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CHAPTER 19
Isabella
The weight of Damien's footsteps is evidence of the urgency that surrounds us. To him, I must seem like a wild flame, untamed and fiercely unyielding. As I reach for my escape, attempting to turn the doorknob and flee from the gilded prison that his grand home has become, he is swift to react.
Before the cool metal can fully rotate under my fingers, Damien is there, keeping the door shut with a decisive thud that seals my fate. His hands encircle my arms and turn me around with an unspoken insistence. An insistence that isn't harsh but leaves no room for protest or escape.
"Let go of me, Damien," I snap in a voice so sharp it could cut through the tension that fills the room.
My anger hits him like a physical force, but it’s laced with fear. A fear that he puts there. This has never been a game, but it's turning into a battle, one for my life and my trust.
“I can’t do that, Isabella,” he tells me, his grip firm yet careful not to hurt me. “You’re not safe out there."
His voice is steady, a counterpoint to the chaotic emotions that flicker in my eyes like a storm.
"I have to get away from here," I plead with him.
Damien's grip tightens on my arms, and there's a flash of something dark and unyielding in his gaze. "You think you can walk away from me? I’m not just a chapter in your life, Isabella. I am the goddamn book. Every word that writes your future has my name on it."
"I have to leave," I tell him again.
"You can't just walk away from everything. It doesn't work that way," he snaps.
I try to shrug him off. "Watch me," I challenge as defiance rises within me like a tidal wave. The conflict ignites a strange, dangerous thrill in my veins. A mix of fear, anger, and something far more volatile.
"You're not understanding me," he bites out as his eyes drilled into mine like a storm brewing in those dark depths. "The empire I’ve built, his... our enemies. They won't care about your feelings or about what you want. You're in danger, whether you like it or not."
His words are like ice, stripping the heat from our argument, yet the heat between us is palpable. A fiery undercurrent to our standoff. I hate that a part of me wants to lean into his warmth to yield to that unspoken tension.
His thumbs stroke my skin absently, an odd tenderness clashing with the harsh words. I hate how it sends a shiver down my spine.
"Let go of me, Damien," I whisper, my voice betraying the storm inside me.
He releases me slowly as if each inch between us is reluctance made physical. "You can hate me and him all you want, but you can’t be reckless with your life."
I step back to create distance from his maddening presence. "Don’t pretend to care about my well-being now," I scoff as my anger flares again. "Where was this concern when Jackson’s hands were around my throat?"
Damien's face tightens, his jaw setting in a hard line. "I didn’t know. I didn’t like seeing you with him. Seeing you with him lit a fire in me that no ocean could douse. Be careful, Isabella, because playing with fire can be dangerous, especially when it's burning in the eyes of a man who considers you his.”
“Yet you still treated me like shit,” I snap.
“I said I was wrong,” he growls lowly, his eyes never leaving mine. “I'm trying to protect you, damn it."
"I don't need your protection," I hiss, filled with false bravado.
Deep down, the uncertainty knots in my stomach, tightly coiled and ready to strike. Damien is a storm of a man, dangerous and unpredictable, and yet… I can't help but feel drawn to him. Every bitter argument is laced with an undercurrent that whispers of more than hatred, more than anger. But I refuse to acknowledge it. Not now. Not to him.
Damien steps closer, and his presence fills the space between us with an intensity that’s suffocating.
"You do need my protection," he says, and I can't help but retreat until my back meets the wall.
"Why the sudden need to protect me?" I challenge as desperation seeps through my resolute façade.
His hands find the wall on either side of my head, caging me in, and I'm acutely aware of the heat radiating from his body. The atmosphere shifts, becoming charged with an electricity that speaks of carnal desire.
"I've walked through hell and back, but the thought of losing you terrifies me more than any demon I've faced. You've become my weakness, Isabella, and my ultimate strength,” he whispers.
“I don’t understand,” I whisper. “You can have anyone you want. Why me?”
