I should not have looked up at Damian’s office window again, but I did.
He was still there, standing behind the glass like a dangerous storm waiting for me inside the house.
Liam followed my gaze and smiled slightly.
“Ah,” he said quietly.
“Now I understand.”
I quickly looked away.
“Understand what?”
“The tension.”
My stomach tightened.
“There is no tension.”
Liam laughed softly.
“Aurora, I may not know Damian personally, but I know men. And that man upstairs looks like he wants to kill me.”
Heat rushed into my cheeks.
“You are imagining things.”
“No,” Liam said calmly.
“I do not think I am.”
Before I could answer, the mansion doors opened.
Damian walked outside slowly.
Every part of me reacted immediately.
He wore a black shirt and dark gray pants.
His expression was cold and his movements were controlled, but his eyes were fixed directly on Liam.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Liam noticed, too.
They looked completely different, yet somehow equally dangerous.
Liam was like warm fire; Damian was like cold steel.
Damian stopped beside me.
“You are late,” he said calmly.
I frowned.
“It is barely six.”
“You did not answer your phone.”
I blinked in surprise.
“You called me?”
His jaw tightened.
“Twice.”
I pulled my phone from my bag.
Three missed calls.
I had forgotten to turn the volume back on after lunch.
“I did not notice,” I admitted.
Damian stared at me for a second too long before finally looking toward Liam.
“Thank you for bringing her back safely.”
The words sounded polite.
The tone did not.
Liam smiled casually.
“She is not exactly difficult company.”
Silence—sharp and heavy.
I suddenly felt trapped between two men silently measuring each other.
Damian’s face remained unreadable.
“Aurora,” he said quietly, without looking away from Liam, “inside.”
I crossed my arms.
“I can walk inside by myself.”
His eyes finally moved toward me.
There it was again—that dangerous look that made my heart race.
“You are arguing with me in front of guests now?”
“You are acting like my father again.”
Big mistake.
The air changed instantly.
Damian’s expression hardened.
Liam looked between us carefully, suddenly realizing he had walked into something complicated.
“I should leave,” Liam said lightly.
“No,” I said quickly.
“Yes,” Damian said at the exact same time.
Both men looked at each other again.
The tension was unbearable.
Then, Liam laughed softly.
“Well, this has been educational.” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
I wanted the ground to open beneath me.
Damian looked ready to throw Liam through the front gates.
Liam stepped closer to me instead.
“Dinner next week?” he asked casually.
Before I could answer, Damian spoke.
“She is busy.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“You cannot answer for me.”
Damian ignored me completely.
Liam looked amused now.
“Actually, I think Aurora can decide for herself.”
For one dangerous second, I thought Damian might actually lose his temper.
His eyes became ice cold.
“I think that this conversation is finished.”
The warning in his voice was impossible to miss.
Liam noticed it, but instead of backing down, he smiled.
“You really do not like me near her.”
My pulse stopped.
Damian’s expression did not change.
“That is not personal.”
“Feels personal.”
No one moved.
The tension between them felt sharp enough to cut skin.
Finally, Liam looked at me again.
“Call me later,” he said softly.
Then, he walked back toward his car.
I watched him leave, trying to calm my heartbeat.
The second his car disappeared through the gates, Damian turned toward me.
The look on his face made my stomach flip.
He was not cold or calm; he was angry.
Very angry.
Without a word, he walked past me into the mansion.
I followed automatically.
“Damian.”
No answer.
He kept walking through the hallway toward his office.
My frustration rose.
“Oh, so now you are ignoring me?”
Still nothing.
I grabbed his arm before he could enter the office.
The second my fingers touched him, he stopped moving.
Slowly, Damian looked down at my hand on his arm, then back at me.
The tension between us exploded.
“You embarrassed me out there,” I said.
His voice came out dangerously quiet.
“You were flirting with him on purpose.”
“What if I was?”
His jaw tightened hard.
“Aurora.”
“What?” I snapped.
“You do not get to act jealous and controlling every time another man talks to me.”
“I am not jealous.”
The lie sounded insulting.
I laughed once in disbelief.
“Right.”
Damian stepped closer suddenly.
My breath caught.
“You think this is funny?”
“No,” I whispered.
It was not funny anymore.
Not when he looked at me like that.
His eyes moved slowly across my face—anger, frustration, and something darker underneath.
“You have no idea what you are doing,” he said quietly.
“Then tell me.”
Big mistake.
His control cracked.
Damian grabbed my waist and pulled me against him.
I gasped.
Every thought disappeared.
His hands held my waist firmly—not enough to hurt, but enough to make my entire body burn.
The hallway was painfully silent.
I could feel the hard tension in his body and his breathing.
My heart pounded.
Damian looked down at me with dark, conflicted eyes.
“You want honesty?” he asked roughly.
I could barely breathe.
“Yes.”
His fingers tightened against my waist.
“I hated watching him touch you. I hated the way you smiled at him. And I hated knowing he was probably imagining taking you away from me.”
My body went weak.
This was real now—no more pretending, no more hiding.
It was pure jealousy and pure possession.
I swallowed hard.
“You do not own me.”
Something dangerous flashed across his face.
“No,” he agreed quietly.
“That is the problem.”
The air felt electric.
My hands had somehow ended up against his chest.
I looked at his mouth again, and this time, Damian noticed immediately.
A rough breath escaped him.
“Aurora,” he warned.
But his voice sounded weak, like he was losing the fight.
So was I.
My fingers curled against his shirt.
“Tell me to stop,” I whispered.
The silence nearly destroyed us both.
Damian stared at me with an expression full of conflict and desire.
Then, very slowly, his forehead rested briefly against mine.
The touch felt dangerously intimate.
“You need to stay away from me,” he said quietly.
But his hands never left my waist.
I closed my eyes.
“Then let go.”
He did not let go.
For one terrifying moment, it felt like the entire world disappeared, leaving only the space between us.
Then, a voice echoed from the hallway.
“Damian?”
We jumped apart immediately.
Elena Cross stood near the staircase holding shopping bags.
Her eyes moved between us once, then slowly widened.
Oh God.
The silence became deadly.
Damian stepped backward, his face returning to cold control.
“Elena,” he said calmly.
Too calmly.
Elena looked at me, then at Damian again.
Slowly, she smiled.
“Well,” she said softly, “this just became interesting.”
The secret is out, at least to Elena!
Damian finally admitted his jealousy, but things are getting complicated fast.
How is Elena going to react now that she knows what’s going on between them?
And can Damian really keep his distance after that moment in the hallway?
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Can’t wait for Chapter 9!