Damien POV
"I’ve tripled security. Aria and Noah are under 24-hour protection. And I’m working with federal authorities to locate Marcus before he can hurt anyone else." My voice hardened. "My brother made a mistake thinking he could use my family against . Because now I have sothing worth protecting, sothing worth fighting for. And I will burn down everything in my path to keep them safe."
The reporters exchanged glances. They’d gotten their story—the cold CEO brought to his knees by love and fatherhood. Tomorrow’s headlines would be brutal and sensational.
I didn’t care.
"One last question." A young reporter stood up. "What’s your ssage to Aria, if she’s watching?"
I looked at the cara again, imagining her sowhere in this building, maybe watching on a monitor.
"You’re not broken, Aria. You were never broken. You were always enough—more than enough. I was the broken one, too damaged to see the treasure I had. But I see you now. I see your strength, your intelligence, your fierce love for our son. I see how you command boardrooms and build empires while still being the most devoted mother I’ve ever known."
My voice cracked slightly. "I see you, and I’m in awe. And if you never forgive , if you decide I’ve hurt you too deeply to ever trust again, I’ll understand. But please know that you deserve everything. Every happiness, every dream, every mont of peace. And I’ll spend my life trying to give you those things, whether you want beside you or not."
Silence fell over the room. Even the jaded reporters seed moved.
"Thank you all for coming." I stepped back from the podium. "No further questions."
I walked off the stage, my heart pounding. Security moved in imdiately, forming a protective barrier as I headed for the private elevator.
Jas was waiting. "Sir, we need to discuss the security breach."
"Later." I needed to find Aria, needed to make sure she was okay after that ambush of a press conference.
"Sir, it’s urgent. Marcus left another"
"I said later." I hit the button for the executive floor. "Where’s Aria?"
"Your private office, she asked not to be disturbed."
Of course she did. I’d just declared my love on international television. She probably wanted to strangle .
The elevator doors opened. I walked through the empty executive suite, my footsteps echoing on the marble floors.
Her voice stopped outside my office door. She was on the phone, her tone sharp and professional.
"Yes, I saw the press conference. No, I’m not comnting on it. Tell the board I’ll address any concerns at tomorrow’s eting." A pause. "I don’t care what the headlines say. Monroe Global’s position hasn’t changed."
I knocked softly as the conversation cut off abruptly.
"Co in."
She stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city, her back to . The afternoon sun lit her hair like a halo, but her shoulders were tense, her spine rigid.
"You didn’t have to say all that," she said quietly. "In front of everyone."
"Yes, I did." I closed the door. "You won’t let say it privately."
"Because I don’t want to hear it." She turned to face , and I saw the tears tracking down her cheeks. "I don’t want to hear how much you love when I still rember how much you hated . When I can still hear your voice telling to get rid of our baby. When I still wake up so nights and feel like that broken woman you threw away."
"Aria"
"No." She held up her hand. "You don’t get to declare your love and expect everything to be okay. You don’t get to make grand gestures and have fall into your arms. Real life doesn’t work like that, Damien. Real trauma doesn’t heal because you said pretty words on cara."
"I know." I stayed where I was, giving her space. "I know I can’t fix this with words. But I needed you to know anyway. I needed you to understand that this isn’t about convenience or Noah or business. It’s about you, just you."
"Why now?" Her voice broke. "Why do you love now when you couldn’t even like then?"
"Because I was too broken to see you." The truth burned coming out. "My father destroyed sothing in . Made think love was weakness, that emotion was failure. I looked at you and felt things I couldn’t na, and didn’t know how to process. So I shut it down. Convinced myself you were nothing, that the marriage ant nothing."
I took a step closer. "But you were never nothing, Aria. Even when I was too damaged to admit it, you were everything. You were light in my darkness, warmth in my ice. And I was so terrified of that feeling that I destroyed it before it could destroy ."
"That doesn’t make it better." She wiped at her tears angrily. "It doesn’t excuse what you did."
"I know. Nothing excuses it. But maybe it explains it." I stopped a few feet away, close enough to see the pain in her eyes. "I was cruel because I was scared. I threw you out because keeping you was too dangerous to my carefully constructed walls. And I’ve regretted it every second since."
"Do you know what the worst part was?" She looked at , her eyes red. "It wasn’t the rejection. It wasn’t even the abortion demand, though that was horrifying. It was the indifference. The way you looked at like I was nothing. Like our baby was nothing. Like months of sharing your space, didn’t even register as real to you."
The words gutted . "I’m sorry."
"I know you are." She wrapped her arms around herself. "But sorry doesn’t undo the damage, Damien. Sorry doesn’t make trust you. It doesn’t make believe you won’t do it again the next ti you’re scared or angry or overwheld."
"Then what will?" I asked desperately. "Tell what to do and I’ll do it. Tell how to prove myself and I’ll spend my life proving it. Just tell there’s a chance. Tell I haven’t destroyed this completely."
She was quiet for a long mont, staring out at the city below. When she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper.
"I don’t know if there’s a chance. I don’t know if I can ever trust you again." She looked at , her expression shattered. "But I know I can’t make that decision right now. Not with everything happening. Not with Marcus still out there threatening Noah. Not when I’m this confused and scared and exhausted."
"Okay." I nodded, forcing myself to accept it. "Okay. We table it. Focus on keeping Noah safe and getting through this crisis. And when things settle, when you’re ready, we’ll talk."
"If I’m ever ready."
"If you’re ever ready," I agreed
She moved toward the door, but stopped beside . For a mont, we just stood there, close enough that I could sll her perfu—sothing floral and expensive that I’d never noticed before she left.
"For what it’s worth," she said softly, not looking at . "The man you were today, in that conference room—he’s the man I needed years ago. The one who’s honest and vulnerable and willing to fight for us. If you’d been him then, everything would be different."
"I’m him now." I turned my head to look at her profile. "It took losing you to beco him, but I’m him now."
"I hope so." She finally t my eyes. "Because if you’re not—if this is just another ga or manipulation—it will destroy . And I won’t survive it a second ti, Damien. I won’t co back from it."
"It’s not a ga." I reached out slowly, giving her ti to pull away. When she didn’t, I brushed a tear from her cheek with my thumb. "This is , completely raw and honest. No walls, no ice, no protection. This is loving you and terrified you’ll never love back."
She closed her eyes, leaning into my touch for just a second. Then she pulled away and walked to the door.
"We should get back to Noah. He’ll be wondering where we are."
"Aria." I stopped her with her hand on the doorknob. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For not giving up on completely. For staying here, for letting try. For—" My voice cracked. "For not taking Noah and disappearing again. That would kill now."
"I know." She opened the door. "That’s why I’m staying. Not for you. But because you clearly love him, and he deserves to know his father."
She left, the door closing softly behind her.
I stood alone in my office, my reflection staring back at from the windows. I looked different sohow—less controlled, more human. The Ice King was lting, and it showed.
My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
Touching speech, brother. It almost made cry. Too bad it won’t matter when I take everything from you.
Tell Aria she looks beautiful in blue. It’s definitely her color. She wore it today, didn’t she?
My blood ran cold. He was watching us. Right now, sohow, Marcus was watching.
I looked down at the street below, scanning for anyone suspicious. Nothing. But he was out there sowhere, planning his next move.
And this ti, he knew exactly how to hurt —by going after the woman I loved and the son I’d do anything to protect.
I hit the speed dial for Jas. "Get everyone together. Now. We have a problem."
Another text ca through as I headed for the door.
The press conference was entertaining. But the real show hasn’t started yet. Act Two begins tonight. Hope you’re ready, Damien. Because I’m coming for everything you love.
And this ti, no one’s going to save them.
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