The villa felt too big without Damien.
Too quiet.
I was supposed to stay in the bedroom while he "handled business." Lucas had locked the door from the outside, swearing it was for my safety, but all it did was make me feel like a sitting duck.
The rain outside was relentless, drumming against the windows, masking every other sound. Every creak in the floorboards made my pulse jump.
Then came the first one—loud, deliberate. Footsteps.
I froze.
"Damien?" I called out softly.
No answer.
The lock clicked. Slowly. Carefully. Not like Lucas's hurried style.
My stomach dropped.
The door opened—and standing there wasn't Damien or Lucas. It was Ethan Vale. Adrain's younger brother. The one even Damien called dangerous.
He was bone-dry despite the storm, wearing a dark suit like this was some kind of social call. His smile was almost polite. "Mrs. Blackwood."
I stepped back. "I'm not—"
"You will be useful," he interrupted, voice smooth but cold. "Come quietly, and no one gets hurt."
Before I could scream, he moved—fast, like a predator—and something sharp pressed to my side.
"Say a word, and I'll make sure Damien finds you in in cold blood," Adrian murmured.
⸻
The next thing I knew, I was in the back of a black SUV, rain streaking across the tinted glass. The island's winding cliff roads blurred past. My wrists were bound in front of me with something that felt like silk but bit into my skin all the same.
Adrian sat across from me, completely at ease. "You know your husband has enemies, Elena. But I'm not one of them. Not yet."
I glared at him. "Kidnapping me pretty much says otherwise."
His lips twitched in something that wasn't quite a smile. "This isn't about you. This is about making Damien… cooperative."
"Cooperative for what?" I demanded.
"You'll find out soon enough."
⸻
Back at the villa, Damien stormed into the bedroom only to find it empty.
Empty—and smelling faintly of rain and cologne he didn't recognize.
Lucas appeared in the doorway, pale. "She's gone."
Damien's voice was lethal. "Who took her?"
"Security footage caught a glimpse—Ethan Vale."
Damien's jaw flexed. "That son of a—" He didn't finish. Didn't have to. The sound of his gun being loaded said the rest.
Lucas hesitated. "He'll use her as leverage."
Damien's eyes were pure fire. "Then I'll take away every piece of leverage he's ever had. No one plays with me.
⸻
Adrian's safehouse was nothing like Damien's villa. It was all glass and concrete, perched over jagged rocks with waves smashing below. The walls were bare. The furniture was minimal.
He led me to a chair and cut the bindings, only to shove me down into it. "Sit."
I did, because the alternative was testing how far he'd go, and what he'd do.
He crouched in front of me, meeting my eyes. "Damien thinks he can control this city. That he can take what's mine. I need him reminded that there are rules—even for men like him."
"This isn't going to work," I said. "Damien will—"
"He'll come," Adrian interrupted, "but the question is—will you still want him when you learn the truth about who he really is?"
Before I could answer, his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, smirked, and put it on speaker.
Damien's voice was pure ice. "If you touch one single hair on her body, I'll make sure—"
Adrian cut him off. "You'll what? Kill me? You'd have to find me first."
"You think I don't already know where you are?" Damien's tone dropped, deadly calm. "You've made a very big mistake, Vale."
Adrian hung up, looking almost amused. "He's angry."
"You think that's funny?you think this is funny?" I snapped.
Adrian's smile faded. "No, Elena. I just think it's inevitable."