didn’t answer right away, and my eyes widened until he held up one finger. That was when I realized he was attempting to listen for any strange noises. Did this have anything to do with the low beeping noise I’d heard earlier?
“Someone is attempting to enter the house and tripped the alarm.”
I listened once more, and I heard the beeps sound a couple more times and then they stopped. He pulled out his phone and opened up what looked to be an app, but I didn’t recognize the icon.
“Come with me,” he said, and I dashed over to him. He wrapped his arm around my waist, and his bare arm on the small of my back provided some of the warmth that I didn’t know I wanted.
He guided me out of my bedroom and quietly up the stairs. He stopped in front of a closed door and I held my breath when I realized he had led me to his bedroom. With one swipe of his phone, he opened the door.
Given the situation and the lack of lighting, I didn’t take the time to look around the room like I had wanted to. I watched as he walked over to a corner, guided by the light from his phone, and placed his fingers just under the tabletop of his desk. I took a step toward him, not totally understanding what he was doing, and a beat later I heard a door open on the other side of the room.
He rushed back over to me and said, “Anais. Listen to me. This is not the time to argue with me. I want you to head over to that corner of the room and go through the door. The door will close behind you and I need you to stay put until I can get you.”
I nodded and followed Damien back toward the open door.
“Rob has called in reinforcements and this is just a precaution.”
I nodded again and walked through the door, not sure what might meet me on the other side. When I walked in, an overhead light turned on. I glanced around before turning to Damien.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can. If I’m not back in fifteen minutes, use either that phone or that panic button under the desk to call the police.” He pointed to a black phone that looked to be connected to a landline in the corner.
I moved my head so I could see the circular red button on the underside of the desk. “Okay.”
Damien gave me one last look before he left, closing the door behind him, and encapsulating me inside. I took a deep breath and turned around to continue examining my surroundings. I found a storage container full of dried food and water. Another contained at least two first aid kits, blankets, clothes, flashlights, hand crank radio, portable toilet, and toilet paper. The final container had what looked to be cards, a portable chess set, and a couple of other things to serve as a way to pass the time. Essentially, there was anything and everything that you would need to survive for several weeks in this room.
Damien had taken a lot of thought in putting these materials in this room and had made sure that whoever was in here would be prepared for just about any instance, that was for sure. And that feeling helped calm my nerves temporarily. I patted my body, trying to find my phone, and realized I had left it in my bedroom.
“Fuck,” I muttered as I debated what I could do. I reached into the bin and took out the cards and started dealing them out to play a round of solitaire. It wasn’t how I thought I’d be spending my Wednesday night when I should have been sleeping.
As the game went on, I noticed that my hands were becoming clammy, although I was in a cool room. I checked the clock on the wall and if it was correct, only seven minutes had passed, so I continued playing.
A couple of minutes later, I heard a slam that nearly caused me to jump out of my skin. “What the hell was that?”
Of course, silence answered my question as I stood up and walked over to the door. I hoped that Damien, Rob, and whoever their backup was would be okay. I placed my ear against it for a few seconds and I realized that wasn’t a good idea because if someone started shooting, I would more than likely get hit by a bullet. With that thought in my mind, I backed away quickly until my back reached the other wall. It didn’t take long for any lasting confidence that I had to fall by the wayside and the sense of dread to creep into my veins. Sweat broke out over my skin, causing me to tremble for a moment. When the tightness in my chest started, it finally clicked what was happening: panic attack. I slid down on the wall in a fetal position on the hard, wooden floor.
I hadn’t had a panic attack like this since I was a teenager, right before I had to present a group project in biology. Now was definitely not a good time to be having one.
I tried to take deep breaths to at least ease the tightness in my chest, but it wasn’t doing much to help. The nausea that rolled in soon after was interfering with my breathing, causing me to struggle even more. The tears increased and were free flowing down my face and although I tried to keep somewhat quiet, I knew I was failing.
I didn’t know how long I was in that position, but seconds turned into minutes that then turned into what felt like hours as I waited for someone to free me from this room.
“Get it together,” I tried to tell myself and that lessened my tears some. I slowed my heart rate down to a point that I could force myself to crawl over to the desk and looked up at the clock on the wall.
“Three minutes to go,” I muttered to myself and pulled open some of the drawers, thinking that maybe looking through them would take my mind off of what was going on in the house. I found some papers in the top drawer, but I didn’t have time to read them. I opened the bottom drawer, and my eyes widened. A gun was staring back at me. I pulled it out of the drawer and wondered why Damien hadn’t mentioned that it was in here. I studied it for a minute before placing it on top of the desk. This might come in handy in case someone tried to break into the panic room. The only problem was that I’d never fired a gun, so I hoped the safety wasn’t on so that if I needed to, I could just pull the trigger and ask questions later. I’d deal with whether or not I could pull the trigger if the time came.
I had so many questions that needed answering, but there were several that stood out to me. Who the hell would break into Damien’s house? And why did he find it necessary to install a panic room in his home?
20
Anais
Just as I got up to make the phone call, I heard the creaking of a floorboard outside. My feelings jumped from being terrified to attempting to calm myself in order to think rationally. I heard another creaky board bow under the pressure of someone’s weight and that caused me to get into position. I snatched the gun and flicked the lights off and bent down, crouching down in front of a counter.
“Anais?”
My name came off his lips in a hushed whisper. But that was all I needed to restore a sense of calm. In my mind, we were safe.
I backed away as the door opened, dropping the gun at my feet. Damien sprinted inside.
“You’re all right.”
“Yes,” he responded and then he acted as if he was checking me for bruises, as if I was the one who had just gone out to face whoever had tried to break into his home. “Are you okay?”
“A little shaken up, but I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine. You look as if you’ve been crying.” He wiped the remaining tears from my face. “Whoever sent that asshole to my house is going to pay for putting those tears in your eyes.”
“With everything going on—” I was staring at his face until I noticed a small red smear on his cheek. “Is that blood?”
I moved to take a closer look and that was when I finally got a look at his hands.
“Damien, your hands are bleeding.”
“It’s not mine. You need to pack a bag.” He didn’t hide the fact that he was changing the subject.
“Wait, what?”
“We’re getting out of here,” he said, getting ready to pull me along behind him, but I pulled my hand back.
“What do you mean we’re leaving? We should probably call the cops and wait for them to get here.”
He shook
his head. “Don’t worry about the police. Pack your duffle bag with a few essentials and the rest can wait until we get there.”
“Get where?”
“Anais, right now is not the time to be asking a million questions. Just do as I say. Rob should be standing outside your door just in case.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m packing as well.”
I nodded and Damien walked me to the stairs. Sure enough, Rob was standing at the bottom close enough to guard my bedroom door, so I sprinted down the stairs. Rob gave me a slight nod as I entered, and I packed up as much as I could before Damien appeared back at my door.
“Are you set?”
“Give me one second.” I threw on a sweatshirt that I had brought from my apartment and grabbed a thick winter coat from the closet. “Yes, now I am.”
“Okay. Let’s move.”
When we made our way downstairs, another man that I swore I had seen previously was standing near the sink washing his hands.
“Kingston, we are going to head out now.”
Kingston turned around as he was drying his hands and looked at both of us. That’s when it hit me. “You’re the security guard from Elevate.”
“I am. I’m also Damien’s cousin.”
“Oh lovely, there are more of you Crosses in the world.” Watching Kingston dry his hands triggered another memory as I looked at Damien’s face and hands. The only thing that told me that he might have gotten into a scuffle was the bruising that stained his knuckles.
The men chuckled. “We need to get a move on,” Damien said and faced Kingston. “If you hear anything, let me know.”
Kingston nodded and said, “You know I will. It was nice seeing you again, Anais.”
I was shocked that he knew my name. “Likewise.”
Damien and Rob grabbed the bags and I followed them out to an awaiting SUV. I found a couple more men that I had never seen before standing with their guns drawn. “What the hell?” But no one said anything as we got into the SUV and it took off into the dark of night.
I turned to Damien, who was busy on his phone next to me and hadn’t said a word since we left his home.
“Is now a good time to ask questions?” I couldn’t believe how meek my voice sounded and Damien must have thought the same because when he looked up, I saw a hint of concern in his eyes and his expression.
“Hold on.” He dug into his pocket and handed something to me. It was my phone. “Email your father and whoever else and tell them that you’re working remotely for the time being.”
“Okay but—” The look he gave could melt steel. As I pulled up my email, I said, “You need to explain what’s going on. I’m tired of being left in the dark.”
“Don’t worry. I will once you send the email.”
I did as he asked and then turned to him. “Did you find whoever tried to break in?”
“Yes.”
I was shocked by his response. “Well? Did you turn them over to the police?”
“No, but they’ve been taken care of.”
When he said that, I thought back to how bruised and bloody his fist had been and the smear of blood that had been on his face before we left the house.
He must have noticed that I put two and two together because he leaned over and said, “You don’t have to worry about that guy anymore.”
Unimaginable thoughts ran through my head and it was enough to get me to stop asking questions for the time being. Although it was warm in the car, a shiver crept through my body as realization hit me. Damien had no problem killing someone who crossed him. Would he have no issue doing the same to me? The thought caused a headache to form so I curled up as much as my seatbelt would allow and stared out the window. Some of the exhaustion, both mental and physical, had taken over my body and I fell into a restless sleep.
“Where are we going?” I asked a while later. I was still groggy but feeling a bit more human as the SUV continued on its journey to who knew where.
“Upstate to a remote location that is more secure,” Damien said. He had pulled out his laptop at some point and was now working on that as well. “Thought it would be nice to get out of the city for a bit and give my people enough time to clean up and add more security to my properties in the city.”
I stopped my eyes from bulging out of my head. He had multiple properties in New York City? The townhouse we were staying in had to be worth about $13 million by itself. I glanced at my phone and saw that my father had replied. He wanted to talk to me, probably questioning my reason for working remotely.
“Will we be back by Christmas?” I tossed that question out there because Christmas was a week away and I wanted to be back with my family to celebrate it by then.
“Yes.”
I sat back and got comfortable again and watched as we cruised down the highway to a place unknown by me. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before we pulled up to a vast estate that seemed to go on for miles.
The enormous white home was something that dreams were made of and the snow that lined the property made it look like something out of a movie. When Rob steered the car up the round driveway, I noticed a couple of black cars parked there too. I was certain those were more security guards.
“Do you own this house?” I asked Damien as the car came to a stop.
“No. My parents do.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me we were going to your parents’?”
“Look, this is probably one of the most protected locations in the state outside of a government facility. This was the best option unless we flew out of the country. At least until we figure out who sent that asshole to the house.”
“Did you tell your parents about all of this?”
Damien closed his laptop and placed it into his bag. “Yes, they know what happened and I told them about you. They split their time between the city and here, but they are here right now.”
I played with my clothes. If he had mentioned it before, it would have given me an opportunity to at least look more presentable since I would be meeting his parents for the first time. Then again, why did this even matter? This wasn’t real and would be over soon. He grabbed my hand, stopping my movements.
“Don’t worry about what you’re wearing. We are just going to go in there, we’ll talk to my parents for a minute, and then we’ll shower and change. Everyone understands what happened.”
I quickly attempted to pull my hair into a ponytail, hoping that would make me look more put together. The doors on both sides of the car opened and I grabbed my purse and laptop bag. After I stepped out of the car, Damien followed suit and offered to hold my laptop bag as the two of us walked up the stairs to the home.
Someone had been expecting us because the door swung open and a man in a suit greeted us.
“Hello, sir.”
Damien smiled back at him and this might have been the first time I had seen him smile. It was strange to see his lips turned up into a smile. He turned to me and said, “This is Bernard. Bernard, this is Anais.”
“Nice to meet you.” I held my hand out to shake his.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Ms. Monroe.” Before we could say anything further, a handsome couple entered the room. I could immediately tell that they were Damien’s parents. It was easy to see that Damien got most of his looks and height from his father, and his eyes came from his mother.
“Oh, dear. You’re okay, right?” The woman reached over and held Damien’s face in her hands. “I swear I’ve been holding my breath until Rob pulled into the driveway.”
“Everything is fine. We’re safe and we’re here now.”
When she turned to me, she said, “You must be Anais. We’ve heard so much about you.”
I gave a polite smile because that was news to me. I had barely heard anything about them and what I knew had come from Ellie’s or my research. “Thanks for welcoming me into your home, Mrs. Cross.”
“Of course! Any friend of Damien’s is welcomed to
our home, and please call me Selena. And this is my husband, Martin.” She gave me a warm smile as Martin stuck his hand out to shake mine. “Do you need anything? I could have Maddie whip something up.”
“Could she throw together something for breakfast? We haven’t eaten.”
“And when he hasn’t eaten, he becomes harder to manage. Trust me I know this well.” Selena smiled at me and faced her son.
“Sure, I can go do that and you’ll show Anais to the Hampton guest room? That one should be ready. Damien, your room is still how you left it so that’s where you’ll be.”
“Sounds great.” He looked over at me before letting his eyes float back to his mother’s and said, “I think Anais and I will probably change our clothes. We’re wearing the clothes we’ve had on since last night.”
“Right.” Selena moved back and allowed us to move farther into the home. “I’ll be in the kitchen or living room if you two need me.”
“Damien, we should chat when you’re done settling in,” Martin said.
Although there was nothing that shouted out to me that something was up, I could tell that Martin’s words had a different meaning to Damien than they did to me. The look he and his son shared told me that.
“Sounds good. I’ll show Anais to her room.”
Damien, Rob, and Bernard grabbed our things and we headed up the stairs and down a long hallway. It was lined with photos and paintings, most of which seemed to relate to the family in some sort of fashion, including photos and paintings of her children when they were small. When Damien stopped in front of one door, Rob and Bernard placed the bags they had been carrying down. Damien thanked them and the two went back the way we had come.
“So, you’re right here,” he said and opened the door he was standing next to. The bedroom had all the standard amenities you’d expected in a guest room but was brighter and the complete opposite of the dark colors Damien seemed to stick to. The king-size bed had a beige comforter and a ton of pillows, and there was a dresser and windows that overlooked the huge backyard. The Crosses definitely took pride in having everything you could ever want. I was sure it would be a steep transition to go back to completely fending for myself.
Savage Empire: An Enemies to Lovers Dark Billionaire Romance (Broken Cross Book 1) Page 13