Chapter 62 Chapter Sixty-two

Chapter 62 Chapter Sixty-two
CHAPTER 62

The moment Damian carried Aria out of the ballroom, chaos erupted behind them.

Security teams flooded the exits, someone was already calling reporters, someone else was filming.

Damian ignored all of it.

His entire focus was on the woman in his arms.

Aria clung weakly to his jacket, her face pale beneath the flashing lights of the hotel entrance.

"Damian..." Her voice was barely audible.

"I'm here." His response came immediately.

He lowered her carefully into the back seat of the armored SUV waiting outside. A medic from his security team slid in beside her.

Two more vehicles positioned themselves ahead. Another three behind. The convoy pulled away from the curb seconds later.

Damian sat beside Aria, one hand wrapped tightly around hers. "Talk to me."

Aria nodded weakly. "I'm okay."

"You hit the floor hard."

"I'm okay." But she didn't sound okay. And that terrified him.
The medic finished a quick examination before looking up.

"We need imaging."

Damian's jaw tightened. "Hospital."

"Immediately."

A voice suddenly crackled through Damian's earpiece.

"Movement."

Damian looked up instantly. "What kind of movement?"

The voice belonged to his head bodyguard, their lead vehicle.

"Black SUVs. Three of them."

The atmosphere inside the car changed immediately. Every guard reached for weapons.

"Where?"

"They've been following since we left the hotel."

"They're closing."

Damian cursed quietly.

Someone planned this. Ahead of them, the lead SUV suddenly swerved. The tires screamed. A black vehicle shot out from a side street, directly into the convoy.

"CONTACT!"

The shout exploded through the radio, everything happened at once. The first collision rocked the street. Metal slammed against metal.

Aria screamed and Damian immediately pulled her down against him.

"Stay low!"

The armored SUV jerked violently as their driver swerved. Outside, headlights flashed through sheets of rain, then gunfire erupted. The first bullets struck the rear vehicle, the sound was deafening.

The convoy accelerated instantly.
Inside the SUV, Aria's heart pounded so hard she thought she might pass out.

"Status." Damian said.

"Rear vehicle taking fire." The voice from the other end of the phone replied.

"Return fire authorized."

A second later, automatic gunfire answered. The convoy exploded into motion. One SUV pulled alongside them, too close.

The rear passenger window lowered and a rifle emerged.
Aria's breath caught. The weapon turned toward them.
But the shot never came. Because the guard sitting opposite her fired first. Three rounds and the rifle vanished.
The vehicle swerved violently, crashing into a barrier.

But more cars appeared.

"They're boxing us in!" The driver jerked the wheel.
Another collision. The SUV tilted dangerously.

Aria gasped, pain shot through her side and Damian immediately noticed.

His expression darkened further, if that was even possible.

"How far from the hospital?"

"Eight minutes."

"Make it four."

The driver didn't answer, he simply pushed harder. The engine roared.
The impacts echoed through the vehicle like hammer blows.

"Sir!"

Damian looked up. "What?"

"The bridge."

"What about it?"

A pause.

"It's blocked."

Every person inside the SUV understood what that meant.
This wasn't an ambush, this was a trap. Someone had planned the route and planned everything.

Aria saw the realization hit Damian. And for the first time all night, he looked angry.

"Alternative route."

The driver responded instantly.

"Two minutes longer."

"Take it."

The convoy veered sharply, tires screamed. Rain blurred everything outside. Another black SUV appeared beside them, persistent.

The window rolled down, and a weapon emerged.
BOOM.
The vehicle behind Damian's exploded into motion, ramming the attacker hard enough to send it spinning. Metal twisted and glass shattered.

The black SUV flipped, rolling twice before crashing through a storefront. Fire erupted instantly.
The city around them had become a battlefield. And it wasn't over, not even close. More headlights appeared, more vehicles and more men.

"Jesus," the medic whispered.

Damian's phone rang showing unknown number. He answered immediately.

"Speak."

A familiar voice answered.

Leonard.

"You're making this harder than it needs to be."

The coldness in Damian's eyes intensified. "Where are you?"

Leonard laughed softly.

"Not close enough."

Aria listened quietly.

Her pulse raced.

"You planned this?" Damian asked.

"No." The answer came too quickly.

"I just knew where you'd be."

Then Leonard added quietly—

"You should've left Voss alone."

Damian's jaw tightened.

"You're threatening my wife."

"No."

Another pause.

"I'm warning you."

The line went dead.

Inside the SUV, silence returned.

Damian lowered the phone slowly. His expression said everything, this wasn't over, not remotely.

The hospital lights finally appeared through the rain. A beacon.

"Approaching."

The driver accelerated again. The convoy smashed through the final intersection. Security teams flooded the hospital entrance. Weapons drawn, scanning every direction.

The SUV finally stopped, the second it did, Damian was already moving.

He opened the door, lifted Aria into his arms and ran. Doctors rushed forward with nurses followed. Questions exploded around them.

He ignored every single one, because for the last twenty minutes, he had come dangerously close to losing everything.

Behind them, the surviving security vehicles formed a protective perimeter. With weapons ready anticipating another attack. But none came.
The enemy had vanished, for now.