Page 107 of Tear Me Down
“What do we have, Alex?” Damien asks him as he looks back, making sure his family is headed to the rec areas and not following us.
“The last three warehouses we’re aware of, we took down last night. No surprises, no bombs. If there are any more warehouses, we haven’t found them yet. Chris disposed of that dealer’s body and all of the drugs he had.” Alex fills us in, and Damien nods in approval, clearly thankful that Alex and Zeke handled things while we were gone. “We got Adrien this morning, and he’s ready to talk whenever you are. Hugo is in the Black Room, well fed and taken care of like you asked. Well, except for a few punches and couple broken ribs from Zeke, as well as a black eye and possibly a broken nose from me.”
Hearing his name sends chills down my spine, and while I know he’s not just out walking around, I can’t help but look down the halls and into the rooms as we walk, trying to get a handle on my paranoia before it can spike anymore. Damien tightens his hold around my waist, obviously sensing the distress.
“Oh, and…” Alex hands Damien an envelope and lowers his voice, giving him a silent glare of determination. “Those results you wanted.” Damien doesn’t waste a second, tearing open the packet with his hand and teeth, so he doesn’t let go of me, then flips the paper open and reads. A wave of relief floods his face, and he looks up at Alex like that one piece of paper took some of the pain away.
“You guys go on ahead we’ll catch up.” Damien dismisses everyone, and they continue stalking ahead. Ser and Taylor look back at us confused, but the men just keep steering them forward. Damien uses his grip to turn me toward him, and the softness in his face is clear as he holds the paper up, presenting it to me. “I know you're terrified that Dranan had a disease that could affect the baby, and I didn’t want you to worry for the next few months, so I had Alex take his blood and send it off.” I feel my heart sink as he pulls me close, and suddenly I’m holding my breath. While his face doesn’t show any remnants of dread, the possibility of that paper landing another punch to our already beaten down world is all too real. “I figured we would test him since we couldn’t test you more yet. He’s clean.”
I release the seized breath, feeling how it shakes through my chest, and immediately wrap my arms around him. The relief rolls over me, almost taking me out at the knees. His strong hand cradles the back of my head as I bury myface in his chest, not wanting anyone near us to see me cry. He holds onto me for dear life as he gently rocks us back and forth, and his thumb traces lazy circles on my lower back as I let the information seep in. I know he has to let me go soon, but I don’t want him to. A part of me wants to tell him to take us home right now and lock up the house with us inside before anything else can happen—to let Zeke or Alex finish Dranan off—but I know he would never be able to get over what’s happened.
“It’s okay, baby girl. It’s going to be okay,” he whispers right by my ear just before he plants a soft kiss to my forehead, and then we pull away only marginally so he can look me in the eyes again. “We’ll still test you when they said to, just to be extra cautious, but I thought you'd feel better knowing a little more now.”
“Thank you.” He reaches down and kisses me, then wipes tears from my face with one hand and rubs my stomach with the other. I hold his hand to my face, just to keep the warmth there for another moment. “So much…”
“Don’t thank me, you know I'll do anything for you.”
“I know.”
He kneels down and kisses my small, bloated abdomen, and I soothingly run my hand through his hair, feeling the silky strands slip through my fingers. I just want to go home… I want to cuddle in our bed and not have to think about this anymore, but I wanthimdead, and if Damien doesn’t let out this rage he has for him, there’s no telling what it’ll do to him—how badly it will eat away at him. As he stands, he takes my hand in his and leads me down the hall to meet up with everyone else.
“Which one do you want first?” Zeke asks.
Which one?
“Adrien,” he responds, and I recall Tony’s texts yesterday with the information he wanted on the D.N. podcast.
“Adrien is the podcast kid?” I ask, and he nods, not appearing menacing at first, but I can see the darkness swirling his gaze. “Damien…”
“I'm not going to hurt him, baby. I'm just going to offer to work with him, and make sure he knows some boundaries. That way he gets firsthand information in exchange for us having a broadcast system if needed, and he knows how to stay out of trouble. That’s all, I swear.” He squeezes my hand as we walk down to the end of the hall where Carter stops to stand outside of the door to the interrogation room. Damien turns to me again and tucks my hair behind my ear. “You need to rest.” He runs one hand on my face and one on my abdomen again. “Why don't you girls watch a movie while I talk to him and then I'll come check on you before I do anything else?”
I can tell from the look on his face that while this may not be a violent conversation, he definitely doesn’t want an audience, and even though I was given the okay to walk around and not be bedridden for the next few days, my mobility still needed to be limited. So, I nod and agree without argument.
“Okay.”
“Are you hungry? Do you need anything at all?” he asks, and I shake my head and smile at him faintly, but his gaze hardens like he’s not sure if he believes me or not. “If you needanything…”
“I will tell someone. I swear,” I butt in before he can get too paranoid.
“I’ll stay with them, D,” Zeke says, and Damien nods to him in thanks.
“See? We’ll be fine. Brother of the year over here will stay with me.” I smirk and tease, earning a playful eyeroll and headshake before he kisses my cheek.
“I’ll only be about twenty minutes with him, okay?”
“Okay.” I can tell he’s worried about letting me out of his sight, but at least we’re here—the Attic is probably the safest place for us at the moment. All of Damien’s men are here, and I trust that Zeke won’t be the only one with eyes on us. Knowing everyone else, they’ll be just as crowded around me as Zeke will, and I’m sure his cousins have already either found the alcohol stash or the food, and are waiting for us. He continues to look into my eyes and hold onto my face, like he’s trying to convince himself to let me go. “I'll be fine, Damien. I'll be in the other room, and I'll have Zeke and God knows who else watching me like a hawk. Do what you need to do.” He nods reluctantly.
“I love you,” he says softly, like watching me walk away might kill him, and I can’t help but let out a small giggle.
“I love you, too.” He walks into the room, and Zeke starts ushering us girls down the hall.
Chapter forty
Damien
I hate letting her go, every step she takes, increasing the distance between us, feels like another stab to my heart. Not feeling her touch is wrong—it reminds me of the void currently living in my chest, and the bite from the eerie cold latches on. She wants to go home, and I can tell she's in pain. Fuck, I know I am. I can only imagine the ache lingering in her body and mind. My turmoil is irrelevant compared to hers, and I would endure every torturous second if it meant easing her discomfort.
The past four days have been hell, more so for her than me. We may be injured, but it’s the fear that’s gotten to us. The events of the past few days are constantly following us like a damned spirit, and the possibility of what could happen hangs overhead as an idle threat. She’s so scared… petrified to move too much, to sleep, afraid she’ll wake up in a pool of blood. At this point, to even fucking breathe… She’s terrified we’re going to lose the baby… I am too, but it’s different for her, and I understand that. It’sherbody that’s growing our child, threatening to betray us, and it would beherthat would have to endure the pain and suffering if it were to come to that.
