74. Damon
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
DAMON
NOW
Isweep my gaze over the dark street, searching for threats before taking Chloe’s hand and tugging her toward the line of trees on the other side.
It’s not ideal, but there’s no chance we can get to the car, and I’m not taking any chances trying to steal one right now.
We’ll get into the woods, find somewhere to hide, and wait for the shit show happening at the motel to blow over.
My priority is making sure Chloe is safe, and right now that means hiding away when my instincts scream at me to fight.
It’s not like me to take a backseat during conflict, but I won’t let her down.
Not again.
She tugs my hand, forcing me to stop in my tracks. “Leave me here. Go back and help them, I promise I’ll stay here. I won’t follow you. Just please don’t leave them.”
I sigh and grasp her shoulders, forcing her to look up at me. “Duchess, they are highly trained. They will be fine until backup arrives, but they will kill me if they find out I left you by yourself out here.”
Her eyes dart back toward the motel, panic raging in the green I’ve spent so many years trying to avoid looking into. “I can’t leave them, Damon,” she whispers. “I can’t lose them the way I lost my parents.”
Pain radiates through my chest at her words because I did that.
I may not have been the one who pulled the trigger at the end, but I was the one who tortured Neil. I was the one who stood there and allowed them to be hurt for something I was never convinced they were guilty of.
Tugging her into my arms, I hold her tight against my chest, reveling in the feel of her after so many years.
I used to hug her every single day growing up, the feeling was burned into my mind, and I found myself craving her warmth whenever she wasn’t by my side.
And it didn’t matter how hard I tried to convince myself I hated her, that I felt nothing for the best friend whose heart I tore apart at every opportunity—it was never true.
I wanted it to be. I was desperate to hate her the way I told her I did. But when you’ve spent your entire existence loving someone, hating them is impossible.
“You’re not going to lose them, Duchess. They’re going to be just fine and back to annoying the shit out of me by the time the sun rises.”
Perhaps I shouldn’t make promises I can’t keep, but if it means keeping Chloe safe, I’ll tell as many lies as I have to.
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do. You think Ronan pined after you for a decade, never touching another woman, just to die when he finally has you? You think Kingston spent years rebuilding his life so there was a safe place for you just to leave you? And don’t get me started on that golden retriever you call a bodyguard.
There’s nothing on this earth that can take them from you, Chloe. ”
For a moment I think she’s going to argue, but then she leans into my chest and her arms wrap around me, holding me just as tight as I’m holding her.
I try to think about the last time I was hugged, and my stomach clenches when I realize I can’t think of when it was or who hugged me.
I’ve lived half my life without love, without affection, just to be dragged straight back into Chloe’s orbit.
Headlights on the road remind me what we’re running from, and I drop a quick kiss to the top of her head before pulling away.
“Come on, Duchess. Let’s find somewhere safe to hide until it’s safe.” I clutch her hand in mine, tugging her a few steps further into the trees, but then I hear it.
It’s so quiet that most people would miss it, but I’d know the safety flicking off a gun even in the loudest of rooms.
I look up just in time to see a masked man approaching us. His steps are precise, but he never takes his eyes off us.
“Drop the guns,” he demands.
His voice isn’t familiar, which just confirms my father isn’t behind this, but it would be easier if he was. I know him, I know how he operates, and I’ve spent years studying his men in preparation for becoming their boss.
A soft sob vibrates through Chloe’s body as she follows his order. We spent years training her to make sure she had the best chance at survival if she were ever caught in a position like this one, and the most important lesson we taught was to always comply.
My grip tightens around my own weapon as I consider how quickly I could get a shot off. I’m quick, but am I willing to risk Chloe getting shot because my ego tells me I can beat this motherfucker?
No.
I swallow around the lump in my throat and toss my gun a few feet away, angling my body in front of Chloe’s in the process.
“Damon,” she hisses.
“If you get the chance to run, you run as fast as you can. You got me?”
“I can’t leave you here,” she whispers.
“It wasn’t a request, Duchess. Do as you’re told.”
I don’t give her a chance to argue again before I focus my attention on the gun pointed at us.
This is far from the first time I’ve been held at gunpoint, but it’s different when Chloe’s life is in danger. The thrill I’ve come to crave is missing, and in its place is terror.
“To the road,” he orders.
“Just take me,” I say calmly. “You don’t need her. She’s nobody.”
The words burn as they fall from my lips, but just like every cruel word I’ve said about her over the years, it’s necessary.
“Boss wants the both of you.”
Chloe sucks in an unsteady breath behind me, and I long to reassure her, to tell her everything is going to be okay, but if I allow him to take us to a secondary location, I can’t keep that promise.
Taking a step toward the road, I keep my eyes trained on the gun.
Chloe follows my lead, her hand grasping the back of my shirt as if it’s the only thing keeping her from falling apart.
The sound of gunfire at the motel gets louder when we step back onto the side of the road, and I notice another man beside the van, the back doors wide open.
Fuck.
I curse myself for not grabbing another gun on my way out of the room, but there weren’t any to spare, not when I was leaving them a man down and under fire.
“Step away from one another,” the guy by the van orders.
Chloe’s hold on my shirt tightens as she sucks in a stuttered breath.
Fear radiates off her in waves, and I would do anything to take that away from her right now.
She does as he says, stepping out to the side until there are a few feet between us, and I feel every inch of that distance.
He points the gun at Chloe, motioning for her to get into the van first.
I want to scream at her to run, beg her not to comply, but she won’t.
If there’s one thing I know about Chloe, it’s that she won’t leave me behind.
Even though I’ve been endlessly cruel to her, I’ve hurt her at every opportunity, I tortured her fucking father in front of her and almost allowed her to be killed, she still wouldn’t leave me, and that’s how I know I’ll never be good enough for her.
I’ll never be worthy of her light.
Tears fall against her cheeks as she steps forward.
Her eyes flick up to meet mine, and the fear staring back at me is worse than any pain I can remember.
I move before my mind can talk me out of it, my need to protect her forcing me forward without assessing the risk.
“Damon, no!” Chloe shouts, shaking off the masked assailant by the van to sprint toward me at the same time the other guy pulls the trigger.
The gunshot slices through the quiet night, and I brace for the pain.
But it never comes.
A small body slams into me so hard they knock me off balance.
Pain radiates through my tailbone when I hit the ground, my head swimming for a moment as I try to get my bearings.
But when the world stops spinning and I’m left staring up at Chloe, it’s not the pain in her eyes that catches my attention.
It’s the blood seeping through her sweater and onto her hands.
The last fifteen years flash through my mind.
Every cruel word I said to her.
Breaking my own heart over and over to protect her.
Denying myself the only thing I ever truly wanted.
But as I stare at the growing crimson stain, I realize it wasn’t enough.
Because when it really mattered, I failed her.
To be continued…
Chloe’s story will conclude in Stay Little Fighter, coming late September 2026.