Long after Damon left the room, his comments stayed in the air and clouded me with doubt. His promise—his ultimatum—hung over me like a sword, just waiting to be dropped at any time. Before I discovered myself pacing the room, my heart thumping in my chest, the door had hardly closed.
I knew my expected course of action. My family was counting on me, and the weight of that obligation was terrible. But as I gave it more attention, I came to see how little I knew the man I was about to wed. A billionaire, he seemed untouchable, frigid, someone whose world I had no place in. Still here, though, about to enter it.
It was also not only the partnership I was signing up for or the commercial agreement. Damon himself was involved.
The strain from my shoulders persisted in notability. There was something in his gaze, something buried beneath the icy front. Was it a desire? Command? Alternatively something more hazardous?
I stopped waiting for responses. I had to leave that area to flee the stifling environment around me. I had to think.
Taking my phone, I hurriedly texted Lily: I have to chat. Would you be able to meet me?
Her response took less than a minute. Everywhere?
Anywhere is possible. Right now I work for Blackwood Enterprises. Reach the lobby.
I hardly gave myself any second to consider. I immediately set down my phone and left the boardroom, hoping that getting away from the austere walls would help me to relax. As I passed by executives who hardly gave me a glance down the hall, my heels clicked sharply on the marble flooring. But I could sense their weight, their secret murmurs. They knew what was going on. They knew who I was going to wed.
Pushing the button as I arrived at the elevator, I waited. The silence in the foyer seemed overpowering, the seconds seemed like hours.
Then, just as the doors were closing, someone yelled out. "Miss Rivera.,"
I stopped, heart absent from a pulse. I realized that voice.
Turning slowly, I discovered Damon standing a few paces behind me, his dark suit perfectly fitted, his eyes locked on me with the same unfathomable intensity. Though it didn't reach his eyes, he was faintly smiling at the corners of his mouth.
Trying to keep my tone objective, I said, "Mr. Blackwood," but my heart was pounding.
"I was hoping we could talk," he remarked, approaching closely. "I felt we were only getting started."
The elevator doors dinged open, and I walked inside automatically hitting the bottom floor button. Damon came behind, his shadow hovering above me. His stare felt weighty, as if heat emanated from him. The elevator doors closed, isolating us in the solitude and the air heavy with unsaid conflict.
I made myself gaze straight ahead, attempting to ignore the proximity, but every inch of his presence seemed like a magnetic force dragging me in.
"You know," he said, his voice low, somewhat mocking, "I find it interesting that you haven't asked me what happens after the wedding." Though most ladies would be interested, you have stayed... concentrated. I respect that.
Though his comments were composed, I could sense the challenge under them. "Mr. Blackwood, I am not interested in knowing. I am not marrying you in line with a fairy tale.
As the elevator dropped to the ground floor, it rang. Desperate for some air, I left without waiting for the doors to open completely. Though I could see Damon staring back at my behind as I traversed the lobby toward the exit, he did not follow right away.
Lily was waiting outside, leaning against the entryway marble columns of the building. When she noticed me, she straightened and cast worried glances across my face.
What happened, Ellie? Are you ok?"
I knew nothing on how to respond to her. I was unsure of my own condition.
A hand weighing heavy, familiar settled on my shoulder before I could say anything. Turning to discover Damon behind me, close enough to feel his warmth radiating toward me,
"You are leaving already??" Though his voice was laid back, I stopped at the edge.
Lily's gaze swung between the two of us, narrowing somewhat in mistrust. Do the two of you know each other?
I tried to hide the discomfort crawling up my spine by forcing a grin. We recently met. I'm supposed to marry Mr. Blackwood, here.
Lily's eyes grew wide, but she soon covered her astonishment and gave Damon a tight smile. " ah. Of course."
Her anxiety was rising in me as well from her stance. She doubted him, and for the first time I too did.
Damon's eyes veered between us, a barely noticeable smirk flickering at the brink of his mouth. "It gives me great joy to meet Miss Rivera. Elena has told me a great deal about you.
Lily nodded stiffly and narrowed her eyes somewhat. Likewise, she said, her voice chilly.
Their unsaid conversation, their silent struggle of wills, and now I wanted to escape more than ever.
I whispered, "I have to go," then turned to Lily. "I simply cannot do this today."
She nodded but stared at me, clearly worried. "Let us leave this here, Ellie."
We began to leave, but low and deadly Damon's voice shouted after me. Elena, you won't go very far.
My body stopped at his words, then I turned to meet him. Though his facial expression was incomprehensible, his eyes were a tempest of purpose.
"You're already in this, whether you like it or not," he replied, his voice carrying across the gap between us. It is too late to turn away.
As Lily and I rounded the bend, leaving Blackwood Enterprises behind, I could sense his steady eye on me. Still, I felt no respite. No, instead I thought I was sliding into a trap with no escape.
My phone buzzed in my pocket suddenly, as soon as we arrived at the car.
One fresh remark.
I got it from my mother.
"I'm really sorry; the deal is sealed. Not now is turning back possible.
My pulse stopped. Knowing that my life had just been sealed—by someone else's hand, by a decision I had no control over—I stared at the message.
And I knew as I got into the car Damon Blackwood was more than simply a man I had to wed. He was a tempest, and I was about to be carried away.
One thought, though, kept coming back to me: Was he my destruction or my savior?
And I sank, not knowing the answer until it was too late when the car doors closed.
Blackwood Enterprises would wipe my mind. I headed toward the elevator, my shoes clicking loudly against the pristine marble floor. Once humming with staff and executives, the foyer felt shockingly quiet today, as though the weight of the entire structure was pressing down on me.
The elevator doors softly chimes open, and I enter by pushing the bottom level button. Every second felt like a countdown to something I couldn't really understand, my heart racing.
The air changed suddenly when the doors closed, like though I was not alone anymore. Turning fast, I discovered Damon behind me, his face blank. He had not trailed behind me. I had not heard him approaching either.
"Leaving shortly?" His low, quiet voice chilled me from the top down.
The elevator jerked to stop before I could reply. The lights fluttered, and for a moment the world outside the glass seemed to dissolve into blackness. We were very silent as the faint hum of power died out.
"What's going on?," asked. My voice shook even with my best attempts to sound cool.
Damon's eyes veered to the panel then back to me, his face unreadable.
He answered, "I'm not sure," but his eyes furrowed as his palm drifted toward his phone.
Once more the elevator shuddered, and the lights went dark. We were encircled in darkness, and everything felt wrong at that same moment.