Chapter 59 The gun
Damien didn’t blink.
The gun was steady in his hand, black and merciless, aimed directly at Raymond’s forehead. The room felt as though it had frozen in time—every sound, every breath trapped in Jasmine’s chest.
“Damien…” she whispered.
Her voice came out broken.
Raymond slowly raised his hands, his earlier bravado slipping into something calculated and fragile. His eyes darted to Jasmine, and instantly his posture changed.
He looked wounded.
Vulnerable
Like a man who had barely escaped death twice in the same hour. “Jasmine,” he said softly, “see what he’s doing? This is who he really is.”
Damien stepped fully into the room and kicked the door shut behind him.
The sound echoed like a gunshot itself.
“You don’t get to speak,” Damien said, his voice low and lethal. “Not now.”
Jasmine’s heart hammered violently against her ribs. She rushed forward, placing herself between them without thinking.
“Put it down,” she begged. “Please. Damien, put it down.”
His eyes flicked to her for the first time since entering the room. They were burning—dark emerald, raw and unrestrained.
“Move,” he said.
“No.” Her voice trembled, but she didn’t step aside. “You’re scaring me.”
That did something to him.
For a moment, his grip faltered. The gun dipped slightly. Raymond seized the opportunity.
“You see?” he said hoarsely. “You’re not safe with him. He’s proving everything I said.”
Damien’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t get to manipulate her again,” he snapped.
Raymond laughed weakly. “I’m not manipulating anyone. I’m telling the truth. You groomed girls for your clubs. You turned them into escorts. And now you were doing the same with her.”
Jasmine’s breath caught. “Stop…”
Raymond stepped closer, slowly, cautiously. “I was the only one who wanted you for you. Not because of a contract. Not because of control.”
Damien’s arm shook.
“Don’t,” Jasmine whispered to Raymond. “Please don’t.”
But he didn’t stop.
“You don’t care about her,” Raymond said. “You just wanted to own her.”
Something inside Damien snapped.
He lunged forward and grabbed Jasmine’s wrist, yanking her back against him.
The force made her gasp.
“Damien!” she cried.
His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her away from Raymond as if claiming territory.
“She is mine,” he growled. “And you will never touch her again.”
Jasmine felt trapped—between Damien’s rage and Raymond’s lies. Her chest tightened, panic spreading through her veins.
“Let me go,” she whispered.
His grip loosened slightly, but he didn’t release her.
Raymond’s eyes gleamed. “You see? Possession. Not love.”
Damien raised the gun again.
“Get out,” he said. “Now.”
Raymond hesitated. “Not without her.”
Jasmine turned on Raymond, tears finally spilling. “Leave. Please. Just leave.”
Raymond stared at her. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do,” she said shakily. “You made everything worse!”
Richelle burst into the room then, her face pale. “Damien, put the gun down!”
For a long moment, no one moved.
Then Damien slowly lowered the weapon. But his eyes never left Raymond.
“Get out of my house,” Damien said. “Before I forget she’s here.”
Raymond backed toward the door, still watching Jasmine. “When you realize what he is, call me.”
He left.
The door slammed.
Silence fell like ash.
Jasmine slid to the floor.
Her hands shook violently.
Damien stood frozen, the gun hanging uselessly at his side. “I didn’t mean—” he began.
She looked up at him, tears streaking her face. “You terrify me.”
His expression broke.
For the first time, he looked… human.
“I thought I was losing you,” he said quietly.
She hugged her knees to her chest. “You almost killed him.”
“I would have,” he admitted.
That frightened her more than anything.
Richelle touched Jasmine’s shoulder gently. “I’ll give you two space.”
She left.
Damien knelt in front of Jasmine. “What he said… it isn’t like that.”
“Then explain it,” Jasmine whispered. “Why didn’t you deny it?”
He opened his mouth. Closed it.
“I’ve done terrible things,” he said finally. “But not to you. Never to you.”
Her heart ached. “You scared me.”
He reached out, stopped himself. “I don’t want to lose you.”
Jasmine stood slowly. “i-i can't be around you, please leave.”
He nodded.
“I’ll leave,” he said. “But don’t believe him.”
She walked past him into her bathroom and locked the door. Damien remained in the room alone.
Still holding the gun.
Still shaking.
JASMINE
The lock clicked into place. That sound—small and sharp—felt louder than the gunshot that never came.
I slid down the bathroom door until I was sitting on the cold tiles, my knees pulled tightly to my chest. My hands were shaking so badly I had to clutch them together just to stop them from flying apart.
I could still see it.
Damien standing in my doorway with a gun in his hand. Raymond’s face twisted in fear. Richelle screaming his name.
And me… frozen in the middle of it all.
My chest burned. Every breath felt too shallow, too tight. I pressed my palm against my mouth, trying to keep myself from sobbing out loud.
He would have killed him.
The thought made my stomach twist violently.
Damien would have killed Raymond for me.
For a moment, that realization scared me more than anything else that had happened since this contract began.
I squeezed my eyes shut, but the images wouldn’t go away. Raymond coughing on the floor. Damien’s hand wrapped around his throat.
The way Damien had yanked me back against him like I was something that could be stolen.
I hugged myself tighter.
“I don’t belong to anyone,” I whispered into the empty bathroom.
But even as I said it, my heart felt like it was breaking in two different directions.
Raymond’s words replayed in my mind like poison:
He only wanted to turn you into another escort.
I’m the one who really wanted you.
He trapped you. I shook my head.
“No… no…”
But Damien hadn’t denied it.
That hurt more than anything Raymond had said.
Tears slipped down my cheeks silently.
I thought about the way Damien had looked at me when he realized Raymond kissed me.