Damien's POV
I was making the biggest mistake of my life, and I knew it.
Leaving Aria alone in that penthouse while Jessica—somehow alive, impossibly alive—had her brother. Running to Tokyo for a "business meeting" my father demanded I attend. Pretending everything was normal when nothing would ever be normal again.
But I had no choice.
"The plane is ready, sir." Vincent stood at my bedroom door, watching me pack with worried eyes. "Are you sure about this?"
"My father will know something's wrong if I don't show." I threw clothes into a bag without looking. "He always knows."
"Damien." Vincent's voice dropped. "Jessica Martinez drowned five years ago. I saw the body. I identified it myself."
"Then you identified the wrong body." My hands shook. I made them stop. "Or someone wants us to think you did."
"What if this is a trap? What if your father orchestrated everything—the threats, the photos, bringing Jessica back somehow—to test your loyalty?"
I'd thought of that. All night, while Aria slept fitfully in the guest room, I'd thought of nothing else.
My father was capable of anything. Including faking deaths to manipulate me.
But why?
"Just keep Aria safe," I said. "Don't let her out of your sight. And find her brother before—"
My phone rang. Unknown number. Again.
I almost didn't answer. But something made me press the button.
"Hello, Damien." Jessica's voice. Sweet. Familiar. Exactly how I remembered it. "Missing me yet?"
My blood turned to ice. "What do you want?"
"What I've always wanted. You. Your fortune. Your empire." She laughed. "But your daddy had other plans for you, didn't he? Can't have the heir falling in love with a nobody. Can't have emotions making you weak."
"You're saying my father killed you? Faked your death?"
"Oh, he tried to kill me. The drowning was very real, Damien. I just didn't die." Her voice hardened. "Your father held my head underwater until I stopped fighting. Then he dumped my body in the ocean. Too bad for him, a fishing boat found me before the sharks did."
Vincent's face had gone white. He could hear every word on speaker.
"Why come back now?" I asked. "Why wait five years?"
"Because I needed to become someone your father couldn't touch. I needed money, power, connections. And I needed the perfect moment to destroy him." She paused. "Your wedding gave me that moment. Your new wife is the key to everything."
"Leave Aria out of this."
"Too late. She's already in it. The question is, are you brave enough to save her? Or will you let daddy dearest kill another woman you care about?"
"I don't care about—"
"Liar." Jessica's laugh was bitter. "You cared about me once. Before you let him erase me. Before you moved on like I never existed. How long before you do the same to her?"
The line went dead.
Vincent grabbed my arm. "Don't get on that plane. This is obviously a setup. Your father wants you in Tokyo while something happens here."
He was right. I knew he was right.
But my father's text message was clear: Tokyo meeting mandatory. Miss it and the Singapore operation shuts down. Your choice.
The Singapore operation funded half my legitimate businesses. Thousands of employees depended on it. If my father shut it down out of spite...
"I have to go," I said. "Just for twenty-four hours. In and out."
"And if Jessica makes her move while you're gone?"
"Then you protect Aria with your life." I met his eyes. "I mean it, Vincent. Whatever it takes."
He nodded slowly. "What aren't you telling me?"
Everything. I wasn't telling him everything.
Like how Aria's terrified face last night made my chest hurt in ways I didn't understand. Like how I'd stood outside her bedroom door for an hour, listening to her cry, wanting to go in but not knowing what to say. Like how the thought of my father hurting her made me want to burn down everything I'd built.
I didn't do emotions. I didn't do caring. My father had beaten that weakness out of me years ago.
So why did leaving her feel like ripping out my own heart?
"Nothing," I lied. "It's just business."
The private jet took off at dawn. I didn't say goodbye to Aria. Didn't even let her know I was leaving. Better that way. Cleaner.
Safer.
Vincent sat across from me, working on his laptop, tracking every security camera near the penthouse. Tracking Aria's phone. Making sure she was protected.
"She's awake," he said quietly. "Just found your note."
I'd left a single sentence on the kitchen counter: Back in 24 hours. Stay inside. -D
Not exactly a loving farewell.
"Is she okay?" The words escaped before I could stop them.
Vincent looked up, surprised. "She's... crying."
Something twisted in my gut. "She cries a lot."
"Most women would. Given the circumstances." He studied my face. "You really don't feel anything for her?"
"No."
"Then why do you keep watching her security feed on your phone?"
I looked down. He was right. I'd been watching Aria walk through the penthouse, arms wrapped around herself, looking lost and small in my huge apartment.
"Making sure she's safe," I said. "She's my responsibility now."
"Responsibility." Vincent's tone said he didn't believe me. "Is that what we're calling it?"
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed. A text from Aria.
You left.
Two words. But they felt like an accusation. A disappointment. Like I'd failed some test I didn't know I was taking.
I typed back: Business. Back tomorrow.
Her response came immediately: Will I still be alive tomorrow? Or will I be "accident" number four?
My jaw clenched. She thought I was like my father. Thought I'd kill her just like he'd killed the others.
Maybe she was right to think it.
You're safe. Vincent is watching the apartment. Don't leave.
Why should I trust you?
Good question. Why should she?
Because if I wanted you dead, you'd already be dead. My father makes things look like accidents. I don't bother pretending.
I regretted sending it the moment it went through. Too harsh. Too cold.
But that's who I was, right? The Ice King. The man who felt nothing.
Vincent's laptop pinged urgently. "We've got a problem."
"What?"
"Camera feed from the penthouse just went dark. All of them. At the same time."
My heart stopped. "What do you mean dark?"
"Someone cut the feeds. We're blind." He was already calling his security team. "Get me eyes on the penthouse now! Move!"
I pulled up Aria's phone location. The app loaded slowly, too slowly.
"Call her," I ordered.
Vincent dialed. It rang. And rang. And rang.
No answer.
"Turn the plane around," I said.
"Sir, we're already over the Pacific. It'll take hours—"
"TURN IT AROUND!"
The pilot's voice came through the speaker. "Mr. Wolfe, we're receiving an emergency transmission. Someone's hacked our communication system."
Static crackled. Then Jessica's voice filled the cabin.
"Looking for your wife, Damien? Don't worry. I'm taking very good care of her. In fact, we're having quite the chat about you. About your father. About all the terrible secrets the Wolfe family keeps."
"If you hurt her—"
"Hurt her? Why would I hurt her? She's the most valuable piece on the board right now." Jessica laughed. "But here's the thing. Your father just sent his men to the penthouse. And they're not coming to protect her. They're coming to eliminate the problem Marcus never got to finish with me."
"No." The word ripped out of me.
"So here's your choice, husband. Keep flying to Tokyo like a good son, make daddy happy, and maybe—maybe—I'll keep Aria alive long enough for you to say goodbye. Or turn that plane around, confirm to Marcus that you've chosen a woman over family loyalty, and watch him destroy everything you've built."
The transmission cut off.
Vincent and I stared at each other.
"She's bluffing," he said. "She has to be."
My phone lit up with an incoming video call. Unknown number.
I answered.
The screen showed Aria, tied to a chair in my penthouse living room. Blood trickled from her temple. Her eyes were wide with terror.
Behind her stood three men in masks. And behind them, walking slowly into frame like he owned the place, was my father.
Marcus Wolfe smiled at the camera. At me.
"Hello, son. We need to talk about your choice in wives."
He pulled out a gun and pressed it against Aria's head.
"See you in Tokyo. Or watch her die. You have five seconds to decide."