Between Two Kings III
Damien clenched his jaw as the memory surged back, when he and Eva had been trapped together in that elevator.
BOOM!
The elevator look were both thrown slightly off balance, Damien catching her before she hit the metal wall. The floor beneath them groaned with pressure.
A screeching sound pierced the air as sparks burst from one of the panels.
"Shit," Damien cursed, tightening his grip on her. "That wasn't the final malfunction?"
Before he could process, the elevator jolted downward again, only for a second, but it was enough. Eva lost her footing entirely, her head hitting the corner of the railing with a sickening thud as they fell.
"Eva!" Damien caught her just before she collapsed completely, lowering her to the floor.
She didn't move.
"Eva?"
Her eyes were shut. A faint red mark had already formed where her temple met metal. Her breathing, shallow now.
"No, no, no, come on." Damien placed trembling fingers on her neck, checking her pulse. It was there. Weak. But present.
He stared at her still form, panic rising in his throat. Not just fear for his assistant, not just worry as a boss.
This was different.
He cradled her bleeding head in his palm, lowering himself to the floor, drawing her carefully into his arms.
"You shouldn't have been here dumb head, if you could predict danger why get into it as well, stupid as always," he whispered to no one. "This wasn't supposed to happen. I should've taken the damn stairs, or my personal elevator."
He looked around the elevator,.no emergency comms working, no alarms, no voice from dispatch.
Just them. Trapped. Time stretching, the air growing thinner.
He brushed a strand of hair from her face. Her lashes fluttered faintly, but she didn't wake.
The heat rising in the capsule made it harder to breathe. The emergency vent system had likely been cut. Intentionally.
His chest tightened. His head ached.
He looked down at her again.
But why does it feel like she was lying about the dream? Why do I keep getting tangled with women that's full of secrets?
"What could you also be hiding Eva?" He paused. Then he said in a softer voice, "Are you another Tyler?"
A knot formed in his stomach.
This wasn't just sabotage.
This was targeted.
And then
A sharp sound above them. Metal creaking. Boots on the shaft floor.
"Damien! Eva!"
His eyes flew open. "Eric?"
"We've located the shaft. We're pulling you up now!"
Damien's voice broke with relief. "She's unconscious. Hurry!"
Cables clattered, then the trapdoor above slid open. A beam of light poured in.
Eric's face appeared, tight with concern. "We're getting you both out. Hold on!"
Damien looked down at the woman in his arms, then back up.
"I've got her," he said firmly. "Just get us out. Now."
The elevator doors groaned as Eric and few of Damien's private security guards pried them open with crowbars, sweat glistening on their brows. Sparks flew from the malfunctioning panel as the power flickered overhead.
"Got it!" one guard shouted.
Damien's arms were cradled protectively around Eva's limp body, his voice strained with panic. "Careful, she hit her head! She's not responding!"
Eric extended his hand, pulling Damien up from the partial ledge as the guards took hold of Eva gently. But Damien refused to let go. With fierce urgency, he held her closer, shielding her even as they emerged from the claustrophobic shaft into the corridor.
"She's not breathing right," Damien growled, his voice low and sharp. "Get out of my way."
"Sir, wait, let me call for..."
"I SAID MOVE!"
Without another word, Damien stormed down the hallway like a man possessed, Eva's lifeless form secured in his arms. Every second felt like a countdown to something irreversible. He didn't stop at his office, He acted like he was burning with fear, rage, and a terrifying sense of helplessness.
He burst through the doors to the executive garage. One of the guards raced ahead to open his car door.
Behind them, Eric caught up. "I'll drive."
"No. I've got her."
Damien gently placed Eva in the back seat, as he jumped into the car, her head resting on his lap, his jaw clenched. Eric was quick to jump behind the wheel, as the engine roared to life and then peeled out of the garage.
"Why get into an accident again stupid fool, especially when you know your hatred for drugs and injections" Damien said worriedly to her unconscious body and Eric gave him a faint look of shock and disbelief as a weird thought flash through his mind, and he frowned.
But he wasn't alone.
At the far end of the lobby, Seraphina saw it too.
She tood frozen.
She had just stepped out of the executive elevator, clutching a small designer tote and a homemade lunch wrapped in delicate foil. She had come to surprise Damien. She'd even put on lipstick.
What she saw instead was chaos.
People were yelling. Alarms were still beeping faintly from the power disruption. Then, she saw Damien.
Her breath caught.
He was carrying a woman. Barefoot. Unconscious. Blood soaked one side of her blouse. Damien's face was tight with anguish, eyes wild, shirt half untucked. The scene moved in slow motion.
He didn't even see Seraphina.
She watched, stunned, as he ran past her like she didn't exist, his entire world focused on the fragile woman in his arms.
The garage door slammed shut behind him.
Seraphina blinked. The hallway noise returned to full volume. Her lips parted in disbelief, her heart hammering.
Who... who was she?
And why was Damien looking at her like , something she didn't dare to even imagine.
The Hospital
The room was quiet, too quiet. The rhythmic beep of the heart monitor was the only sound accompanying the sterile scent of antiseptic and Eva's still form on the hospital bed. Her head was wrapped in soft white gauze, her face pale, bruised, but peaceful in her unconscious state.
Victor stood beside her like a storm barely restrained.
He reached out with a gloved hand, his fingers gently stroking the bandaged side of her head, then her cheek. His touch was tender, but his eyes held fury, betrayal, pain.
"You stubborn little fool," he muttered, voice dangerously soft. "If you had just listened to me, none of this would've happened."
His thumb lingered at the corner of her lips. He smiled bitterly.
"You had to play the hero, didn't you? Rushing in to protect Damien Lopez. Of all people." He chuckled, dark and cold. "If you weren't in that damn elevator, I swear on everything I own, I would've made sure he didn't come out of it alive."
He leaned closer, his breath brushing her skin, his voice now trembling, not from weakness, but from the weight of suppressed wrath.
"But you... You, Eva, make me do things I shouldn't. Because I love you. Desperately. Pathetically. I had to call it off. I had to stop it all, because of you."
His hand tightened into a fist before slowly unclenching as he gazed at her face.
"Do you love him that much?" he whispered. "Enough to risk your life for him? Enough to die in his arms?"
Eva stirred, barely, but her eyes fluttered open.
And the first thing she saw... was him.
Victor.
She didn't speak. Her expression said it all, pain, fury, disappointment. Her eyes narrowed, burning through him.
He smirked.
"You glare at me like that again," he warned, "and I swear, if one word, just one word, leaks about this accident, about me, about anything... I will personally expose you to the world for what you really are."
His fingers caressed her temple. "A thief. A liar. A traitor in silk gloves."
She gasped faintly, her chest rising in protest.
But he simply leaned forward, kissed her gently on the forehead, then straightened with elegant arrogance.
He placed the bouquet, vibrant, expensive, flawless, on the side table and turned for the door.
"I'll be back, my precious girlfriend," he murmured with a wicked grin. "Rest well."
Victor stepped out of the room, his Italian leather shoes clicking against the pristine floors.
And just then...
Damien stepped into the hallway.
Their eyes met.
Time froze.
Two powerful men. Two kings in the same kingdom. The air thickened, a palpable force between them. Victor's stride slowed, so did Damien's. Neither broke eye contact.
One heading in, the other heading out.
Victor's smirk widened, but his gaze remained unreadable. Damien's jaw tightened, eyes dark and unreadable. His hands clenched at his sides as he passed Victor by, shoulder brushing ever so slightly. Silent challenge. Silent war.
They didn't say a word.
They didn't need to.
By the time Damien entered the room, his fury had been carefully wrapped into a calm so cold it could freeze the sun.
Eva sat upright in bed now, her eyes darting to him, guilt flooding her features.
He stopped at the foot of the bed, towering.
His eyes raked over her like a judge weighing guilt.
She looked away.
"You alright?" he asked flatly, voice low but heavy.
She nodded, timid. "I'm fine," she whispered.
He nodded once, tight and brief. Walked forward, set a small fancy paper bag on the side table. It had a lavender scent, and something told her it was handpicked by him. Despite the anger.
Then without another word… he turned.
And walked out with long, powerful strides.
Leaving Eva in a whirlwind of silence, tears silently building in her throat.