A Fork in the Road

Damon held the wheel firmly as he was driving, the city lights blurring past.  The tempest inside me was mirrored by the waves of anxiety that rolled off him.  Stanton Alec.  Just the name chilled me to the bone.

We had already encountered adversaries.  Betrayals from individuals we previously trusted, art thieves, and ruthless businesspeople.  However, this was not like the others.  It was a personal matter.

The stillness was eventually broken by Damon.  "We must make a choice."

With a steady pulse and a rushing mind, I turned to face him.  "What sort of choice?"

He parked the vehicle on a dark, peaceful street.  His knuckles were white, but his hands were still on the steering wheel.  Do we continue to resist this?  Or do we leave while it's still possible?

I gazed at him, hardly able to comprehend what he had spoken.  "Go away?"

With blue eyes darker than I had ever seen, Damon turned to face me.  "Emma, Alec Stanton is more than simply a specter from your past.  If he is responsible for this, he has been waiting for the ideal opportunity to attack.  He has a desire.  And since you know him, he will ruin everything to have it.

My pulse reverberated in my ears as I forcefully gulped.  "And you believe that leaving is the solution?"

Damon tightened his jaw.  We stand to lose too much, in my opinion.  This is about more than simply stolen paintings if we keep going.  This can turn into a battle that destroys us one by one until nothing is left.

I was aware of what he was not saying aloud.  He was referring to us.  Our union.  Our future.

I took a deep breath and briefly closed my eyes.  "So what?  Shall we act as if this never occurred?  Give him our struggle, our passion, our legacy?

Damon extended his hand and ran his fingertips over my jaw.  "No.  However, Emma, I must know what you want.  There is no way back if we continue in this direction.

I felt anchored by his touch, yet my thoughts were racing.  We were here because of every decision we had ever made.  The gallery.  the base.  the struggle for voiceless artists.  Was it really possible for me to leave all of that?

I said, "I don't want to lose us."

He drew me in as his eyes became softer.  "I don't either."

We were silent for a long time.  The heat of his breath mixed with mine as his forehead brushed against mine.  The love, the fear, and the fire that had always kept us going ahead were all there, and I could feel their weight.

His hands moved to my waist and held on to me like he was securing himself.  "We do this collectively if we do it.  No secrets.  No excluding one another.

I ran my fingers through his hair and nodded.  "With each other."

The moment was long and full of unsaid commitments.  Then, with ferocity and desperation, Damon's lips smashed into mine.  It was more than a simple kiss.  The only way we knew how to seal it was as a promise.

As the heat between us increased, his hands moved over my body and pulled me into his lap.  The tension subsided as I sensed a deeper, more primordial quality.  "You're my world, Emma," he muttered against my lips as his fingers moved down my spine, giving me chills.

My breath caught.  "Then let's keep it safe."

Damon's phone vibrated against the dashboard as if the cosmos had been anticipating those words.  Then reality hit, shattering the moment.

With a muttered curse, Damon reached for it.  "Jax?"

As he listened, I noticed a change in his countenance.  His body froze.

"What?"  He lowered his voice to a deadly level.  “Tell me everything.”

I sat up, trying to read his expression as my gut twisted.

After hanging up, Damon turned to face me with a somber look.  "We're having trouble."

I took a swallow.  "Now what?"

He gave a quick breath.  "Alec Stanton is not just pursuing us.  He has already initiated contact.

I felt the weight of what he had spoken.  "What did he do?"

My eyes met Damon's, and his next words chilled me to the bone.

"He recently purchased majority stock in your foundation."

My throat tightened each breath.  “He did what?”

Damon’s grip on the driving wheel intensified.  “Alec Stanton now owns a majority stake in your foundation.”

The car's air became oppressive.  The guy who had tormented my history now held my foundation, my goal, my battle, and my life's work.  My hands shook as I struggled to absorb the ramifications.

I said, "This doesn't make sense."  "How?  I believed that the shares, distributed throughout the board, were secure.

Damon clinched his teeth and muttered, "They were."  But someone—many individuals, all at once—sold him their shares.  Emma, it wasn't only a commercial decision.  This was prearranged.

I shook my head, not believing it.  “Who would betray us like that?”

Damon let out a loud sigh.  “Jax is looking into it, but whoever did this didn’t act alone.  Stanton must have spent months working in the background.

The first astonishment gave way to anger as it rose in my chest.  I shook my voice and said, "He's trying to take everything from me."  "This comes after the art theft?  He is attempting to force me to leave my own base.

With a determined look in his eyes, Damon turned to face me.  “Then we don’t let him.”

Not as easy as it seems.  Alec Stanton wasn't your average competitor.  He enjoyed ripping people apart and was cunning and vicious.  He had previously been a poisonous influence in my life, from which I had just managed to leave.  And now he had gotten back in somehow.

I folded my fingers tight to steady my breath by.  "He's mistaken if he believes I'm going to stand by and let him ruin everything I've worked so hard to create."

There was no amusement in Damon's sneer.  "That's my girl."

With a wordless pledge that we were in this together, his hand sought mine and squeezed.

However, I felt in my heart that this was just the beginning.  Alec had already shown that he was prepared to hit the most painful spot.  My work had been taken by him.  My foundation was now taken by him.  For what next would he come?

My gut churned with nausea.  "What if he's aiming for me—"

Damon saw the change in my face.  "What?"

My heart was racing as I swallowed.  "What if I'm not the only one involved?  What if it concerns us?

His eyes became gloomy.  "Do you believe he's attempting to harm us?"

After hesitating, I nodded.  "This would not be the first attempt.  And Alec is a skilled manipulator.  How to make things twist

Damon's face became stern.  Then we continue to be ahead of him.  Emma, he won't stand in our way.  Not right now.  Never.

That was what I wanted to think.  I had to think so.

However, the uncomfortable stillness was broken as Damon's phone buzzed once again.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at the screen.  "Jax once more."

He replied.  "Speak."

I heard Jax talk on the other end, but I was unable to understand what he was saying.  All I could do was watch as Damon's posture changed and his phone grasp tightened.

His voice was low and menacing when he did speak.  "Where?"

A pause.

Then Damon's whole body froze.

I grabbed his arm.  “What is it, Damon?”

When he looked directly into my eyes, I felt a chill run down my spine.

He stated, "Alec isn't just after your foundation."  "His next move was just made."

I felt sick to my stomach.  "What did he do?"

Damon let out a slow breath, his face dark with anger.

"He recently purchased the structure that houses our gallery.  Additionally, he is shutting it down.