Damien pov
Marcus looked past me at Aria and Noah. "Lovely child. Those Blackwood eyes are unmistakable, aren't they? It would be a shame if anything happened to him."
I lunged for him, but Aria's voice stopped me.
"Damien, don't." She had Noah pressed against her chest, covering his ears. "Not in front of him."
Marcus backed toward the elevator, still smiling. "See you at the board meeting, brother. I'm looking forward to it."
The doors closed, and he was gone.
The silence that followed was deafening. I could hear the hum of the air conditioning, the distant traffic eighteen floors below, the raggedness of my own breathing. The penthouse suddenly felt too small, the walls pressing in despite the floor-to-ceiling windows that normally made the space feel infinite.
Then Noah started crying—real, scared sobs that shattered what was left of my control. The sound pierced through me "I want to go home," he whimpered, his small voice cracking. "Mama, I want to go home."
