Chapter 2 The Man From the Shadows

My blood turned to ice.

The man filling the doorway wore a dark wool coat, rain dripping from the hem. His hair, salt and pepper, slicked back, looked the same as the night everything went wrong. His eyes, sharp and dead as glass, swept the café until they landed on me.

My lungs stopped working.

Marcus Hale.

The man I had spent the last two years hiding from.

The man whose empire I'd accidentally stepped into.

The man who promised he would kill me if I ever resurfaced.

His lips curled into a smile that never reached his eyes.

"There you are," Marcus said softly. "I've been searching everywhere."

My knees threatened to buckle. I clutched the counter behind me, fingers numb.

Damian moved before I could blink.

He stepped in front of me, blocking Marcus' line of sight with his broad frame, turning into a cold wall of expensive fabric and controlled violence.

His voice dropped into something lethal.

"I don't think you're welcome here."

Marcus looked Damian up and down, unimpressed. "This doesn't concern you."

"It does now," Damian replied.

The café fell silent.

People froze, holding half-eaten pastries, half-sipped coffees, like they'd all been turned to stone.

I couldn't breathe.

Marcus shifted his attention back to me, peering over Damian's shoulder.

"Aria, my dear. Aren't you going to say hello?"

My fingers dug into the counter hard enough to hurt.

Damian didn't turn, but something in his posture changed, sharpened.

He caught the tremor in my breathing.

"Her name," Damian said quietly, "is none of your business."

Marcus laughed, slow, deliberate, the sound of someone used to holding power.

"Everything about her is my business."

No.

No, no, no.

Linda called from behind the register, voice shaking, "Should I call the police?"

Marcus's eyes flicked to her.

"One more word," he said, voice dropping dangerously, "and you'll regret it."

Linda's mouth snapped shut, her hand hovering over the phone.

Damian stepped forward, angling his body protectively.

"Threatening civilians won't get you what you want."

"What I want," Marcus said, "is the girl you're hiding."

Damian didn't blink.

"I think you should leave."

"And I think," Marcus countered, "you should stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. Damian Blackwell, always the hero, until he bills you for it."

The café gasped.

Even Damian froze for a fraction of a second.

He hadn't expected Marcus to know his name.

Marcus smiled like he'd won a move in a game no one else realized was being played.

"You're famous, Blackwell," Marcus said. "But fame doesn't make you invincible."

Damian's jaw flexed.

His voice dropped into a low, dangerous tone I felt in my bones.

"No. But it does make me harder to kill."

Marcus stepped forward.

Damian stepped closer.

Two predators in a silent standoff.

I pressed a shaking hand to my mouth.

This was spiraling too fast.

Marcus was unpredictable, violent when cornered.

He would burn the café down with everyone inside if he thought it would flush me out.

And Damian... Damian didn't seem the type to back down.

Marcus tilted his head, eyes gleaming.

"Aria and I have unfinished business. Step aside, and I'll make sure you walk away with all your limbs."

Damian didn't move.

"Say another word," he murmured, "and you'll walk out in handcuffs."

Marcus's smile faded.

"I don't think you understand," he said. "She belongs to me."

Damian snapped.

He grabbed Marcus by the collar and slammed him against the nearest wall so hard the windows rattled.

Customers screamed and ducked under tables.

Linda shrieked and ran for the back.

Marcus laughed breathlessly.

"You're making a mistake."

Damian's face was inches from his.

"You walked into the wrong building. Threatened the wrong woman."

His voice dropped to a razor's edge.

"And you're about to lose everything because of it."

Security alarms blared from Marcus's coat, subtle, high-pitched indicators that backup had been triggered.

Marcus whispered, "Too late."

Before Damian could react, the front windows exploded.

Glass shattered inward.

I screamed.

People hit the floor.

Three armed men rushed in, faces masked, weapons raised.

Damian spun, stepping between them and me as shards rained across the floor.

Customers crawled, sobbing, trying to escape.

Chaos swallowed everything.

Marcus straightened his coat, satisfaction dripping from his expression.

"See?" he said softly. "You can't protect her."

Damian's eyes flashed with cold fury.

The first masked man charged.

Damian grabbed a metal chair, swinging it with precise force, knocking the attacker into a table.

The second fired a shot,

I dove to the floor.

Damian yanked me back behind a pillar as the bullet punched into the espresso machine, sending sparks flying.

The café filled with smoke, screaming, broken glass.

Marcus watched the chaos like it was a private show.

"You're outnumbered, Blackwell," he called out. "Walk away."

Damian stepped forward, shielding me, eyes burning like frostfire.

"You think I'm leaving her?"

His voice was deadly calm.

"You don't know me at all."

The third masked man lunged at Damian with a knife.

Damian moved like a ghost, swift, silent, lethal.

He twisted the attacker's arm, disarmed him, and slammed him face-first onto the floor.

But he missed the fourth man entering behind the broken window.

I saw him before Damian did.

He was pointing a gun.

Directly at Damian's back.

"Damian!" I screamed.

He turned.

Too late.

The gun fired.

I didn't think.

I threw myself at Damian, shoving him to the side.

A sharp, blazing pain tore into my shoulder.

I gasped and collapsed onto the shattered glass.

The world spun.

Voices blurred.

My vision dimmed.

Damian's shout cut through the ringing in my ears.

"ARIA!"

I tried to move.

I couldn't.

Through the haze I saw Marcus approaching, boots crunching on debris, calm and confident like he'd already won.

He crouched beside me.

"I warned you," he whispered. "If you ran, I'd find you."

A cold hand brushed my cheek.

"You should've stayed dead."

Something surged in Damian, a sound I'd never heard before, something raw, animal, savage.

He lunged.

Not to attack Marcus.

To reach me.

Glass tore against his knees as he slid to my side, gathering me in his arms.

"Stay with me," he ordered, voice breaking with a fury that didn't match his usual control. "Aria, look at me. Don't close your eyes."

But everything was fading.

Marcus straightened, dusting off his coat.

"Take her," he told the armed men. "And kill Blackwell."

Damian's arms tightened around me.

"No," I whispered weakly. "Please... Damian, run."

For the first time, I saw fear flash across his eyes.

"Aria," he said, voice cracking, "I'm not leaving you."

The last sound I heard before everything went black, was the click of a gun being aimed at Damian's head.