Chapter 3
Chapter 3 - Blood On Mahogany
The sharp crack of rifle fire shattered the darkness.
A split second later, bullets slammed into the SUV.
“Down!”
Damian moved before Elena could even process the sound.
He threw his weight over her, driving her onto the floor between the seats as another burst of gunfire tore through the night. Bullets hammered against the armored frame, each impact sending a violent shudder through the vehicle.
Sparks flashed beyond the tinted windows as rounds ricocheted off the reinforced steel.
Elena barely had time to breathe.
Damian’s body covered hers completely, his broad shoulders shielding her from the barrage. She could feel the hard weight of him pressed against her back, one arm braced beside her head while the other protected her waist.
His breathing was harsh against her ear.
Then she smelled it.
Blood.
Warm.
Metallic.
Her stomach twisted.
She looked down.
Dark red was spreading across the side of her dress.
“Damian.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding on me.”
“I said I’m fine.”
Another bullet struck the vehicle.
Elena flinched.
Damian’s arm tightened around her instinctively.
“Cassian!” he barked. “Ram the blockade!”
“Hold on!”
Cassian slammed his foot down.
The engine roared.
The SUV surged forward.
A second later, it crashed into something solid.
Metal screamed.
Glass shattered.
Elena cried out as the impact threw her forward, but Damian’s arm locked around her waist before she could slam into the seats.
He absorbed most of the force himself.
The vehicle lurched violently sideways.
Cassian fought the steering wheel, tires screeching against the rain-slick road as the SUV fishtailed dangerously before finally finding traction.
Then they were moving again.
Fast.
The pursuing gunfire faded behind them.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Only the roar of the engine and the rhythmic slap of rain against the armored windows filled the cabin.
Damian slowly lifted himself from Elena.
He dropped back against the leather seat, breathing through his teeth.
Elena stared at him.
The faint glow of passing streetlights swept across his face.
And for the first time since she had met him, Damian looked human.
Pale.
Sweating.
Exhausted.
The blood spreading across his white shirt had grown darker and wider.
Elena’s chest tightened.
“You need to stop playing the invincible boss for five minutes.”
Damian turned his head toward her.
“I’m fine.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
“You’re bleeding through your shirt.”
“It’s a graze.”
Elena stared at him in disbelief.
“A graze?”
“Yes.”
“Then let me see this very convincing graze.”
Before he could stop her, she grabbed the torn collar of his shirt and pulled it farther open.
Damian’s jaw tightened.
“Elena.”
She ignored him.
The wound near his shoulder was deeper than he’d admitted. Blood welled around the torn flesh before running in thin trails toward his ribs.
Her expression hardened.
“You call this a graze?”
“I’ve had worse.”
“And I’m sure you handled those just as badly.”
His dark eyes narrowed.
“You’ve become very comfortable giving me orders.”
“I’m trying to keep you alive.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“No.”
Elena reached inside her coat.
“But I’m not particularly interested in watching you bleed to death beside me.”
She pulled out a folded silk scarf.
Damian’s gaze dropped to it.
Then back to her.
“What are you doing?”
“Saving your life.”
“That’s unnecessary.”
“You’re exhausting.”
She pressed the folded scarf firmly against the wound.
Damian sucked in a sharp breath.
His uninjured hand immediately closed around her waist.
Elena froze.
For a second, neither of them moved.
His fingers were warm against her side.
His breathing had changed.
So had hers.
“You could have warned me,” he murmured.
“You wouldn’t have let me.”
“Correct.”
“Then we’re even.”
His eyes lingered on her face.
“You have a soft touch for a girl raised by wolves.”
Elena’s fingers tightened around the scarf.
“I was raised by monsters.”
Something in her voice made the faint amusement disappear from his expression.
She met his eyes.
“I know how to handle wild animals.”
A slow, dangerous smile touched his mouth.
“I am not an animal, Elena.”
He shifted closer.
“Animals kill for survival.”
His voice dropped.
“I kill for order.”
Elena looked down at the blood covering her fingers.
“Is that what you call this?”
Damian followed her gaze.
“This?”
He glanced at the blood on his shirt.
“This is a transition of power.”
He turned toward the rain-streaked window.
Outside, the city lights were beginning to appear through the storm, blurred and distorted by water running down the glass.
“Your father built an empire on lies,” he said. “On debts he couldn’t pay and promises he never intended to keep.”
His voice was calm.
Almost conversational.
That somehow made it more unsettling.
“I’m building mine on control.”
Elena studied his profile.
“And you think control makes you different from him?”
Damian’s gaze shifted back to hers.
“I’m not asking you to trust me.”
“Good.”
“I’m asking you to understand me.”
She gave a quiet, humorless laugh.
“That’s worse.”
A faint crease appeared between his brows.
“Why?”
“Because trusting a man is dangerous.”
She looked directly into his eyes.
“Understanding him makes it harder to hate him.”
For the first time, Damian didn’t have an immediate answer.
The silence between them felt different.
He looked away first.
“When the sun comes up,” he said, “you’re going to help me finish this.”
Elena’s fingers tightened around the blood-soaked scarf.
“And if I refuse?”
Damian turned toward her again.
His hand moved slowly from her waist to her jaw.
His thumb brushed once across her lower lip.
“You won’t.”
His voice was quiet.
Certain.
Elena hated the confidence in his eyes.
“You’re very sure of yourself.”
“I’ve learned to be.”
“You could be wrong.”
“I could.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“And?”
“I don’t think I am.”
His thumb remained against her lip.
“Because beneath all that defiance, you want to see them burn just as much as I do.”
Elena’s breath caught.
She should have denied it.
She should have pushed his hand away.
Instead, she stared at him.
Because he was right.
And she hated him for seeing it.
She had spent years watching her family make decisions for her.
Her father had tried to trade her future to an old man to settle a debt.
Her brother had smiled at her, promised he would help, and then apparently sold her location to the very people hunting her.
Every man in her life had looked at her and seen something they could use.
A daughter.
A bargaining chip.
A name.
A key.
Even Damian had called her an asset.
But somehow, he was the first man who had looked past all of that.
He saw the anger.
The intelligence.
The ambition.
The part of her that wanted to stop running and start fighting.
He saw a player.
And that frightened her more than the bullets.
Elena slowly pulled his hand away from her face.
“Don’t decide what I want.”
Damian’s gaze remained fixed on hers.
“Then tell me.”
She swallowed.
“I want my life back.”
“You won’t get it.”
The bluntness of his answer made her chest tighten.
“What?”
“Not the life you had.”
He leaned back against the seat.
“That life is gone.”
Elena stared at him.
She wanted to argue.
But she knew he was right.
Her father was gone.
Her family’s protection was gone.
The marriage she had been running from was gone.
And after tonight, there was no way she could return to pretending everything was normal.
Damian watched the realization settle over her face.
“You can mourn it later.”
His voice softened by the smallest degree.
“Right now, you survive.”
Elena looked away.
For several seconds, she listened to the rain.
Then she noticed something.
The SUV wasn’t heading toward the city center.
She turned back.
“Where are we going?”
Damian’s mouth curved into a cold, knowing smile.
“Somewhere your brother thinks he’s safe.”
Elena’s stomach tightened.
“Marcus?”
Damian nodded once.
“Your brother betrayed you.”
Her fingers curled into the stained scarf.
“What are you going to do to him?”
Damian’s eyes darkened.
“Collect his debt.”
Elena studied him.
“And what does that mean?”
“It means he made a choice.”
His gaze moved toward the road ahead.
“Now he gets to live with it.”
Elena’s heart began beating faster.
Not from fear this time.
Something colder.
Something sharper.
She looked down at her bloodstained hands.
Then out at the darkness beyond the window.
“Take me to him.”
Damian’s eyes snapped back to hers.
For the first time, genuine surprise flickered across his face.
“You want to come?”
Elena lifted her chin.
“He sold me.”
Her voice trembled.
But she didn’t look away.
“I want to hear him explain why.”
A long silence followed.
Then Damian leaned back, his expression settling into something darker.
“All right, little bird.”
The SUV disappeared deeper into the rain.
“Let’s go collect your brother’s debt.”