Chapter Five

I hated how my skin was still buzzing from Damian’s touch.

His few words—“I will”— filled me with dread. Reverberated in my mind long after he’d walked away.

But more than anything, I hated that somewhere in my soul of souls, the treacherous part of me just wanted to know what freedom would feel like if I’d just let go. To stop fighting him.

I clenched my fists. No. But I wasn’t about to let him get in my head.

I had a plan to figure it out.

Damian may have dominion over my life at this very moment, but that didn’t mean I had to lie down and acquaint myself with it. “ There has to be a way out of this.

I froze, my heart thudding in my ears as the woman’s icy blue gaze took me in.

Damian’s mother.

I should have guessed meeting her wouldn’t be pleasant, but something in her gaze — as if I were some bug under a microscope— put an ice-cold shiver in my spine.

She was stunning in an impossible way, silver hair slicked back into a high chignon, dress immaculately against her slender body. But it was her eyes that unnerved me. They had the same edge as Damian’s, only without the warmth he sometimes let seep through.

I held myself up, not allowing her eyes to make me smaller. “I didn’t know we were coming here,” I said, my voice steady.

Damian smirked beside me. “I thought it would be a pleasant surprise.”

I clenched my fists.

Nice surprise? More like an ambush.

Leo, totally unaware that tension hung in the air, grinned up at the woman. “Are you Damian’s mom?”

She grinned all ice and math. “Yes, darling. You must be Leo.”

Leo nodded enthusiastically. “Mommy said we’re going somewhere special today!”

Her eyes darted to me for a split second before she crouched down to Leo’s level. “I have a beautiful garden with flowers and a pond with fish. Would you like to see it?”

Leo’s face lit up. “Yes!”

Damian motioned for one of his men to take Leo inside, and my heart twisted as I saw him vanish into the estate.

That left just me, Damian, and his mother.

I took a deep breath and followed it up with a slow exhale.

She straightened up, her eyes snapping back to me. “I was thinking someone … different.”

I lifted a brow. “Disappointed?”

Damian laughed, but his mother did not smile.

Her voice had a smooth texture, but each word was thick with warning. “Let’s pretend you and I don’t know each other, Miss Carter. My son lets you be here, and that is why you are here. Nothing more.”

Heat welled in my chest; anger constricted my throat. “I’m here because of my son.”

Her lips pressed together. “A son you kept from Damian.”

Damian’s smirk wavered, just a little.

I gritted my teeth. “None of your business.”

Her eyes darkened. “Oh, but it is. Because anything that involves my son is my business.”

Silence hung between us, heavy with tension.

Damian was watching me, waiting, assessing how I would respond.

I took a deep breath, steadying myself. “If you brought me here to intimidate me, I advise you to not waste your time. I’m not leaving, Leo.”

She cocked her head, eyeing me for a long second.

Then, to my shock, she smiled.

It was not warm, but there was something nearly… approving about the look in her eyes.

“You’ve got a spine,” she said in a whisper. “That’s good. You’ll need it.”

With that, she spun around on her heels and walked inside, leaving me standing out there, baffled and ill at ease.

Damian let out a low chuckle. “I think she likes you.”

I shot him a glare. “Was she liking me?”

His smirk widened. “She didn’t rip you apart. That’s a good sign.”

I huffed, crossing my arms. “Well, I don’t care what she thinks.”

Damian closed the distance, his presence suffocating. “You should.”

His voice was quiet, almost playful, but there was something else in it — a warning.

I swallowed hard. “Why?”

He brushed his fingers against my chin, tipping it up just a bit. “Because love it or hate it, you’re part of this world now. And in this world, power is all.”

I hated the way my breath caught at his touch.

I hated that, for just a moment, I forgot what I was even supposed to be resisting him for.

I retreated, like breaking the moment. “Power’s no goal of mine, Damian. I just want my son safe.”

His face tightened a bit, but he didn’t fight it.

Instead, he just added, “Then you’d better learn how to survive.”

And he walked away, just like that, and left me with many more questions than answers.

A way to escape.

I spun on my heels and marched back into the estate, resolve hardening in me.

If I was going to make it through this, I knew I had to begin playing the game.

And I had to play it better than Damian.

♦♦♦

That night, dinner was excruciating.

Damian sat opposite me at the long, polished dining table, every inch the powerful, unreadable man.

Leo was next to me, happily eating, unaware of the tension that laced the air.

Damian watched me. Studied me.

I turned a blind eye, focused only on my plate.

But there was no ignoring this guy.

Not when he was so overwhelming.

Not when every sidelong glance he sent my way set my skin to prickling with awareness.

“Tomorrow,” he said abruptly, shattering the silence. “I’m going to take Leo out for the afternoon.”

I stopped in my tracks, my fork midair above my plate. “Where?”

His lips twitched slightly. “Somewhere special.”

A wave of acute unease washed over me. “You don’t get to do that without me being involved.”

His smoky gaze met mine with fervor. “I do now.”

Anger flared in my chest. “You’re not going anywhere with him without me.”

Leo stared up at me, bewildered. “Mommy, it’s okay. I want to go.”

My heart squeezed painfully.

I looked at Damian. He had done this on purpose. He had planned this.

He knew there was no way I could refuse without upsetting Leo.

Bastard.

Damian slouched in his theater chair, utterly comfortable. “Then it’s settled.”

I felt like throwing something at him.”

Instead, though, I put on a tight smile. “Fine.”

If he wanted to play games, that was his prerogative.

I just had to play wiser.”

♦♦♦

I barely slept that night.

Again.

Morning arrived far too early, and before I knew it, I was standing next to Damian as Leo bounced on the seat of the fancy black car in the back.

I folded my arms. “If you try anything—”

Damian arched an eyebrow. “You’ll what?”

I scowled. “Don’t test me.”

A slow, smug smile flitted across his lips. “Noted.”

With that, he opened up the car door for me.

I hesitated, then got in.

What I knew was that if I wanted to keep Leo safe, I had no choice but to play along.

For now.

♦♦♦

The drive was quiet, but the tension crackled in the air between us like a storm waiting to break.

I stared out the window as the city passed in a blur.

Then suddenly the car veered onto a private road.

I frowned. “Where are we going?”

Damian didn’t answer.

A few minutes later, we arrived at a huge estate — one even larger than Damian’s.

I stiffened. “What is this?”

Damian glanced at me. “My mother’s house.”

I blinked. “What?”

Before I had an opportunity to say anything further, the car door opened, and an elegant, tall woman stepped out.

Her diamond blue eyes — so much like Damian’s — fell on me.

And then, she smiled.

A slow, dangerous smile.

“Ah,” she murmured. “So this is the woman who thinks she can defy my son.

My stomach started to knot up.

Suddenly I felt like I’d just walked into something a lot more dangerous than I ever thought.