Between Two Kings II
Damien just maintained his posture as he stares at her wondering what could be wrong with her. He could feel her heartbeat racing against his chest, her body shaking in fear.
"What on earth is going on with you?" he finally whispered, eyes narrowing in concern. "Eva... are you okay?"
She pulled back slightly, her eyes scanning every inch of his face like she was memorizing him, just in case,
Then she started to wonder how she was going to explain herself, discovering that Victor must have played her. Because Damien was no doubt fine.
But just when she was about cussing herself for believing that stupid Victor.
It suddenly happened.
A low groan echoed through the shaft.
A metallic creak. Then a sharp jolt.
The elevator shook.
Eva screamed.
The lights flickered.
Then the floor lurched beneath them, and the elevator began to descend, not in a gentle slide, but in a sickening, erratic drop.
Eva lost her footing and crashed into Damien. Her scream cracked in the air as her hands clawed at him, sheer terror taking over.
Damien grabbed her instinctively, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to his chest.
"Hey shush it, you are being too noisy"
"No no Damien, I don't want to die, I can't die like this, my mom needs me, Bob needs me. Somebody help, please help!" She sobs louder and almost passed out from the fear.
"Shh… it's okay. I've got you," he said, voice calm, too calm for the panic in her chest.
Then Damien wandered how she could possibly have known this would happen, as he stares at her in disbelief, while Eva shook her head, still crying.
The elevator gave another shudder. A loud metallic snap echoed somewhere above them.
Eva buried her face in his chest, her body trembling uncontrollably. "Damien... please... do something."
"Then stop the noise okay, and let me think of something." Then he brought out his cellphone. "Just as I predicted, there is no coverage. We might have to wait until help comes"
"Help? You mean Eric?" Eva asked trembling.
"Eric is running an errand and won't probably be back in an hour. Except the maintenance notices something, which I very much doubt ," Damien said and Eva cried even more devastatedly
"Oh my goodness! I don't want to die!"
"No one said you will." he whispered, trying to soothe her. "We'll be okay. Just breathe."
He reached for the emergency button, slammed his palm against it.
A mechanical voice came through the intercom.
"We're aware of the situation. Maintenance is responding. Please remain calm."
Eva let out a broken laugh. "Remain calm? Are you kidding me?"
But when they remained there for few more minutes, Eva started to cry again.
"Mummy, I don't want to die like this..." she cried like a baby.
Damien look around for anything, anything at all he could use, but found nothing.
"Listen to me Eva," he said softly. "I won't let anything happen to you. We just need to wait."
Her lips trembled. "But what if,"
"No what ifs." He shook his head. "Help will come."
And just for a moment, as the elevator rattled and the emergency lights flickered above them, Eva forgot the danger. Forgot the fear. All she could feel was Damien's arms around her, strong, warm, steady, and the haunting way he was looking at her now, as though she something of great value.
The elevator remained cloaked in dim red light, the silence between them broken only by the hum of faulty machinery.
Damien held Eva close, her breathing still uneven, her fingers twitching faintly in his grip. Her face was pale, too pale.
His mind reeled.
"Eva," he murmured again, pulling back just enough to search her eyes. "Tell me something."
She blinked slowly.
"How did you know?"
Her brow furrowed. "Know what?"
"That something was going to happen. You very much knew I was in danger. And don't you dare act like you don't know what I am talking about, I saw the look in your eyes, you knew exactly what you were trying to stop."
She avoided his gaze. "I… I didn't. I just had a feeling."
Damien's jaw tensed. "A feeling?"
She nodded. "I had this strange dream, I was taking a nap while on my desk, t-then I had those weird dreams. About you. Being trapped. I didn't think much of it until I saw you step into that elevator, and something just snapped in me. I reacted."
There was a pause.
Damien stared at her, brows pulled tight. "A dream?"
"It sounds crazy, I know," she whispered.
He looked at her as if trying to see through the lie, but didn't press further. Her hands were trembling. She looked fragile in a way he never seem to like. So he chose to let it be for now.
Then there was silence.
Damien sat rigidly in his office chair, the dim light casting shadows across his chiseled face. His tie was loose, his shirt unbuttoned at the top, a cigarette burning between his fingers, untouched, its smoke curling upward like his fury. The storm on his face wasn't just anger, it was Fury, disbelief, and something darker brewing beneath. Smoke curled into the air, heavy with tension.
"I want to know everything, Eric," he said, voice low and dangerously calm. "Start talking."
Eric shifted uneasily, then straightened. "I was heading to your house to retrieve the files you asked for. But before I got there, I received a strange call. Untraceable number. The man said, 'If you want to save Eva, and your boss, you better move fast. Thank her... she's the reason he's still alive.'"
Damien's eyes narrowed. He didn't interrupt.
"I didn't believe him at first," Eric continued, "but something about it... felt off. I tried to pull the CCTVs," Eric went on. "They were tampered with. Deleted footage, looped data. So I called your security detail. When they said you hadn't returned to the office, my gut told me something was wrong."
Eric exhaled slowly, remembering the panic in his chest.
"I was going to initiate a full search, but before I could, another message came through, this time with exact directions. It said to check the public elevator. That's when I knew someone was watching us. Closely."
He paused, watching Damien's jaw tighten.
"I did some digging, traced the signal. It led me straight to Miss Eva's boyfriend."
Damien's voice was sharp. "That tattooed bastard?"
Eric gave a slow nod. "He's not just some street guy or any thug. He's part of a Mafia organization, one of the deadliest group. They're called The Vipers. And judging by how he was able to infiltrate us, he's no small player. He's strategic. Dangerous."
The image of Eva's terrified eyes, how she'd clung to him in the elevator, shielding him as if her body could block fate, rushed back into Damien's mind. His chest tightened.
Why is it that most women that gets involved with me always get tangled with mafia's.
First it was Ana with Dexter, now ita Eva with victor, her boyfriend.
Damien thought for a minute before turning to Eric.
"Why the hell is he targeting me?"His tone darkened
Eric swallowed. "This… this might be on me, sir."
Damien's gaze pierced through him.
Eric's face dropped, his shoulders sagging. "It is really my fault, sir," he confessed.
"There was a time I went to Miss Eva's apartment. When you weren't eating. I begged her to come cook for you. Her boyfriend was there. He didn't like it, but she followed me anyway, against his will. Since then, she's been preparing your meals. I think he misunderstood... believed she's having an affair with you."
Damien said nothing, though something flickered in his eyes.
"He must have misunderstood and assumed she was having an affair with you. So he retaliated. And perhaps changed his mind when he realized Eva was in there too. Maybe he just wanted to scare you. But when he realized she was in danger too, he backed off. That's the only explanation that makes sense."
Silence.
Damien stood up abruptly, pacing toward the window. The city lights blinked below like false stars. His face was unreadable, carved from restraint.
"I suggest we remove Miss Eva from the picture. Quietly. Terminate her contract, make it look like a routine transfer. I'll personally issue an apology to her boyfriend. Maybe even offer compensation. De-escalate."
Damien's laughter was cold, humorless. He stood slowly, walking to the window, his back to Eric.
"You want me, Damien Lopez, to send an apology? A gift?" He turned sharply, eyes blazing as his voice cracked with incredulity.. "To a man who tried to kill me?"
Eric flinched.
"He should've done his research. Should've known I don't mix pleasure with business. Should've known there was nothing going on between me and Eva," he snapped, though something in his voice betrayed that it wasn't entirely true. "But no. because he thought I was weak. A businessman in a suit. A soft target, a bug. Something he could squash."
Damien crushed the cigarette into the ashtray with force. "This isn't business anymore. This is personal. I want blood."
Eric lowered his gaze. "Sir, we can still fix this peacefully. We already have a lot on our plate for now. We can settle this amicably, this doesn't have to go the war approach."
"I want it the war approach!" Damien's tone was ice. "He made it personal. I'm going to return the favor. Put a call through to Rodriguez!" Damien's jaw clenched.
"What? Rodriguez what?"
Eric's eyes widened. "Oh no, it hasn't gotten to that sir, besides, Rodriguez is laying low for now, he just staged his own death, I know he is very much your puppet, but you should probably reconsider sir, you know how Rodriguez can be, if Rodriguez gets involved in this it will become too bloody" Eric's voice was firm, but pleading. "Sir, if we retaliate, it could spiral. There's no need to ignite a full-blown war over a misunderstanding."
"I don't care! He came for me, I won't sit still. He hits me, and I am certainly hitting him back!"
Damien paused.
Something flickered across his face, too fast to read. Then he turned away again.
Eric on the other hand, hesitated, then gave a slow nod. But deep down, he knew, this wasn't over. The war Damien was igniting might burn more than their enemies.