The Moment She Realized She Had No Choice..

Eve Lancaster didn’t remember walking inside.

One moment, she had been standing beneath the cold glow of streetlights, the city humming around her. The next, she was here—inside a place where the walls seemed too close, where the shadows clung like secrets refusing to let go.

She didn’t remember following him.

She didn’t remember choosing this.

Yet somehow, she was already in.

Damian Cross leaned against the edge of a desk, watching her. He held himself with the kind of effortless control that made her stomach twist—a man who never rushed, never hesitated, never stepped anywhere that he didn’t own.

The air was thick with something unspoken.

The scent of cedar and metal. The quiet hum of something flickering beneath the surface.

Eve swallowed, her pulse loud against her ribs.

“Where am I?” she asked, voice steady despite the unease curling beneath her skin.

Damian smirked, slow and calculated, as if the question itself amused him.

“You’re where you belong.”

Her stomach knotted.

She turned, searching for the door behind her. Locked. A small but decisive detail—one that should have made panic spike through her veins.

Instead, all she felt was something else.

Something she refused to name.

The Warning Comes Too Late..

Damian reached into the desk drawer, pulling out something small—sleek, thick, glossy. A card. Black with silver edges, catching the dim light overhead.

He held it between his fingers, tilting his head slightly.

“You looked me up.”

Eve exhaled, grounding herself before she answered. “You’re not exactly easy to find.”

Damian chuckled, tapping the edge of the card against his knuckles. “That’s intentional.”

She stiffened. “Why?”

Instead of answering, he held the card out to her.

Eve hesitated for only a second before snatching it from his grasp, flipping it over.

One word.

"Run."

Her stomach dropped.

The weight of it pressed into her chest like unseen hands tightening their grip.

She looked up—her breath catching in her throat at the expression on his face.

Damian’s smirk had sharpened.

“You have ten seconds.”

The Moment Everything Changed..

Eve didn’t think.

She ran.

Her pulse pounded against her ears as she bolted toward the door, fingers fumbling for the handle, twisting—locked.

She spun, searching for another way out.

Damian hadn’t moved.

He remained by the desk, watching her, arms folded across his chest, amusement flickering behind his eyes like this—like her panic—was nothing but a game.

“Eight seconds.”

Eve bit down a curse, scanning the room, searching for options.

A second door—barely visible against the dark wall. She lunged toward it, grabbing the handle—unlocked.

Hope surged through her veins.

She threw it open—

And ran straight into him.

The Trap That Was Always Waiting..

Damian caught her easily.

His grip wasn’t forceful.

It wasn’t bruising.

But it was final.

Eve gasped as his fingers curled around her wrists, holding her in place, pressing her back against the nearest wall.

Her breath hitched.

Her heart slammed against her ribs, the weight of his body too close, too warm, too calm.

Damian leaned in, his gaze locking onto hers.

“You hesitated,” he murmured.

Eve clenched her jaw. “I—”

“You almost made it.”

Something dark flickered through his expression—something dangerous.

“But almost isn’t enough.”

She swallowed hard, her pulse roaring in her ears.

“You—”

Damian leaned closer, lowering his voice, letting it brush against her skin like unseen fingertips.

“This is what happens when you chase things you don’t understand, Eve.”

She wasn’t breathing properly.

She wasn’t thinking properly.

Because the terrifying thing wasn’t that she had lost the game.

It was that she had never stood a chance to win.

Damian smiled—just barely, just enough for her to know that he had been waiting for this moment all along.

And as she stood there, trapped in his grip, she understood.

This wasn’t just a warning.

This was only the beginning.

~TO BE CONTINUED....