Chapter 171: Chapter 173: The Storm Breaks
DAMIEN’S POV
The board meeting had been dragging on for two hours. Quarterly projections, market analysis, strategic planning for the Asian expansion.....all topics that normally would have held Damien’s full attention.
But tonight, his mind was elsewhere. On Aria. On the fact that she was having dinner with someone he didn’t know. Someone from her past, from her life before him.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. A message from Sab.
Damien pulled it out discreetly, glancing at the screen while the CFO droned on about profit margins.
What he saw made his blood run cold.
A photograph. Aria, smiling brighter than he’d ever seen her smile, wrapped in the arms of a tall, handsome man. Both of them laughing, clearly comfortable with each other, obviously close.
The caption from Sab: Subject having dinner with Marcus Rivera, MD. Former colleague from St. Augustine Medical Center. Photo taken outside Rossini’s in Tribeca at 6:47 PM.
Damien stared at the photo. At Aria’s radiant smile. At the ease in her posture. At the way she looked so happy, so carefree, so completely at peace in a way he’d never managed to make her look.
The temperature in the conference room seemed to drop ten degrees.
Everyone felt it. The CFO stuttered mid-sentence. The VP of Operations shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Julian, sitting across the table, looked at Damien with concern.
But Damien didn’t notice any of them. All he could see was that photograph. All he could feel was possessive rage burning through his veins like acid.
She was his. HIS. And yet there she was, in another man’s arms, smiling like he’d given her the world.
"Meeting adjourned," Damien said, his voice low and dangerous.
"Sir?" The CFO looked confused. "But we haven’t finished the...."
"Meeting. Adjourned." Each word was clipped, final, brooking no argument.
The room cleared quickly. Executives gathering their materials and filing out with barely concealed confusion and concern.
Marcus Chen, who’d been standing in the corner of the conference room, had seen the content of the message. He immediately began ushering people out, his expression professionally blank.
"What happened to the boss?" one of the older executives asked as Marcus practically pushed them toward the exit. "He looked...."
"Since when did you start being concerned about the boss’s private life?" Marcus Chen’s tone was sharp enough to make the executive take a step back. "Unless it affects your job performance, I suggest you focus on your own affairs."
The executives left, suitably chastened, and Marcus Chen returned to the conference room.
Damien was still sitting in the same position, staring at his phone, his expression absolutely murderous.
Marcus Chen stood beside him, waiting for instructions.
Finally, without looking up, Damien spoke. "I want to get all the information about him in the next hour."
"Yes, boss."
"Make sure Aria doesn’t find out."
Marcus Chen looked at him hesitantly. "Boss, we both know about Miss Chen’s skills. Keeping this away from her is going to be...."
Damien looked up, and the expression on his face made Marcus Chen take an involuntary step back.
"If she finds out, then you can prepare to go to Africa to head the branch there."
Marcus Chen nodded quickly. "Don’t worry, boss. I’ll get it done, and she won’t know a thing about it."
"And tell Sab...." Damien’s voice dropped even lower. "Tell Sab that if Aria finds out she’s being followed, he should go back to the base and reflect."
Marcus Chen felt cold sweat forming on his forehead. The base. The training facility where all of Damien’s security team had been forged. Going back to the base was punishment reserved for the most serious failures. It was equivalent to a life sentence in their world.
"Okay, boss. I’ll get it done and also send the message to Sab."
Marcus Chen left quickly, already pulling out his phone to start the investigation.
Alone in the conference room, Damien looked at the picture again. Looked at Aria’s smiling face. She looked so happy in that photograph. So radiant. So free.
He’d seen her happy before. Had seen her laugh and smile. But never like this. Never with this kind of unguarded joy.
And that bothered him. More than it should. More than he wanted to admit.
His possessiveness was eating deep into his bones, consuming rational thought. He wanted to be the only one who could make her laugh like that. Wanted to be the one to make her feel so carefree. Wanted to be the sole source of her happiness.
And at that moment, Damien realized something that made his chest tighten painfully: they didn’t really have this kind of connection. This easy, laughing, comfortable intimacy that she clearly had with her friends.
Their relationship was intense. Passionate. Overwhelming. But was it... fun? Did she feel this free with him?
And that made him feel extremely mad. Irrationally, possessively, dangerously mad.
Aria belonged to him. So her smile, her laughter, her joy...all of it should come from him. Should be because of him. Should be his alone.
He knew how ridiculous he sounded. Knew this was unreasonable, controlling, probably unhealthy.
But he couldn’t help it. Couldn’t risk her being around people who would make her see just how bad he was for her. How much easier life would be with someone uncomplicated. Someone who could make her laugh like that without the weight of darkness and possession.
He pulled up Aria’s number and called her.
She picked on the second ring. "Hey, baby!" Her voice was filled with happiness, bright and warm and completely unguarded.
And despite everything....despite the jealousy burning through him, despite the irrational possessiveness....Damien found himself smiling. Because that happiness was directed at him. That warmth was for him.
"How is your dinner going?" he asked, keeping his voice casual.
"It’s going fine! I’ve missed Marc. I haven’t seen him in weeks, so we’re taking the time to catch up. And I also found out that he would be resuming at the hospital next month!"
Aria delivered the news with her voice filled with joy, completely unaware that her words had just made Damien break the pen he was holding into two pieces.
The plastic cracked loudly in the quiet conference room.
Marcus Rivera. Working at the same hospital. Seeing Aria every day. Making her laugh. Being the easy, uncomplicated friendship that Damien could never provide.
"That’s wonderful," Damien managed, his voice strained. "I’m happy for you."
"I’ll be done here soon, then I’ll head home. Do you want me to pick you up?"
Every possessive instinct screamed at him to not give her any choice. To go get her right now. To remove her from Marcus Rivera’s presence immediately.
"Actually, Marc offered to drop me off when we’re done."
The pen Damien had already broken snapped again, the pieces falling to the conference table.
"That’s... thoughtful of him," Damien said through gritted teeth.
"Okay, babe. Bye! I’ll see you at home!"
She ended the call, and Damien sat there frozen for approximately five minutes.
Then he stood, his decision made.
He pulled out his phone and called Sab. "Send me the address of where they’re having dinner. Right now."
"Yes, boss. Sending it now."
Damien looked at the address that appeared on his screen. Tribeca. Twenty minutes away.
He grabbed his jacket and headed for the elevator, his mind already working through what he’d say, how he’d handle this, how he’d make it clear to Marcus Rivera that Aria was taken.
Completely. Irrevocably. Permanently taken.
