Chapter Ten
Damien
I pull up to Lena’s parents’ house, my chest tight with unease. It’s the only place I can think of, the only place that makes sense. My assistant dug up the address for me, and the entire drive over I’ve been gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles ache.
All I can think about is that goddamn card. Watch your back, princess.
I never should have left her alone.
I climb out and stride to the door, pounding against the wood with urgency. After a beat, it creaks open and a young woman peers up at me. She looks so much like Lena that it steals my breath for a moment, but she’s paler, thinner, her body carrying a quiet fragility.
“You must be Abby,” I say.
She lifts her brows faintly, tilting her chin to look me in the eyes. “Yes. And you are?”
She definitely knows who I am.
“Damien Blackwell,” I answer anyway. “I’m looking for Lena.”
Confusion flickers across her face, followed quickly by a little frown. “But…she’s not here. She just left.”
Ice slams into my veins. “Left? Where?”
Abby tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “To find you. After your…your confession on TV.”
The floor seems to tilt beneath me. Every instinct screams that something’s wrong. “How long has she been gone?”
“Five minutes, maybe,” Abby says, her brows dipping in a worried frown. “Do you think something’s wrong?”
I don’t waste another word. I pivot sharply and bolt back down the steps, my pulse pounding in my ears. I can faintly hear Abby calling out to me, but I don’t wait to listen.
“Lena!” I call, my voice raw, echoing through the quiet street as I look around desperately. “Lena!”
She’s got to be around here if it’s only been five minutes. Right?
“Le—” A high-pitched scream cuts me off.
My blood goes cold.
I sprint toward the sound and round the corner just in time to see Logan, my son, yanking Lena by the arm like she’s a rag doll. Her face is twisted in pain, tears streaking her cheeks.
“Let her go,” I say, my voice dropping into a cold, lethal growl. “Now.”
Logan turns his head slowly, arrogance dripping from every line of his face. “Why? She was mine before she was yours.”
Rage explodes in my chest. I ball my fist and ram it into his face before the words even finish leaving his mouth. The crack of bone meeting bone reverberates through the air as he stumbles back, blood rushing from his lip.
I step in front of Lena, catching her trembling hand and pulling her gently against my side. My grip softens the second I feel her shiver. “You okay, firefly?” I murmur, not taking my eyes off Logan.
He sneers through the blood, but I see the flicker of uncertainty in his gaze.
I take a step toward him, my tone like steel. “You listen to me, boy. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll disappear. Don’t come near her again.”
Logan wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, glaring at me with the wounded pride of a child who’s never been told no.
I lean closer, my words cutting sharp and final. “You’ve lived off my name long enough. I’m done tolerating your laziness. You’ll either make something of yourself or you’ll waste your life away. But you will not drag her down with you.”
He scoffs, spitting a clot of blood to the side. “Are you choosing a bitch over your own son?”
The air in my chest turns to steel. I straighten to my full height, my gaze a blade.
“I’m choosing respect. I’m choosing to protect what matters.
You lost the right to call yourself my son the second you laid a hand on her.
” My voice drops lower, lethal. “You ever touch her again, Logan, and I won’t stop at one punch. I’ll end you.”
For the first time, his bravado cracks. Something in his expression crumbles. Shame replaces arrogance, just for a moment. Then he turns, shoulders rigid, and stalks away without another word.
I wrap an arm firmly around Lena’s waist, holding her to me as she shakes. “I’m so sorry, firefly. He won’t touch you again,” I vow. “Not as long as I’m breathing.”
Logan’s footsteps fade into the distance, swallowed by the night. My fist still throbs from connecting with his jaw, but I don’t give a damn. All I care about is the trembling girl in my arms.
“Thank you,” Lena says shakily, raising her face to look at me. My chest tightens at the vulnerability in her eyes, the drying tear tracks on her cheeks…
Damn Logan.
“Thank you. For always…for always looking out for me.”
I brush my thumb gently across her cheek and smile into her eyes. “You don’t have to thank me, firefly. You’re mine. Protecting you isn’t optional, it’s instinctive.”
She chuckles, her lips trembling slightly. “Damian?”
“Yes?”
“I love you too.”
The words slam into me harder than any boardroom victory, harder than any punch I’ve ever thrown. They burn through my chest, wild and consuming.
I don’t wait another heartbeat. I lower my mouth to hers, kissing her like my life depends on it. She grabs my shirt, tugging me closer even as she presses her body into mine.
I deepen the kiss, running my hands down the curve of her back to grab her ass. Groaning into her mouth, I lose myself in the delicious sensations shooting through my core.
It’s a long time before I finally manage to tear my lips from hers. She lets out a breathy chuckle, her breath coming out in pants. “That was…amazing.”
I know it’s time. I can’t wait any longer.
“Lena,” I rasp, my hand slipping into my pocket as I take a step back. “There’s something I’ve been keeping from you.”
Her brows furrow as I pull out the small black velvet box. My chest pounds. I flip it open to reveal a platinum ring, its band shaped like a crown, delicate but strong. I had it custom-made the very week I first laid eyes on her.
She gasps, a hand flying to her mouth.
I take her trembling hand and gently uncurl her fingers. Then I wrap my hand around hers and sink to one knee right there on the pavement under the dim streetlights.
“Lena…” I say, my voice low, rough with emotion I don’t try to hide.
“From the first moment you walked into my world, you wrecked me. You made me want, made me need, in ways I didn’t think were possible.
I’ve spent every day since fighting myself, telling myself I couldn’t have you. But I can’t fight anymore.”
She’s started to cry again, but this time, she’s smiling brightly through her tears.
I squeeze her hand tighter. “So I’m asking you now, my firefly. Will you marry me?”
For a second, time doesn’t move. The world holds its breath.
Then her lips part, trembling, and she nods furiously, her tears falling faster. “Yes,” she chokes out. Her voice is thick, broken, but the word is clear. “Yes, Damien. A thousand times yes.”
The words tear through me, and I surge to my feet, pulling her against me, crushing her mouth with mine in a kiss that tastes of tears and laughter. She clings to me, her sobs muffled against my lips, her small hands clutching my face like she’s afraid I’ll disappear if she lets go.
I slide the ring onto her finger and weave my fingers into hers, bringing our joined hands to my chest. “I love you, Lena.”
“I love you, Damien,” she says, her eyes shining with a certainty that touches my soul. “Forever.”