The Price of Protecting Her

The Price of Protecting Her
 Damien walked over to the map, snatched the marker without a second thought, and began dotting each location with precise, practiced movements. Yelena and Makiam could only stare, stunned into silence.

When he finished, he lifted his head and looked directly at Makiam.

“Now that you’ve gotten what you wanted,” he said evenly, “can I leave with her now?”

Makiam blinked, thrown off. He stepped forward, grabbed the magnifying glass, and inspected the markings Damien had made. 

Every single one was accurate. Perfectly so.

Slow disbelief washed over his face as he glanced between Damien and Lila.

“So this girl means that much to you,” he said slowly, “that you’d give up that deal just like that?”

“Yeah,” Damien answered without hesitation, his gaze fixed on Lila. “She means a lot to me.”

Then, turning back to Makiam, he added, “I don’t know what you’re planning next, but I want you to do me a favor.”

Makiam studied him for a moment, then nodded.

“What?”

“Show me the guy who hit her while on the call.”

Makiam let out a low laugh.

“Why, Wolfe? You planning to kill him?”

“No,” Damien replied, voice flat and lethal. “I just want to show him how things are done.”

Makiam nodded slowly, strolling to a nearby table to pick up his cigar.

“But you do know,” he said, lighting it lazily, “you’re not leaving this place alive, right?”

“We shall see.” Damien’s voice was calm as his fists tightened at his sides.

Before he could take another breath, a man launched at him from behind, landing a brutal kick to Damien’s back.

Damien stumbled but didn’t fall.

Another man charged. Damien didn’t even blink as he snapped forward, sending two brutal punches straight into the man’s jaw, dropping him instantly.

“Where is the guy, Makiam?” Damien asked again, his voice dropping several degrees, ice settling beneath every word.

Instead of answering, three more men rushed him at once.

Maybe it was the fury still boiling in Damien by seeing Lila slapped, watching Makiam smirk, being forced to negotiate while she trembled behind him but something inside him snapped.

He tore through them.

A kick to the ribs. An elbow to a throat. A fist across a cheekbone.

They didn’t slow him down; they didn’t even manage to make him flinch.

He was a storm; efficient, merciless, unstoppable.

He left them on the floor gasping, groaning, broken.

And still standing in the center of the room, breathing hard, Damien glared at Makiam through the fading smoke.

More men charged at Damien, but he did not hesitate before taking them down. Yelena grew terrified as she watched the violence unfold. Her fear spiked when her uncle suddenly moved toward Lila. He grabbed Lila by the neck and pressed his revolver to her head.

“Wolfe.”

Makiam’s voice carried across the room.

Damien turned and the moment he saw the gun pressed against Lila, something inside him shut down. His strength drained away. His fury vanished. Only fear for her remained.

He raised his hands slowly in surrender.

Hot tears streamed down Lila’s face. Her heart broke at the sight of him surrendering so easily, and all because of her.

“Go on your knees,” Makiam ordered.

Damien sank to his knees without resisting.

“These men are going to beat you to the brink of death, and you will not retaliate,” Makiam said.

Lila let out a sharp cry as more tears fell. She shook her head repeatedly, desperate to stop what was coming.

Damien did not look afraid. His eyes held a steady determination, as if he had already decided that nothing they did to him mattered.

The men began. The first punch crashed into his face. Another followed. A third landed hard against his ribs.

Damien stayed upright. He did not fall.

Not even when the blows came faster and harder.

He remained on his knees, refusing to go down, because falling would mean letting her suffer for him.

Flying kicks came from every direction and Damien finally hit the floor, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. The men did not stop. They kept beating him again and again.

The harder they hit him, the louder Lila screamed. Tears poured down her cheeks in uncontrollable streams.

“Stop! Please stop, I am begging you. Leave him alone, please.”

Makiam slowly straightened and tucked his gun into his pocket. A satisfied smirk curved his lips at the sight of Damien lying powerless on the ground. Yelena watched with the same expression of cruel pleasure, looking far too content with what she was seeing.

“Please, tell them to stop. That is enough. They will kill him.”

Lila turned to Yelena and pleaded with all the desperation in her voice, pulling against the ropes cutting into her wrists, but they were tied too tight.

Watching them beat Damien while she stood there helpless was the most tragic thing Lila had ever experienced. She kept pleading with both Makiam and Yelena, begging them to stop, but neither of them paid her the slightest attention. They were too absorbed in the brutal scene unfolding in front of them.

When Makiam was finally convinced that Damien could not so much as lift a finger, let alone stand, he gave the order for the men to stop. They stepped back immediately.

“Trust me, I would have loved to kill you,” Makiam said. “But someone else ordered me not to. You belong to him. He is the one who will kill you.”

Damien could not respond. All he managed was a low groan from the floor.

Makiam then told one of his men to roll up the map. He turned away without another glance and walked out with Yelena beside him. 

Their men followed behind them, leaving Damien broken on the ground and Lila still tied, still crying, still powerless.

“Wolfe,” she called, dragging the chair as she moved toward him. “Wolfe, please stand up. Are you okay?” Her voice cracked as she struggled against the ropes again, a scream of pure frustration ripping from her throat when the tight knots refused to budge.

“Wolfe, please open your eyes.”

Damien groaned. His body twitched before he pushed against the ground, trying to rise. He barely made it halfway up before he collapsed again with a heavy thud.

Lila whimpered, tears streaming down her face. “I’m sorry. Please, I’m so sorry,” she choked out, watching him fight to lift himself even as his body failed him.

Damien tried to lift his head, just barely, as if searching for her voice. But before he could speak, his strength gave out and everything went dark.