I was serious. Dead serious. I didn’t care about any consequences. If a hair was missing on Mom’s head, he and I would have words that would lead to more drastic actions.
He snatched his arm from out of my grasp. “Anais, it’s clear that you have little faith in me.”
“That is a massive understatement.”
Damien adjusted his position and his imposing stature forced me to back up until I hit a wall. “Spitfire.” His words were dark and calculated. “I’ve been more lenient with you than probably any person in my life, but you’re pushing it. I know you’ve been through something traumatic, but I’ve had enough of all of this and I’m the only person you can trust right now.”
“Why should I? In what way have you shown that I can trust you?”
“I didn’t leave you out there to die.” His eyes darkened as his voice rolled like thunder in a storm. “Now let’s go.”
2
Damien
I knew I’d shattered her world, but she wanted the truth, and that was some of it. I couldn't have foreseen anything like this happening, but I'd known I had to be prepared to save her in case something happened.
Anais had taken over my mind. Completely and utterly consumed my thoughts. Before her, I spent most of my days thinking about work and most of my evenings thinking about who I was going to fuck. Now all of that had changed. The day she walked out of my parents’ estate was one that I would remember forever. No one had ever left Damien Cross. I was the one who always cut things off, but I let her go.
It was a punishment I was inflicting on myself. She didn’t need to be caught up in the battles I was fighting. But that all changed when someone dared to shoot her father.
I might have let her leave, but I'd kept a close eye on her as soon as she stepped out of the safety net of my parents’ home. We were trying to track whoever sent that fucker to break into my home and with this person still on the loose, things could be dangerous for Anais. It was my job to protect her, whether she liked it or not.
Since the break-in, I'd hired more guards from Cross Sentinel, the security company that Kingston cofounded, to watch over her in case someone tried something. Their job was to keep her safe from a distance so she wouldn’t suspect anything. If something happened, their goal was to get her out of there immediately. That was how the guards on her detail extracted her from the situation safely when someone shot James. When Kingston briefed me on the situation on the way to the safe house, I was told one guard pretended to be a stranger on the street and made sure that the paramedics got to him as soon as possible, while another followed Ilaria to the hospital.
And now, here we were, sitting in the back of one of my many SUVs as Rob drove us to the hospital. I glanced over at her for a moment before turning my head back to my computer. Getting her out of harm’s way could have gone smoother, but I knew my men did what needed to be done in order to keep Anais safe. The ride to the hospital with Anais was quieter than the one my men had reported to me when they were bringing her to the safe house.
Although she hadn’t said a word since we had gotten in the SUV, Anais kept clenching and unclenching the hand that was resting on the seat between the two of us. Being in her presence again gave me a sense of peace that I wasn’t willing to admit out loud. I could only imagine the thoughts that flew through her mind as we raced to the hospital. If we went any faster, we would get pulled over. Even though I could get us out of a ticket, it would delay us further. I reached under my seat, grabbed something, and placed it in her lap. She looked down at it and back at me.
“Thank you,” she said, opening her purse to check the contents.
The trip didn’t take long and almost before the vehicle could come to a stop, Anais jumped out wordlessly, her dark strands billowing in the wind behind her. Understanding her urgency, I opened the door on my side and stepped out, buttoning my suit jacket as I went. Carter and Stone, another guard on her detail, had already caught up with her by the time I rounded the vehicle and I quickly fell into step with them as the hospital doors slid open. We stopped to get our visitor passes before heading for a bank of elevators that would take us to her parents.
In the elevator, I took a moment to observe Anais. The first thing that struck me was the way her head was down, her hair almost creating a shield around her. I watched as her shoulders moved slightly before she lifted her head, her lip trembling. I nudged Carter aside and stepped closer to her. When my arms engulfed her, I didn’t dwell on how great it felt to have her head on my chest again. Tears flowed down her cheeks, and I hid her face from the view of everyone else in the elevator while I stroked her hair. This woman who took the world by storm was coming apart right before my eyes. I knew I'd made mistakes with how I was handling her, but I didn’t know what else I could do besides keep her safe. Seeing her this way made me want to scorch this city until every person that caused her pain was dead.
When the elevator stopped at the floor we wanted, I wondered if she would try to break out of my embrace. But she didn’t. We were in our own little world, taking a moment together before finding out her father’s fate. She looked at me before we stepped out of the elevator, and her eyes were swollen and red. The tears painted on her face only made me want to rage further. Whoever tried to mess with what was mine would pay.
“There’s so much we need to talk about.” Her words came out barely above a whisper. They paused the thoughts that were flying through my mind about revenge, and I turned my focus on the only thing that mattered: her.
“Not now. Let’s get you in to see your father and then we can figure out the next steps.”
She took a small step back and nodded. Anais wiped her eyes and together we walked to the nurses’ station to find out where her father was located.
“He’s currently in surgery, but your mother is down the hall.”
Anais sprinted down the hallway, only pausing so her eyes could frantically search for her mother. I spotted Kingston sitting with Ilaria right away. His muscular form was blocking her from Anais’s view. Ilaria let out an ear-piercing wail that sent Anais dashing in her direction, her purse swinging wildly in her wake. Ilaria met her halfway, the women falling into each other’s arms, sobbing. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Kingston led them to a couple of chairs in a smaller waiting room, where they could sit down and not be in the middle of the hallway. When I reached the group, I nodded at Kingston and sat down next to Anais and Ilaria as they quietly wept until Anais pulled herself together and spoke.
“Mom, what’s the latest? Please tell me what you know. There was so much blood,” Anais sobbed.
“Oh, honey,” her mother said, just before she took a big gulp of air.
Ilaria’s hand was trembling, and Anais moved her own hand to hold her mother’s. I could see that Anais was trying to be strong, but I didn’t know how much she had in her after what had occurred in the elevator just a few short minutes ago. It brought back memories of how my own mother had tried to comfort me after the fire that took Charlotte’s life. I pushed those thoughts back to where they belonged as Anais leaned over to wipe the tears that were flowing freely from her mother’s eyes.
“Your father was shot in the thigh and hit his head on the cement when he went down. The bullet missed his femoral artery, thankfully. It could have been so much worse.” Ilaria sniffled. “Paramedics stabilized him on the way to the hospital and when he got here, doctors checked for brain damage before taking him to surgery for the gunshot. That’s all I know. Where were you? Are you okay? I mean you saw it all happen for crying out loud. They could have killed you!” She flung her arms around her daughter again before Anais could speak. They stayed like that for a moment before Ilaria unwrapped her arms, allowing Anais to sit upright once more before she grabbed her hand.
“I’m fine. Damien took care of me and I came here as soon as I could.” Her words sent a sensation through me that I didn’t want to dissect. “Dad is going to beat this.”
&nbs
p; “He’s a fighter, that’s for sure and…I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him.” She took several deep breaths before she continued. “I should have been there, but because you took my place, I put you in harm’s way. I don’t know how I’ll ever forgive myself.”
“Mom, there is no way you could have known.”
Her mother’s eyes shifted from looking at Anais to looking at me. “Are you Damien Cross?”
I nodded.
She let go of her daughter’s hand and reached over to hug me. “Thank you for all the help getting James here so quickly and for helping me get here.” She turned to her daughter. “Damien called me right after the shooting and said he was sending someone to pick me up. I’d heard his name from your father, but you know me, honey. I wasn’t getting into a car with strangers, so I met them at the hospital. Kingston followed me and hasn’t left my side.”
I’d heard everything she’d said from Kingston when I was en route to Anais. Her eyes moved between Anais and me.
“I didn’t expect you two to come in together. Did you know he also offered to help pay for all of James’s medical bills including any rehabilitation expenses?”
Anais studied me for a moment before she said, “No. I didn’t know that.”
“It’s so wonderful and one less thing we need to worry about.”
Too bad she doesn’t know what else Anais needs to worry about.
I fought to keep a smirk off my face. I had plans for my little Spitfire, and I wasn't going to be deterred.
Not now that she was back in my debt.
3
Anais
“Where are we going now?”
I’d followed Damien into the back of an SUV before it occurred to me to ask. Kingston, who had been following me around while I made sure my parents were being well taken care of at the hospital, was in the front seat with Rob driving. Damien had always been nearby, but he let Kingston shadow me while he made phone calls to keep his empire running smoothly, I assumed. Under normal circumstances, I might have fought Damien on this, but nothing about this was normal. I knew I needed protection. That didn’t mean that I believed that Damien had nothing to do with my father’s shooting.
I thought I'd escaped his control when I walked out on him just before Christmas. When Dad told me he was debt free, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Thoughts of trying to find another way to pay Damien off crowded my brain, suffocating me. Not only had I danced with the devil, but I'd left him in a pretty dramatic fashion, when he was the one holding all the cards. Yet he hadn’t demanded retribution when he had every right to. That was why I wondered if Damien had anything to do with the events that occurred tonight, even if he claimed he’d saved me.
Dad’s surgery had gone well, and he was now resting. That sense of relief was short lived because I knew I needed protection because whoever had done this was still out there. That didn’t mean I wasn’t still pissed about the protection Damien provided. I rubbed my wrists, remembering the way the zip tie felt as I waited for him to answer my question.
“We are on our way to my penthouse.”
I jerked my head around. “Why are we going to your penthouse? Wait, you own another home in the city?” He nodded but didn’t elaborate, so I kept talking. “I assumed you would drop me off at my apartment.”
“You thought wrong.”
I snorted. “Of course I did.”
I tried my best to stop the yawn that was begging to come out and failed. After the evening and night I’d had, there wasn’t much keeping me from passing out. Sleep would be hard to find because of my father’s condition, but I knew I had to try.
The silence in the vehicle gave me plenty of space and time to think about everything that had occurred over the last several hours. We had left the hospital once we were sure that my father was stable, and the police had taken my statement. I was thankful for the darkness that helped hide my feelings. Only flashes of light from the streetlights revealed hints of my despair. I would do almost anything to take away the pain my father was in. It should have been me. Tears stung my eyes before cascading down my face like a waterfall.
I tried not to draw attention to myself, but I should have known that Damien was attuned to my moods, to my needs, to my desires. He grabbed my hand, my smaller one inside his, creating a warmth barrier and a sense of comfort. I longed to be in his arms again, much like we were in the elevator, but our seatbelts prevented it.
The SUV glided through the streets because it was early morning and most of the city still slept. It felt as if seconds later we were pulling up to a gate and Rob flashed a badge at a scanner before the gate whirred to life. Here I was, entering Damien’s world again, a world that was all-consuming and something I still didn’t understand.
As the car maneuvered around the underground garage, my heart continued to sink. I glanced down at my phone and watched as the bars showed my cell phone’s signal decreasing from four to three to two to one and finally zero. The countdown until I was under Damien’s lock and key once more was done.
When the car was parked, Damien opened his door on the other side, clearly not patient enough for Rob to open it for him, while Rob opened the door for me. I walked over to his side of the car and Damien placed a hand on the small of my back as he led me to a door and into a smaller room with an elevator. Damien pulled out a badge and placed it on a scanner near the elevator. The doors opened immediately. Damien led me into the elevator and the doubts that entered my brain while we were driving back to his penthouse encouraged me to stand as far away from him as physically possible, which wasn’t far. That amused him based on the smirk that played on his lips. Damien leaned over and pressed a button labeled “64”, the highest number on the panel, and he brushed against my arm.
He took a step back and crossed his hands, but he didn’t say a word as the elevator started moving. The silence made the elevator ride seem to last forever. My eyes stayed glued to the numbers as they lit up across the elevator panel.
Sixty-one.
Sixty-two.
Sixty-three.
Sixty-four.
The elevator lurched to a stop. When the doors opened, I took a deep breath and stepped out of it, following behind Damien. The elevator opened into a long hallway that only had one door at the end. Damien still hadn’t said a word as we walked toward the door and he opened it.
He turned on the lights as I walked across the threshold and finally said, “Welcome home.”
My mind wanted me to tell him to fuck off, but I was too tired to fight him. Frankly, staying in my apartment right now kind of scared me, even if Ellie was there. That jolted me out of my thoughts as I closed the front door. “What about Ellie? Is she okay? She can’t stay at the apartment by herself if someone is after me.”
“She’s fine.”
And there he was, not elaborating on things that were important again. “I would feel better if I talked to her.” I dug into my purse and pulled out my phone. But it was dead. “What did you mean by she’s fine?”
“I arranged for her to stay with her parents in New Jersey. We didn’t want to take any chances given the situation. She also has a security guard.”
I placed my hands over my face, leaned back on his counter. How had this gotten to the point where Ellie was dragged in? “I’m such a fucking idiot,” I mumbled, not talking to anyone in particular.
“No, you’re not. Most, if not all, of this was out of your control. Hence why from now until I settle all of this, you’ll have at least one security guard with you at all times when you leave the penthouse. While you are here, we’ll have someone check up on you every so often just to make sure that everything is okay. Between Kingston’s men and the security in the building, you’ll be safe. And you’ll be working from home. Got it?”
“Damien, I have to go into the office at some point. I have to live my life. Got it?” I threw the phrase he used back at him because it pissed me off, even though the hardness in his f
ace and his voice told me it was nonnegotiable.
“I will not get into this with you.” He took a step toward me. “The more you argue and fight me, the greater the urge is to have a repeat performance of when I threw you over my knee in your apartment.” His steps continued until he had me backed up against the door.
I took in a quick breath because I wasn’t expecting him to say that. I didn’t want to admit how much had changed since he came into my life, even at this very moment. My eyes were focused on his chest, given how quickly he had trapped me against the door. They slowly made their way from his chest up to his face and to his eyes.
“You didn’t do this, did you?”
Damien’s body stiffened and his face hardened. My question wasn’t going over well.
“No. And whoever did this is going to pay for it. With their life.”
The gravity of his words gave me the urge to take a step back, but I had no space to. The door leading to the outside world was now locked and I was fully enclosed in Damien’s private oasis. He placed a hand under my chin, even though I was already looking at him. His movements and his eyes told me that he was in control and that it would be smart to watch my words and actions around him. That thought frightened me because I was supposed to hate him. He was supposed to be an enemy even though he saved me from suffering the same fate that my father had, or worse, and I didn’t know anything about the person who shot my father. The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.
The intensity in his eyes increased just before his lips crashed into mine. It was the first time our lips had touched in a couple of weeks and I had missed it, though I refused to admit it. But I didn’t know how much I’d missed his raw energy until now. The kiss turned feverish, his mouth on mine as we battled it out for who would take control. It became clear soon after that Damien would wrestle control from me when I gasped into his mouth. He took advantage of that opportunity and slipped his tongue into my mouth, forging another survival of the fittest. That was until he pulled back suddenly, leaving me in a daze for a moment before I could recollect my senses.
Scarred Empire: An Enemies to Lovers Dark Billionaire Romance (Broken Cross Book 2) Page 2