Chapter 30 Damian
Damian
Ifelt her eyes before I saw them.
It wasn’t the first time. Morgan thought she was subtle, ducking her head, fumbling with that recorder of hers like it was suddenly fascinating. But she wasn’t subtle at all. Not to me.
I shifted in the chair by the window, gaze sliding over the room like I was only checking angles, but inside, every instinct locked onto her. Damn, I was hard.
She looked away too quickly, cheeks coloring, but the damage was already done.
Bloody hell. She’d been watching me.
And worse — I liked it.
I told myself it was harmless. Natural. She’d been through hell, she was clinging to the one constant in the room. But deep down, I knew it wasn’t just that. The way her gaze lingered wasn’t just fear looking for reassurance. It was curiosity. Awareness.
My chest tightened, heat crawling low as I tried to shove the thought back where it belonged. I was a soldier. A protector. She was a civilian, fragile and stubborn and bloody reckless. She was also the sister of a girl we still hadn’t brought home.
But none of that stopped my pulse from quickening when her eyes found mine again.
I leaned forward, bracing my arms on my knees, breaking the stare before I did something stupid. River was humming under his breath, Cyclone typing quietly — neither of them paying attention, but they didn’t need to. They’d already noticed enough.
I clenched my fists, forcing myself to focus on the mission. Hemsley. Caldwell. Holloway Trust. Luthor. That was the battlefield.
And yet, even as I recited the names like a litany, the image of Morgan curled on that couch slipped through the cracks. Her hair falling loose around her face. Her eyes steady despite the fear. The way she whispered Ruby’s name like a vow.
She was dangerous in ways I’d never planned for.
And the more I tried to ignore it, the deeper she rooted under my skin.