The car arrived at a warehouse, hefty men stood outside surrounding the building with a pistol.
"Why did you bring me here... What do you want from me"
Their grips were rough, her heels scraping against the cracked floor of a warehouse that smelled of metal, oil, and something burnt.
"Let go of me!" she snapped, twisting, her voice sharper than her fear.
They didn't answer — they just dragged her forward.
Her mind raced. Think, Elena. Do something.
She swallowed hard, forcing her tone into something bold even as her voice trembled.
"Do you have any idea who you're touching?" she spat.
"I live with Damian Voss — yes, that Damian Voss. He'll find you before the night's over, and when he does, he'll bury every one of you alive."
One of the men paused, glancing at the other, but they didn't speak. She caught the flicker of unease in their eyes and pushed harder.
"You think you can just kidnap me? He'll make you disappear without a trace. Damian doesn't forgive. Not when someone lays a hand on what's his."
Her words started tumbling faster, desperation lacing every syllable.
"You're making a huge mistake. He's—he's not someone you want to cross. You'll wish you were never born when he finds out—"
She froze mid-sentence.
Because she heard it.
That voice. Low, cold, and unmistakable.
"Funny," the voice said from the shadows, calm but cutting,
"you can't threaten them with me when they're following my orders."
Her breath hitched as her gaze followed the sound. He stepped into the light, his black shirt half unbuttoned, his expression unreadable.
The men who'd dragged her in stepped back immediately — as if even they feared the chill in his stare.
"D… Damian?" she whispered, disbelief and fear tangling in her chest.
He took another step forward, his tone smooth but edged with something dangerous. "You talk too much when you're scared, Elena."
Realization hit her like a slap. Her heartbeat stuttered. The men hadn't kidnapped her — he had sent them.
She blinked, her throat tightening. "You—You sent them?"
"Why did you bring me here"
"Why! Are you mad that I ruined your perfect date with... he said with his icy voice.
Her eyes were on the floor, she didn't dare to give him a glance
"It wasn't a..."
"Shut up!" He yelled.
"So you told your investigator to...
"Did you really think you were going to find your aunt?" Damian's voice was low, dark, and too controlled.
Elena's chin lifted despite the tremor in her hands. "You can't just—" she began, but his look cut her off.
"I warned you, Elena." His voice dropped into something darker.
Then the lights were suddenly turned on and there was a man tied to a chair in the middle of the room.
Alex"
"Damian please stop... Elena begged"
"I told you I don't share what's mine but you still decided to meet him' he said pointing at Alex who was very weak and tied to a chair.
"Your body belongs to Damian Volkov and no one else my dear plaything" He said the last word boldly.
"Damian, please he didn't touch me just let him go"
She cried as she begged him.
"You are meant to stay away from any man except from me your master' and you getting close to any man will just get them in trouble, my playtoy!"
He said and took out a pistol from his pocket.
Elena shivered at the sight of it.
He turned facing Alex and fired at him.
Elena screamed and was about going to Alex when he ordered for his men to take her away then a hefty man dragged her, she kept screaming as she struggled.
The man pricked a needle in her neck then everything went blurry for her.
Damian kept a cold face angry and jealous that she was crying for another man that way.
He had ordered they make her fall asleep because he knew she wouldn't stop screaming and for Alex, he told his men to get him here before Elena reaches.
***
The next morning, Her eyes fluttering open then it all came rushing back,
Alex
Damian shooting at him and two men taking her away. That was all she could remember.
Her body was weak and filled with thoughts from the incident from last night. "Did Damian really shoot at Alex", "Is Alex dead"
She was about breaking down when she heard a knock on her door. It was a maid.
The maid's gentle voice came through the wood. "Miss Elena? The Master asked that you come down for breakfast, please."
Elena swallowed. Her stomach felt like a knot. "I'm not hungry," she said quietly.
Elena closed her eyes. Images of Damian at the warehouse — the way he'd watched her, the whiskey glass in his hand, that glacial calm .
She thought of Alex. She thought of her aunt, taken, and the ridiculous helplessness that made her want to scream.
The maid came back, "Miss Elena, master says if you don't come down for breakfast, I will loose my job- Please miss, just come down, I don't want to loose my job"
She sighed, helpless. "Okay. Tell him I'll come."
The maid's relief was immediate in the faintest of sounds. She left quietly, and Elena lay a moment longer.
She freshened up then dressed slowly, trying to force herself into ordinary movements: wash, brush, pick a sensible dress.
When she looked into the mirror she barely recognized the woman staring back.
She went downstairs. The dining room smelled of coffee and eggs, of a house that had eaten its share of mornings. Damian sat at the head of the table, dark and taut, every line of him coiled.
He looked like a man who'd been up all night and used the darkness to sharpen himself. When he saw her he didn't smile.
He merely set his cup down and looked at her, a hardness in his gaze that made the room colder.
She kept her eyes lowered till she sat down.
Damian's voice cut through the small clatter of china like a blade.
"Can't you greet your master, playtoy?" His tone was flat, angry, the kind that didn't need to shout because the words themselves were punishment.
Elena's throat felt raw. What happened to calling her cupcake she thought to herself.
She lifted her head, the greeting practiced and brittle. "Good morning, Damian," she said, each syllable precise.
He let out a chuckle. "Damian! No playtoy, you have no right to call my name. Your my servant so you call me master"
Shame and anger warred under her ribs. "Good morning master' she greeted a d tears kept rolling down her eyes.
Damian watched her every bite. When she hesitated with her fork, he jabbed a word at her like a needle.
"Keep eating. You'll need the energy in my room." There was an edge in his voice she couldn't name — control.
Elena's fingers tightened on her fork. "Energy for what?" she asked still shedding tears although she knew what he meant.
Don't act like a fool now! You should be happy I didn't even kill your aunt so stop shedding those stupid tears" He said and walked away as he headed upstairs.
She sat there without a word as she heard him talk about her aunt, her heart shattering into pieces.