Chapter 33 Chapter 33
Hailey’s POV
I ran until Kai’s hand gently but firmly caught my shoulder, guiding me backward until my back hit the wall. He didn’t hurt me, didn’t use force, but his presence alone was enough to stop me in my tracks.
“Let me go,” I gasped, my chest heaving with panic and exertion.
“I need you to listen to me,” Kai said, his voice calm but urgent. “What you just saw….”
“You were going to kill that man,” I interrupted, my voice shaking. “You had a gun to his head. He was begging for his life.”
“He’s a Morelli informant,” Kai said flatly. “He’s been feeding information about your whereabouts to the people who tried to kill you. The boss was interrogating him to find out what else they know.”
The words should have made me feel better, should have justified what I’d seen. But they didn’t.
“So that makes it okay?” I asked, tears burning behind my eyes. “To tie up an old man and threaten to blow his brains out?”
“You need to forget what you saw,” Kai said, his tone hardening slightly. “The boss is only trying to protect you. Everything he does, everything we do, is to keep you safe in a world that wants you dead.”
“You’re all sick,” I said, shoving at his chest with my good hand. “You, Damien, everyone in this house. You’re monsters.”
Kai’s expression didn’t change, but something flickered in his eyes. “You don’t have any idea how lucky you are,” he said quietly. “To be protected by Damien Alejandro in a city this dangerous. Most people would kill for that privilege. And you’re throwing it back in our faces because you want to stay innocent.”
“I didn’t ask for any of this,” I hissed.
“No,” he agreed. “But you’re here anyway.
So whether you like it or not, this is your life now. The sooner you accept that, the easier it’ll be.”
He stepped back, releasing me, and I immediately pushed past him, practically running back to my room.
I slammed the door and locked it, then sank to the floor with my back against it, my whole body trembling.
The elderly man’s terrified face kept flashing in my mind. The gun. Kai’s expressionless face. The casual way he’d talked about interrogation like it was normal.
These people, this world, it was everything I’d tried to avoid my entire life.
And now I was trapped in the middle of it.
———
The rest of the day passed in a blur of anxiety and restlessness. I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d seen, couldn’t shake the image of that gun and those pleading eyes.
When evening came and it was time for the gathering, I forced myself to get dressed again in the elegant dress that had been provided. My hands shook as I tried to zip it up one-handed, and I nearly gave up three times.
I sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Damien to come get me like he’d said he would.
But he didn’t show up.
Minutes turned into an hour. Then another.
I checked my phone repeatedly, but there were no messages, no explanation.
Maybe he’d changed his mind. Maybe the gathering was cancelled. Maybe I didn’t have to parade around in front of his dangerous associates after all.
Relief washed over me at the thought, and I started to unzip the dress, ready to change back into comfortable clothes and hide in this room for the rest of the night.
I’d just pulled the dress down to my waist, my breasts bare, when the door opened.
I gasped, my arms instinctively moving to cover myself, but it was too late.
Damien stood in the doorway, his eyes immediately locking onto my exposed skin. His jaw tightened, and something dark and hungry flashed across his face.
“I thought you weren’t coming,” I said, my voice breathless and shaky.
“I got held up,” he said, his voice rough as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. His eyes never left my body. “But I’m here now.”
“I should, I need to get dressed,” I stammered, reaching for the dress to pull it back up.
But Damien crossed the room in three long strides, his hand catching my wrist gently.
“Don’t,” he said quietly.
The air between us felt charged, electric. My heart was racing, but not from fear this time. From something else entirely, something that had been building between us since that first night at the bar.
“Damien,” I whispered, but I didn’t know if I was protesting or pleading.
His free hand came up to cup my face, his thumb brushing across my cheek. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured. “And you have no idea what you do to me.”
Before I could respond, his mouth was on mine, hungry and demanding. I should have pushed him away, should have remembered all the reasons this was a terrible idea.
But I didn’t.
Instead, I kissed him back, my good hand fisting in his shirt, pulling him closer. All the stress and fear and confusion of the day melted away, replaced by pure, overwhelming need.
His hands were everywhere on my body, gentle with my injured arm but possessive everywhere else. The dress fell completely away, and then his clothes followed, and suddenly we were on the bed, tangled together.
His body pressed down on mine, heavy and warm, his skin hot against my bare flesh. I arched up into him, my good hand sliding down his back, nails digging in as he kissed me deeper, tongue thrusting into my mouth like he owned it.
Damien broke the kiss, trailing his lips down my neck, sucking hard enough to leave marks. “You're mine tonight,” he growled against my skin, his hand cupping my breast, thumb flicking my nipple until it hardened.
“Damien,” my voice a needy whimper.
He shifted lower, mouth closing over one nipple, sucking and biting gently while his fingers teased the other. Heat pooled between my legs, my pussy aching for him. I spread my thighs, inviting him, and he groaned, pressing his hard cock against my thigh.
“Feel how much I want you,” he said, grinding slow.
His hand slid down my stomach, fingers dipping between my folds. I was already wet, slick for him. He circled my clit, then pushed two fingers inside me, curling them to hit that spot that made me buck.
“So tight,” he murmured, pumping in and out, his thumb on my clit rubbing firm.
“Please,” I begged, my hips rocking against his hand. “Fuck me, Damien.”
He withdrew his fingers, positioning himself between my legs, cock thick and ready at my entrance. With one thrust, he buried himself deep, stretching my pussy around him.
“hhh!” I cried out wrapping my legs around his waist. He paused, letting me adjust, then started moving, slow at first, pulling out almost all the way before slamming back in. Each thrust built the pressure, his cock dragging against my walls, hitting deep.
He gripped my hips, possessive, pounding harder. “Take it,” he demanded, sweat glistening on his chest. I met his rhythm, moaning loud,
“Yes, harder!” My injured arm stayed limp, but the pleasure drowned out the ache.
The bed creaked under us, our bodies slapping together. His hand slipped between us, fingers on my clit again, rubbing fast.
The coil tightened, and I shattered, “Oh god, Damien!” My pussy clenching around his cock, waves crashing through me.
He followed seconds later, thrusting deep one last time, groaning as he came, hot cum filling me up.
“Fuck, yes,” he rasped, collapsing onto me, both of us panting, hearts pounding in sync.
For a moment, we just held each other, the world outside forgotten.
“We should get ready,” Damien finally said, his voice still rough. “The guests are waiting.”
Reality crashed back in, and I felt my anxiety return in full force.
“Do I have to?” I asked quietly.
“Yes,” he said, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “But I’ll be with you the entire time.”
———
Twenty minutes later, I was dressed again, my hair fixed as best I could manage, standing beside Damien as we descended the grand staircase to the main level of the penthouse.
The gathering was already in full swing. The space had been transformed, elegant but understated, with dozens of well-dressed people mingling with champagne glasses and quiet conversation.
But these weren’t normal party guests. I could tell immediately from the way they carried themselves, the expensive watches, the designer clothes that fit too perfectly, the eyes that were too calculating, too aware.
These were dangerous people. Powerful people.
Damien’s hand rested on the small of my back, guiding me into the room, and immediately heads turned.
Conversations paused. Eyes assessed me from head to toe, cataloging, judging, calculating my worth.
I felt so small. So out of place.
Like a lamb that had wandered into a den of wolves.
“Damien,” a tall man with silver hair approached, his smile wide but his eyes cold. “So good of you to host. And who is this lovely young woman?”
“This is Hailey,” Damien said, his hand pressing slightly more firmly against my back. “She’s under my protection.”
The words were simple, but I could hear the warning in them.
“Charming,” the man said, though his eyes said he found me anything but. “Roberto Sanchez. A pleasure.”
“Likewise,” I managed to say, my voice barely audible.
He moved on, and others took his place. A parade of names and faces I couldn’t keep track of, each one more intimidating than the last.
They all looked at me the same way, like I was a puzzle they couldn’t quite figure out. Or worse, like I was a weakness they could exploit.
With each introduction, each assessing stare, I felt myself shrinking further.
I just wanted to disappear.
To be anywhere but here, surrounded by people who lived in a world I didn’t understand and didn’t want to be part of.
But Damien’s hand never left my back, his presence a constant reminder that I wasn’t going anywhere.
This was my life now. And I had no idea how to survive it.