Chapter 7 Chapter 7
Hailey’s POV
The gunshot still rang in my ears as I crouched on the cold pavement, my entire body trembling. My hands were pressed so hard against my head that my fingers had gone numb.
For a moment, everything was chaos: shouting, scrambling footsteps, and the scrape of shoes against concrete.
Then, suddenly, silence.
A heavy, suffocating silence that made my skin crawl.
Slowly, I lifted my head just enough to peek through my fingers.
What I saw made no sense.
All the men, the ones who had been so confident and so threatening just seconds ago, were on the ground. Not injured. Not shot. But kneeling, their heads bowed like they were praying for their lives.
“Please,” one of them gasped, his voice cracking. “We didn’t know. We swear we didn’t know.”
“Kingpin, please,” another one begged, his hands clasped together. “Have mercy. We never knew it was you.”
Kingpin?
My blood turned to ice instantly.
I looked up, my gaze travelling past the grovelling men to the figure standing tall in the glow of the headlights.
Damien.
He stood there, utterly calm, hands still buried in his pockets.
“Please,” Ponytail whispered, his voice shaking so badly he could barely get the words out. “We didn’t know she was yours. We didn’t know.”
Yours?
My heart hammered against my ribs so hard I thought they might crack.
Damien didn’t respond. He just stared down at them, his silence more terrifying than any threat.
“You made a mistake tonight.” Finally, he spoke, his voice low and laced with something deadly.
“We’re sorry,” one of them sobbed. “Please, Kingpin. We’re sorry.”
“Take them,” Damien said simply, tilting his head toward his bodyguards.
Two massive men in black suits stepped forward, grabbing the criminals by their collars and hauling them to their feet like they weighed nothing.
“Wait, where are you taking us?” one of them cried out, struggling uselessly. “Please, we’re sorry! We won’t do it again!”
Damien’s expression didn’t change. “To a special place.” He smiled, and the way he sounded made my stomach drop in fear.
The men were dragged toward a second black SUV that had pulled up behind Damien’s car. Their pleas and cries faded as they were shoved inside, and the door slammed shut.
That was the last I thought I’d ever see of them.
My entire body felt frozen, like I’d been dipped in ice. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
Kingpin?
I’d heard the rumours, of course. Everyone had. Whispers about a man who controlled half the city’s underworld, who made people disappear without a trace, who was untouchable by law and feared by everyone.
But I’d never believed it was real.
And now I was staring at him.
Worse, I’d slept with him.
Oh God!
Panic clawed at my chest, threatening to drag me under. I had to get out of here. I had to run.
I scrambled to my feet, my legs shaky and unsteady, and turned to bolt.
“Hailey.”
His voice stopped me cold.
It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t harsh. But it was a command, and my body obeyed before my brain could catch up.
I froze, my back still to him, my heart pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears.
“Ride with me.”
What?! My throat felt too dry, and my whole body shook. I wanted to say no, reject his offer, but my voice was too tight to lift.
Slowly, I turned around, forcing myself to meet his gaze.
He was watching me with those dark, unreadable eyes, his expression still calm, still composed. But there was something underneath it, something that made my stomach twist.
“I can just take a taxi,” I stammered, my voice barely above a whisper.
“No,” he said simply. “You can’t.”
The finality in his tone left no room for argument.
Swallowing hard, I forced my legs to move, walking toward the car on trembling knees. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to run, but I couldn’t; I didn’t dare.
One of his guards opened the door for me, and I slid inside, clutching my phone like it was a lifeline.
Damien got in beside me, and the door shut with a soft click that felt like a prison cell locking.
The car started moving, the city lights blurring past the tinted windows.
I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t even breathe properly. My fingers trembled as I unlocked my phone and quickly opened my messages.
I typed out a text to Benita, trying to keep my hands steady enough to hit the right keys.
‘I’m in a car with Damien. If something happens to me, this is where I am.’
I hit send and clutched the phone tighter, my knuckles turning white.
The silence in the car was suffocating. I could feel his presence beside me and could feel his gaze on me even though I refused to look.
“I guess you’re okay.”
Damien’s voice boomed beside me, and I nearly threw my phone away.
“Oh…em….I….I…” My voice shook as I searched for the right words to use.
This isn’t supposed to be. I’m not supposed to be sitting right here with him.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” Damien said quietly, shifting his gaze to stare at me for a second before looking away.
“Don’t I?” I raised an eyebrow meeting his deadly eyeball.
His eyes softened, just barely. “No.” He looked away.
“You’re the kingpin,” I said, my voice shaking despite my best efforts to keep it steady. “Those men were terrified of you. They begged for their lives, but you… you…”
“They should have thought about that before they threatened you.”
“That’s not the point,” I snapped, surprising even myself. “You’re dangerous. You’re, you’re….”
“I’m what?” He interrupted, his tone calm but firm. “A monster?”
I didn’t answer because I didn’t know what to say.
He leaned back against the seat, his gaze never leaving mine. “I won’t hurt you, Hailey. I would never hurt you.”
“How am I supposed to believe that?”
“Because if I wanted to hurt you,” he said softly, “I already would have.”
The truth of his words settled over me like a blanket I didn’t want.
The rest of the ride passed in tense silence. When the car finally pulled up outside my dorm, I felt like I could breathe again.
The driver opened the door, and I scrambled out, desperate to put distance between us.
But before I could run, Damien’s voice stopped me one last time.
“Hailey.”
I turned reluctantly, my hand gripping the strap of my bag so tight it hurt.
He was still sitting in the car, his expression softer now, almost gentle. “Be careful,” he said quietly. “And if you’re ever in trouble, call me.”
I stared at him for a moment, my heart hammering, then turned and walked away without another word.
The moment I stepped inside the dorm, I locked the door behind me and leaned against it, my chest heaving.
My phone buzzed in my hand.
‘This is Damien. Save my number.’
I stared at the screen, my stomach twisting, and then I did the only thing I could think of.
I deleted the message and his number immediately.
Benita looked up from her bed as I stumbled into the room, her eyes wide with concern. “Oh my God, are you okay? I got your text. What happened?”
I collapsed onto my bed, burying my face in my hands. “Everything.”
For the next hour, I told her everything, from the men at the grocery store to the moment Damien had revealed himself as the Kingpin.
By the time I finished, Benita was staring at me like I’d just told her I’d been abducted by aliens.
“You’re joking,” she whispered.
“I wish I was.”
She shook her head slowly. “Hailey, this is insane. You have to stay away from him.”
“I know,” I said, my voice firm. “I’m never going near him again. Ever.”
The next morning, I dragged myself to class, exhausted and still shaken from the night before.
Benita walked beside me, chattering about something I wasn’t really listening to, when I noticed a group of students huddled around someone’s phone.
“Did you see the news?” one of them said, their voice hushed.
“Yeah, those guys who’ve been terrorising the neighbourhood, they just vanished.”
My blood ran cold when I heard that.
I stopped walking, my stomach sinking.
“What are you talking about?” Benita asked, leaning in.
One of the students turned their phone toward us. The headline flashed across the screen.
‘Notorious Criminals Go Missing Overnight, Police Launch Investigation.’
My hands started trembling as I stared at the screen.