Damien's POV
"Ask me." My voice cuts through the silence in the SUV. "Ask me what you want to know."
Aria presses herself against the opposite door, as far from me as possible. Her phone is clutched in her hand, that damning text message still glowing on the screen.
She's terrified of me now. Good. Fear will keep her careful. Keep her alive.
"Were you there when Elena died?" Her voice shakes but her eyes are steady. Even scared, she's brave. It makes something twist in my chest.
"Yes."
"Did you kill her?"
"No." I meet her gaze head-on. "But I watched her die. And I didn't stop it."
Aria's face goes white. "You're a monster."
"Probably." I lean back against the seat, exhausted suddenly. Three years of watching her from a distance, and now she's here—hating me, fearing me, exactly like I knew she would. "But I'm a monster who's kept you alive. That has to count for something."
"You put cameras in my apartment!"
"Five of them. Bedroom, living room, kitchen, both entrances." I don't apologize. I won't lie to her. "Someone's been trying to find you for months. Breaking into your building. Following you home from work. I needed to know if they got close."
"You could have told me! You could have warned me instead of watching me like some creep—"
"If I'd contacted you, it would have led them straight to you." My hands clench into fists. "The Vandermeres, the people who took you, the ones who want you dead—they're all watching for anyone who makes contact with you. I had to stay invisible."
"For three years?" She's crying now, angry tears streaming down her face. "You watched me for three years and never once tried to help me?"
"I helped you every single day!" The words explode out of me. "Who do you think paid your rent when you were three months behind? Who made sure that drunk driver didn't make it to your street corner? Who got you the job at Morelli's when everywhere else rejected you?"
Aria stares at me. "That was you?"
"All of it. Everything." I run my hands through my hair, trying to control the emotions I've kept locked down for so long. "I've been protecting you since the moment I found you. From the shadows. From a distance. Because that's what you needed."
"I needed someone to tell me the truth!"
"The truth would have gotten you killed." I lean forward, needing her to understand. "Elena knew that. That's why she never told you who you really were. That's why she died keeping the secret."
"You said you watched her die. Tell me what happened."
This is the part that will make her hate me forever. But she deserves to know.
"Three months ago, Elena called me. She was in the hospital, dying from cancer. She said she had information about you—about who you really were. I went to see her." The memory burns. "She told me everything. About the kidnapping. About Vivienne paying her to take you. About how she was supposed to hand you to someone else but couldn't do it. She kept you instead."
"She loved me," Aria whispers.
"Yes. But love doesn't erase what she did." I watch Aria's face, seeing the pain there. "She wanted to make it right before she died. She was going to tell the Vandermeres where you were. Going to confess everything."
"So you stopped her."
"No. Someone else did." I pull out my phone and show her a photo. "This was in her hospital room the night she died. On her bedside table."
It's a syringe. Empty. The label torn off.
"Someone injected her with something that looked like her pain medication but wasn't. Her heart stopped within minutes. The doctors called it natural causes—her body giving up. But I knew better."
Aria's hand covers her mouth. "Who?"
"I don't know yet. But whoever it was knew she was about to talk. They were in that hospital, in her room, and they killed her to keep her quiet." I put the phone away. "I got there five minutes after she died. Five minutes too late."
"You could have saved her—"
"No, I couldn't." The words taste bitter. "By the time I arrived, she was already gone. All I could do was take the evidence before anyone else found it. And make sure whoever killed her didn't come after you next."
The SUV pulls through a massive gate. We're at the compound now—my fortress, the place where I can finally keep her safe for real.
Aria looks out the window at the high walls, the security cameras, the armed guards. "This is a prison."
"This is the only place you're safe." I turn to face her. "Tomorrow, you'll meet the Vandermeres officially. They'll offer you everything—money, family, your real name back. But tonight, you're mine. You're under my protection. And there are rules."
"Rules?"
"You don't leave without my permission. You don't contact anyone from your old life. You don't go anywhere alone. You tell me everything—every memory, every person who might want to hurt you, every secret Elena might have told you."
"That's insane!"
"That's survival." I reach over and take her phone from her hand before she can stop me. "And no more mysterious text messages. Whoever's sending these knows too much. They're playing games with you."
"Give that back!" She lunges for it but I hold it out of reach.
"You'll get it back when I've traced the number and made sure it's safe." I pocket the phone. "Until then, if you need to communicate with anyone, you do it through me."
"I'm not a prisoner!"
"You're a target worth five billion dollars." I lean close, letting her see the truth in my eyes. "Twelve people have died in connection to your kidnapping. Elena was number twelve. Do you want to be number thirteen?"
She goes silent, the fight draining out of her.
The SUV stops. We're at the main entrance. My team is waiting to escort her inside, to show her to her suite, to begin the process of keeping her alive.
But before I let her go, I need to know something.
"The texts," I say. "The ones warning you about me. Did they tell you anything else? Anything about who took you or why?"
Aria hesitates. She's deciding whether to trust me. I can see the calculation in her eyes—weighing whether I'm the lesser evil or just another monster.
Finally, she nods. "They said there was another baby."
My blood runs cold. "What?"
"In the nursery. The night I was taken." Her voice drops to a whisper. "They said I wasn't the only one stolen. There was a twin."
No. That's impossible. The police reports, the hospital records, the Vandermere family statements—none of them mentioned twins.
"That's a lie," I say, but doubt creeps in. "They're manipulating you—"
"They sent a photo." Aria pulls a piece of paper from her pocket. It must have been tucked in with the texts. "Elena had it. The mystery person said they found it in her belongings."
She unfolds the paper and my world tilts.
It's an old photograph. Two babies in matching pink blankets. Same face. Same birthmark on the left shoulder. Both with bracelets reading "Vandermere."
Twins.
"Oh God," I breathe. "There were two of you."
"Which means someone out there has my sister." Aria's eyes meet mine, and I see the determination there beneath the fear. "And if the Vandermeres have been looking for me all this time, why didn't they mention her? Why hide that there were twins?"
It's a good question. A dangerous question.
"Maybe they didn't know," I say, but it sounds weak even to me.
"Or maybe they did know." Aria takes the photo back, clutching it like a lifeline. "Maybe they only wanted one of us back. The one worth billions. The heir."
"We need to tell them about this—"
"No!" She grabs my arm. "Don't you get it? If they didn't tell me about my twin, they're hiding something. Everyone in this family is hiding something. Even you."
She's right. And that's what terrifies me.
"What do you want to do?" I ask.
"I want to find her." Aria's jaw sets. "My sister. Before whoever took her decides she's a problem that needs to disappear too."
"That's dangerous—"
"I don't care." She looks at me with eyes that burn. "You said you've been protecting me for three years. Fine. Then help me protect her."
Before I can answer, my phone explodes with alerts. Security breach. North perimeter. Armed intruders.
"We're under attack," I say, already moving. "Stay in the vehicle—"
Gunfire erupts outside. Glass shatters. My driver slumps forward, blood spreading across his shirt.
"Get down!" I throw myself over Aria as bullets tear through the SUV.
Someone's not just trying to kidnap her this time.
They're trying to kill her.