I barely slept.
That was not surprising, not after standing inches away from Damian in his bedroom while my father called him.
The entire night felt like emotional torture.
After the phone call ended, Damian kept his distance carefully, too carefully.
He gave me one of his shirts to sleep in, then disappeared into the bathroom for almost thirty minutes like he needed space to breathe again.
I stayed in the bed staring at the ceiling while rain continued outside, and every second inside that room felt dangerous.
Damian’s scent surrounded me completely; his pillows, his blankets, his clothes, everything felt too intimate, too personal.
At some point during the night, exhaustion finally pulled me into sleep, but morning came far too quickly.
I woke slowly to sunlight pushing through the curtains.
For one peaceful second, I forgot where I was.
Then, I rolled slightly and froze.
Damian slept on top of the blankets beside me, not under them, still fully dressed except for his loosened shirt.
One arm rested across his stomach while the other lay beside him.
My heartbeat stopped instantly.
Oh God.
He looked softer asleep, less guarded, less cold, and somehow even more dangerous because of it.
I should have looked away, but instead, I stared: the sharp jaw, the messy dark hair, and the tension still visible even while sleeping, like his body never fully relaxed.
My eyes moved lower before I could stop myself, a very bad idea.
Heat rushed through my face immediately.
Then Damian moved slightly.
I panicked instantly and shut my eyes.
It was childish, completely childish, but too late now.
I heard soft movement beside me, silence followed, and then his rough morning voice filled the room quietly.
“You are pretending to sleep.”
My eyes opened immediately.
Damian looked amused for the first time in days, only slightly, but enough to make my stomach twist.
“I was not pretending.”
“You stopped breathing.”
My face burned.
Fantastic.
Damian slowly sat up and rubbed one hand across his face tiredly.
The sunlight hitting him should honestly be illegal; no man had the right to look this attractive while barely awake.
“How long were you watching me?” he asked calmly.
“I was not watching you.”
One dark eyebrow lifted.
“You are a terrible liar.”
I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him immediately.
To my horror, Damian actually laughed—a real laugh, warm, deep, and beautiful.
The sound shocked both of us.
The laughter faded quickly from his face afterward, replaced by something quieter and more emotional.
The atmosphere inside the bedroom changed instantly again, becoming too intimate and too soft.
I hugged the blanket tighter around myself.
Neither of us mentioned the fact that we spent the night together, even though nothing happened; the tension alone was enough.
Damian looked toward the windows briefly before standing from the bed.
“You should change before Elena starts creating problems.”
I blinked.
“What does that mean?”
Right on cue, loud knocking echoed through the bedroom door.
Elena’s voice followed immediately.
“I know both of you are alive in there.”
I closed my eyes in horror.
Damian sighed deeply beside me.
“Elena.”
“Oh relax,” she called through the door.
“I am not judging anyone.”
“That makes one of us,” Damian muttered.
I bit my lip hard to stop laughing.
Elena clearly heard him anyway.
Damian walked toward the door while I quickly buried myself deeper under the blankets.
Unfortunately, Elena pushed past him the second he opened it.
She stopped instantly after seeing me in Damian’s shirt sitting on his bed.
Silence.
Then slowly, Elena smiled.
“Oh my God.”
“It is not what you think,” Damian said immediately.
Elena looked at him calmly.
“You say that a lot for someone clearly in love.”
My heartbeat stumbled painfully.
Damian’s expression darkened.
“Aurora’s room lost power during the storm.”
Elena looked toward me again.
“And she accidentally ended up sleeping in your bed?”
“We did not sleep together,” I said quickly.
Elena’s smile widened.
“You are both blushing.”
Oh no.
I touched my face immediately.
Warm.
Very warm.
Traitorous skin.
Damian crossed his arms.
“Elena, leave.”
“No.”
She walked further into the room dramatically before dropping onto the couch near the window.
“This is the most entertaining thing that has happened in years.”
I stared at her in disbelief.
“You enjoy chaos.”
“Very much.”
Damian looked seconds away from throwing his sister out the window.
Unfortunately for him, Elena seemed completely fearless.
She studied both of us carefully, then suddenly her expression softened.
“You know this is getting serious, right?”
The playful atmosphere disappeared instantly.
My chest tightened, and Damian’s face became unreadable again.
“Elena.”
“No,” she interrupted quietly.
“I am serious now.” Her eyes moved toward me gently.
“Aurora, my brother does not let people close easily. He barely lets people matter to him. But you already matter too much.”
The honesty in her voice made my throat tighten painfully.
I looked toward Damian automatically.
His expression revealed nothing, but somehow that hurt more, because silence from Damian usually meant truth.
Elena sighed softly.
“You both look miserable.”
“That is because you keep talking,” Damian answered dryly.
“No,” she said quietly.
“You look miserable because you are both trying to fight something impossible.”
The room fell silent, a heavy silence, because she was right.
Damian walked toward the window slowly with his back facing us now—distance again, control again.
I hated it.
“Elena,” he said calmly, “this situation is complicated enough already.”
“And avoiding it helps?”
No answer.
Elena looked at me carefully.
“What do you want?”
The direct question caught me completely off guard. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“I…” My voice disappeared because, honestly, I did not know anymore.
I wanted Damian, that part was obvious, but wanting him and surviving the consequences were completely different things.
Elena noticed my hesitation immediately, then softly, she asked the worst possible question.
“If Ethan finds out, do you think he will forgive either of you?”
Pain twisted sharply inside my chest, and the room suddenly felt colder.
Damian finally turned around slowly.
“That is enough.”
His voice carried warning now.
Elena sighed and stood from the couch.
She grabbed her bag again before heading toward the door.
“Fine. But eventually both of you will need to decide whether guilt matters more than love.”
The words echoed painfully after she left.
Neither Damian nor I spoke because neither of us had an answer.
The silence stretched.
Then quietly, Damian said, “You should get dressed.”
Cold again, distant again, like the emotional moment never happened.
Frustration rose inside me instantly.
“You always do this.”
His eyes shifted toward me carefully.
“Do what?”
“Pull away whenever things become real.”
A shadow crossed his expression.
“This is real, Aurora.”
The pain in his voice shocked me.
He stepped closer slowly, not too close, just enough for tension to return instantly.
“You think I enjoy this?” he asked quietly.
“You think waking up beside you and wanting you every second feels easy?”
My breath caught sharply.
Damian’s eyes burned into mine now.
“I am trying to protect both of us.”
The raw honesty nearly broke me completely.
“From what?” I whispered.
His jaw tightened.
“From the moment this destroys everything.”
Silence.
Painful silence.
Because deep down, we both knew he might be right.
Then suddenly his phone rang again.
Damian cursed quietly under his breath before answering.
“Yes?”
His expression changed instantly, business mode, cold billionaire mode.
I watched him carefully while he listened.
Then, his eyes darkened dangerously.
“When?” he asked sharply.
A pause.
“I will handle it.”
He ended the call and grabbed his jacket immediately.
“What happened?” I asked.
Damian looked toward me with a hard expression.
“Vanessa is back in the city.”
And somehow, the way he said her name made me feel immediate danger.
Vanessa?
Now things are really heating up.
Just when we thought Damian and Aurora were finally getting somewhere, the past comes knocking.
Who is Vanessa, and why does her return scare Aurora so much?
Drop your thoughts below, is she a threat to the relationship or a ghost from Damian’s past?
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Can’t wait for Chapter 13!