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I heard another gunshot go off, and I whimpered, trying to not panic. Damien rushed over to me and knelt in front of me. He gripped my chin, forcing my eyes to meet his. His blue eyes soothed me, calming me down and grounding me to the Earth.
“You need to breathe and stay calm,” he commanded. I nodded. He placed a gun in my hand. The steel of the handle was warm from where he had been holding it. “Do you remember how to use this?” At my nod, he continued. “Good. Crawl on the floor and get in the hallway, understand?”
I nodded and crawled out of the room. I shrieked when someone reached down to grab me. A gunshot went off behind me, and I gagged as blood covered me, the man who had been trying to grab me falling dead right in front of my face. Damien grabbed me and pulled me into the hallway bathroom. “Are you okay?” he demanded to know, running his eyes over me.
I nodded, my body beginning to lightly tremble. “Mark sent a couple of men to try to shut you up for opening your mouth,” he told me. “I was here to warn Drake and Tyrone. Mark moved quicker than I anticipated he would.”
My teeth started chattering, and my hands started shaking. “All clear!” I heard Tyrone shout.
Damien gripped my shoulders and pushed me down to sit on the toilet seat. “You’re going into shock, baby girl. You need to breathe in and out slowly,” he told me gently. He gripped my face in my hands as my chattering got worse. “Look at me,” he commanded. My eyes latched onto his. “Breathe, beautiful,” he coaxed.
I drew in a shaky breath, and Damien smiled. “That’s it, baby girl. Now release it slowly, and repeat the process, alright?”
“Fuck, Hayles, are you alright?” I heard Drake ask me.
“She’s going to be fine,” Damien answered for me, his dark eyes never leaving mine, knowing he had a way of grounding me back to the present, to calm the racing of my heart. “She went into shock.”
“I w-want out of h-here,” I stuttered, looking at Damien.
“Let’s get you cleaned up first, alright?” he gently prompted. He pushed my bloody hair back from my face. “Once we get the blood off of you, then we’ll go wherever you want to, okay?”
I nodded. “You need to let her the fuck go,” Drake snarled.
Damien shot him a dark look. “I think it would be in your best interest to shut the fuck up and get the fuck out,” Damien snapped. “She’s in fucking shock, and she’s leaning on the person she trusts the most, got it? Now get fucked.”
Drake stormed out of the bathroom, slamming the door closed behind him. I flinched. Damien rubbed my arms soothingly, not giving a fuck about the blood on them. “Come on. Let’s get you out of this swimsuit and into the shower.”
I allowed Damien to strip me out of my clothes. I noticed the way his eyes darkened as he ran his eyes over me, but he kept his hands in appropriate areas as he helped me into the shower. “I’m going to get you some clothes and pack you a bag, okay? Wash your hair and wash the blood off of you.”
I heard him leave the bathroom a moment later, and I slowly did as he said, the hot water helping to clear my head some.
I had just turned to Damien in my time of need.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
But I couldn’t deny that Damien was the one I always knew I could rely on, and in my frightened and panicked state, I had sought him out.
When I stepped out of the shower, there was a change of clothes sitting on the bathroom counter for me. I quickly got dressed and stepped out of the bathroom, walking towards the living room. Damien was setting one of my bags on the couch, talking to Drake.
“Look, I get that it’s hard to understand, but Hayley has always relied on me in her time of need, alright?” Damien snapped. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense, and I can’t explain it, but when she needs someone, I’ve always been someone she can turn to—someone that she knows she can rely on.”
“You fucking ruined her, Damien,” Drake snarled. “She was a shell of a human being when I met her. You’re no damn good for her.”
Damien shook his head but didn’t bother to reply. Instead, he turned to look at me when he noticed my presence in the room. “You still want to come with me?” he asked me.
I nervously chewed on my bottom lip. God, I wanted to—wanted to so badly, but I knew that would be a bad decision on my part.
I looked at Drake, hoping he could somehow make the decision for me. If left to my own defenses, I was going to cave and go with Damien.
Drake clenched his fists by his sides, anger morphing his features. “If you leave with him, Hayles, don’t come running back here when he ruins you again, got it?”
I cast my eyes to the floor, nodding, using that as my out. I looked up at Damien. “I’m going to stay here,” I told him softly.
Something akin to pain flashed in Damien’s eyes. My heart ached for him. God, he had to know I felt the same pain, right?
He just nodded his head and walked toward me. He pressed his lips to my forehead. I closed my eyes, my body swaying slightly closer to his as my body subconsciously sought out more of his intoxicating touch. “If you need me, call me, alright?”
I nodded. He turned away from me and looked at Drake. “If something happens to her, I’ll fucking kill you, got it?” he snarled, his mood doing an entire one-eighty.
Damien walked out of the house without another word. I turned on my heel and walked back towards my room, wanting to be alone and definitely not wanting to be in Drake’s presence. I sat on my bed and saw my ring sitting on my pillow where I assumed Damien had set it. A slip of paper was sitting beside it.
I figured you wouldn’t come with me tonight and it was the shock talking, but I had still packed you a bag in the hopes that you would. I’m incredibly sorry for the past, and I am a changed man, Hayley. I will do whatever it takes to prove that to you.
Just know, I am always here if you need me, and I won’t ever let you down again.
With love,
Your Damien.
More tears fell down my cheeks as I clutched the ring in my hand, not noticing Drake standing in my doorway as a sob ripped from my lips.
