Chapter 27 – The Ride Home
The car door slammed harder than Aria expected, the sound echoing inside the sleek black interior. Damien slid into the driver's seat, his jaw a rigid line, his silence louder than any storm.
Aria sat stiffly beside him, clutching her purse in her lap. The city lights blurred past as he drove, too fast, his hands gripping the wheel like it was the only thing holding him together.
Finally, she broke the silence. "You can't keep doing this."
His gaze stayed fixed on the road. "Doing what?"
"Dragging me into your world without telling me what's going on. People whisper about your family, about your empire, about sins I don't even understand. I stood there tonight like a fool while they all stared at me. At us."
Damien's grip tightened. "They don't matter."
"They do if they can destroy you." Her voice rose. "Damien, I need to know what I'm walking into."
He pulled the car sharply to the side of the road, tires screeching. The sudden stillness made her heart race. He turned to her, eyes burning.
"You think I don't want to tell you?" His voice was low, ragged. "You think I don't lie awake at night wishing I could give you normal? That I could erase every shadow tied to my name?"
Aria blinked, startled by the rawness beneath his anger.
"Then why don't you?" she whispered.
"Because once you know, there's no turning back." His hand reached for hers, almost desperate. "And I'd rather you hate me for being overbearing than lose you to the darkness I came from."
Her chest ached. She wanted to pull away, but his touch burned. "Damien… you can't decide for me. That's not love. That's control."
His eyes flickered — a crack in his armor. For a moment he looked less like the untouchable Damien Black, more like the haunted man she glimpsed on that balcony days ago.
He leaned closer, his breath hot against her ear. "Then tell me. If I open every door, if I let you see the blood on my hands… will you stay?"
Her breath hitched. She didn't answer. Couldn't.
The silence was an answer of its own.
Damien pulled back slowly, jaw clenched. Without another word, he started the car again, the distance between them in the small space feeling wider than ever.
But as they neared her apartment, Aria's phone buzzed. A new message lit up the screen:
> Professor Callahan: "If he won't tell you the truth, I will. Meet me tomorrow. Alone."
Her heart stuttered, torn between fear and curiosity. She locked her phone quickly before Damien could see.
And in that silence, she realized: the cracks were only beginning to show. This is it