Chapter 6 - The Trap is Set
The next morning, I didn't say a word to the other maids, nor did I mention anything to Anthony. In a mob family, talking to the wrong guard could mean a bullet before sunset.
I waited until 2:00 PM, when Damen was alone in his private study reviewing legal deeds.
I knocked twice on the heavy mahogany door.
"Enter," his deep voice called out.
I walked inside, keeping my hands clasped tightly in front of my apron. Damen looked up from his desk, setting down his gold fountain pen. When he saw the pale, exhausted look on my face, his eyebrows pulled together instantly.
"Mara? What's wrong? Are you ill?" he asked, standing up from his leather chair.
"Mr. Romano," I began, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to sound calm. "I need you to promise me something before I speak."
Damen walked around his desk, stopping two feet away from me. "Name it."
"Promise me you will protect Ellie," I whispered, tears brimming in my eyes. "No matter what happens."
Damen’s expression hardened, his eyes turning dangerous. "Who threatened her?"
"Nicholas," I blurted out, the words pouring out of me in a desperate rush. "Last night, behind the west balcony curtains. He was talking to an outsider. They're planning to cut the main power lines on Sunday night during the storm. They want to open the stable gates for Lucian Vane's men to kill you... and they plan to lock Ellie and Atlas in the cellar."
The room went dead quiet.
I expected Damen to yell, to call his guards, or to panic. But he didn't.
Instead, a cold, terrifying stillness settled over him. It was the face of a king who had just watched his brother place a dagger against his spine.
"Nicholas..." Damen said softly, the name tasting like ash in his mouth. He looked out the floor-to-ceiling window toward the rainy courtyard below. "My own blood."
"Mr. Romano, we have to leave," I begged, reaching out and grabbing his forearm without thinking. "Take your men and leave the estate before Sunday!"
Damen looked down at my hand resting on his sleeve, then reached up with his warm fingers, wrapping them gently over mine.
"I have spent thirty-four years running from nothing, Mara," Damen said, his voice impossibly smooth and steady. "I won't start running now. Especially not when I have something worth staying for."
He pulled me slightly closer, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my heart leap into my throat.
"You did the right thing coming to me," Damen murmured, his thumb softly brushing the back of my hand. "On Sunday night, you and Ellie will be inside my personal panic room behind the library. Nobody enters that room without my thumbprint."
"What about you?" I asked, my voice cracking.
May you like
A dark, dangerous smile touched the corners of Damen's lips.
"On Sunday night," Damen said softly, "Lucian Vane and my brother will finally learn why Atlas isn't the only monster in this house."
