Chapter 264: Steps In The Dark

David’s POV

Ashley’s eyes were still like saucers, pupils blown wide with the kind of terror that strips every layer of bravado away until there’s only animal instinct left.

Her breath came in shallow, stuttering gasps, chest heaving against the truck like she couldn’t remember how lungs worked. I saw the exact second the last thread of delusion snapped inside her.

She believed me.

Not the threats. Not the grip on her throat.

She believed the monster was still alive under the skin. That the Dark Prince of Manhattan hadn’t vanished after all…he’d just been waiting.

I let the silence stretch one heartbeat longer, let her feel the weight of what she’d almost forced out of its cage.

“Any objections,” I said coldly, “or would you rather leave here in a body bag?”

I leaned in just enough for her to feel it…for my shadow to swallow her whole.

I was done playing nice. I’d tolerated her presence this long because her petty games never reached me deeply. They were just an irritation…an inconvenience.

But now? Now I wanted her gone. Permanently.

One way or another, this ends tonight.

Either I erase her from this world…or she finally walks away on her own.

She shrank back, shoulders slamming into the side of the truck, a thin, broken whimper slipping out before she could stop it. She didn’t scream. Didn’t dare.

Then, she scrambled sideways on her hands and ass, eyes locked on mine like looking away might be fatal, until fear finally gave her strength. Then she lurched to her feet and ran.

She ran like prey.

Not a graceful exit. Not even a jog. A panicked, stumbling sprint toward the far end of the lot where her car must’ve been hidden.

I exhaled in relief, because I knew the message had been delivered in bloodless ink. This will probably be the last time I’ll ever see her again. That is for sure.

I stood there, breathing slowly, forcing the darkness back down the same way I’d learned to do it years ago…brick by mental brick.

The Dark Prince had been a necessary ghost once. A headline. A nightmare the city chewed on for months. He disappeared when the Jamesons handed me the new name, the new life, the leash. He was supposed to stay gone.

Forever.

I thought about my father then…unbidden. The old man sitting in that pale-green room at the care home, staring at nothing, fingers twitching like he was still trying to strangle the shame out of the air.

Last time I visited he’d looked right through me and whispered, “You were such a quiet boy. What happened to you?”

I’d sat there for forty-three minutes anyway, watching the clock, listening to the soft beep of machines that kept what was left of him breathing.

He doesn’t even remember Justin. Just me. The monster he fathered.

I told myself I’d go again soon. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe never. The thought of facing him and seeing the disgusted look in his eyes made my stomach turn.

Just then, a burst of laughter and voices yanked me back.

The restaurant doors had swung open. Warm yellow light spilled out, silhouettes tumbling into the night.

The people I left behind.

Norman’s booming laugh first, then Tyler’s lower chuckle, then the higher chatter of the girls. Holly’s voice threaded through it…soft and teasing as always.

Someone spotted me.

“Yo, Boss! There he is!”

A couple of the junior guys waved like idiots, arms loose from too many rounds. One of them…Marco, already swaying…yelled, “Told you he just bolted to dodge the check!”

I felt the mask snap back into place. Cold. Nonchalant. The one they all recognized… David Hunt, the boss who didn’t give a fuck, who never cracked, who paid for everything anyway and never mentioned it.

I smoothed my expression, shoved the monster so deep it felt like drowning it in tar, and started walking toward them.

Marco opened his mouth again, words slurring. “See? I was right…he did run out to hide in the driveway so he wouldn’t—”

A hand clapped over his mouth. Hard. One of the older guys, eyes wide, hissed, “Shut the fuck up, man.”

Norman shook his head, amused, then clapped Tyler on the shoulder. “Good night, kid. You’re setting an impossible standard for the rest of us. Tone down the whole ‘good boyfriend, caring, amazing man’ routine a little. These girls are gonna start thinking men can actually be sweet.”

Amber, standing close to the group with her arms crossed, shot back without missing a beat. “Don’t listen to him, Tyler. We need more men like you. The rest of them can stay bitter.”

Everyone laughed. Except me.

My eyes were glued to Tyler’s arm.

It was curled around Holly’s waist. Casual. Possessive. Her body leaned into his side like it belonged there.

Norman turned to me, eyebrows raised. “You still haven’t said what you’re doing out here, Dave. Why did you run out like that?”

I shrugged. Voice flat. “I had to see someone. Briefly.”

He nodded, didn’t press. Then he raised his voice. “Alright, my designated driver just pulled up. Goodnight, degenerates. See you guys at work tomorrow. And please guys…don’t be late.”

Like that, the group fractured. People peeled off toward cars and taxis, calling half-drunk goodbyes.

Tyler turned Holly into him, hand sliding lower on her hip. “Babe…shall we?”

She looked up at him, smiled…that same soft, unguarded smile she’d given me earlier at the office, and then glanced my way.

“Goodnight, Mr David.”

It wasn’t cruel. It wasn’t even cold. It was worse. It was polite. Final...like she was done with me.

Everything inside me screamed to move. To stride over, grab her wrist, drag her back to me, throw her over my shoulder, carry her to my car and drive until the city disappears. Tell her she was coming home with me. Tell her she was mine. And by that, I mean my last mission.

My fists clenched so hard my knuckles bleached.

I swallowed the words. Swallowed the itch. Swallowed the violence that wanted to wear Tyler’s face like a mask.

And just watched.

Tyler opened the passenger door for her. She slid in. He closed it gently. Then he circled to the driver’s side, got in, and the engine purred to life.

Tail lights flared red.

They pulled out.

Gone.

I stood there longer than I should have, the night pressing cold against my skin, the headache blooming behind my eyes like someone had driven nails into my temples.

I needed to fuck the ache away. Find someone faceless, bend her over, lose myself until the noise in my head stopped. But the monster was too close to the surface tonight. I could already picture it: hands around a throat, pressure that didn’t stop when it should. I couldn’t risk it.

I got in my own car, started the engine and pulled out.

The whole drive home I fought myself. Every red light felt like an invitation to turn around, follow them, see where he took her, see if she laughed the same way for him.

But I didn’t.

I kept the wheel straight. Kept the speed steady and kept breathing.

When I finally pulled up to my place, the porch light was off.

But someone was sitting on the steps.

I killed the ignition and stepped out.