His Dangerous Obsession Part 1
His Dangerous Obsession
Part 1 — The Man in the Black Suit
The rain had been falling for almost two hours.
Aria Bennett pulled her coat tighter around herself as she hurried down the nearly empty street. Her heels clicked against the wet pavement, each sound echoing through the silence.
She glanced at her phone.
11:47 PM.
“Damn it…”
Her battery was at three percent.
The last bus had already left, and the street ahead looked darker with every step.
Aria had never been afraid of the dark.
Tonight was different.
She could feel someone following her.
She stopped.
The footsteps stopped too.
Her heart skipped.
Slowly, she turned around.
Nothing.
Only rain.
Only empty streets.
Only shadows.
Aria swallowed and started walking again.
Faster this time.
Then she heard it.
A car engine.
A black Mercedes stopped beside her.
The passenger window rolled down.
A man sat inside.
Black suit.
White shirt.
No tie.
His dark hair was slightly wet, and his expression was so calm that it somehow made him more frightening.
“Get in.”
Aria stared at him.
“What?”
“I said, get in.”
She took a step back.
“I don't know you.”
His eyes moved over her face.
“I know.”
That answer made her even more nervous.
“Then why are you asking me to get into your car?”
The man looked at the empty street behind her.
“Because the men following you aren't interested in asking.”
Aria froze.
“What men?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he opened the passenger door.
“Get in, Aria.”
Her breath caught.
He knew her name.
“How do you know my name?”
For the first time, something changed in his expression.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Something colder.
“I know a lot more than your name.”
Aria stepped backward.
“I’m calling the police.”
She pulled out her phone.
The screen went black.
Dead.
The man gave a faint, almost amused smile.
“Your phone was never going to help you.”
“What do you want?”
He leaned back against the seat.
“You.”
Aria's stomach twisted.
“What?”
“Not the way you're thinking.”
His voice was dangerously calm.
“I need you alive.”
Before she could respond, headlights appeared at the end of the street.
A second car.
Then another.
The man's expression changed instantly.
“Now, Aria.”
She looked at the approaching vehicles.
Then at him.
“Who are you?”
He stared directly into her eyes.
“Damien Cross.”
The name meant nothing to her.
But the fear in the eyes of the men stepping out of the cars told her it should have.
Damien opened the door wider.
“Get in.”
Aria hesitated.
A gunshot shattered the silence.
She screamed.
Damien grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside.
The car sped away before she could even process what had happened.
Aria pressed herself against the seat, breathing rapidly.
“What the hell is happening?”
Damien didn't answer.
He simply watched the road.
“Where are you taking me?”
“My house.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I don't want to go anywhere with you.”
His jaw tightened.
“You don't have a choice.”
Aria stared at him.
“Excuse me?”
Damien finally looked at her.
His eyes were dark.
Unreadable.
“You became a target the moment you opened that envelope.”
Aria's blood ran cold.
“What envelope?”
He reached inside his coat and pulled out a photograph.
He placed it on the dashboard.
Aria looked at it.
It was a picture of her.
Standing outside her apartment.
Taken three days ago.
Her hands began to shake.
“Who took this?”
Damien's voice was quiet.
“The same person who is trying to kill you tonight.”
Aria looked at him.
“Why me?”
For several seconds, Damien said nothing.
Then he leaned closer.
“Because your father left something behind.”
Aria's face went pale.
“My father died six years ago.”
“I know.”
“Then what could he have left?”
Damien's eyes held hers.
“A secret.”
The car entered a private underground garage.
The massive gates closed behind them.
Aria looked around.
She suddenly realized something.
There were armed men standing everywhere.
Damien stepped out of the car.
Aria remained frozen inside.
He opened her door.
“Come.”
She didn't move.
“Where?”
“My home.”
“And if I refuse?”
Damien leaned down until his face was only inches from hers.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
“Then you'll walk back into the rain…”
He paused.
“…and the people waiting outside will finish what they started.”
Aria stared at him.
She hated him.
She feared him.
And somehow, despite everything…
she felt safer standing beside the most dangerous man she'd ever met.
She slowly stepped out of the car.
Damien turned and walked toward the elevator.
After a moment, Aria followed.
The elevator doors closed.
Silence filled the small space.
Then Damien spoke.
“You're going to stay with me until this is over.”
Aria looked at him.
“And when will it be over?”
He met her eyes through the reflection in the elevator mirror.
“When the person who wants you dead is buried.”
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened.
Aria stepped into the luxurious penthouse.
She looked around.
Then noticed something on the wall.
A photograph.
Her father.
Standing beside Damien.
Aria stopped breathing.
She turned slowly toward him.
“You knew my father?”
Damien's expression didn't change.
“Yes.”
“How?”
He walked past her.
“He was the reason I became the man I am.”
Aria followed him with her eyes.
“And what exactly did my father do to you?”
Damien stopped at the doorway.
For the first time that night, his voice carried something Aria couldn't identify.
Pain.
“Your father didn't do anything to me.”
He turned around.
“He saved my life.”
Aria's heart pounded.
“Then why are you protecting me?”
Damien stared at her for a long moment.
“Because six years ago, I promised him I would.”
He walked away.
Aria remained standing there.
She thought the conversation was over.
Until Damien stopped without turning around.
“Oh, and Aria?”
“Yes?”
His voice became cold again.
“Don't ever enter the room at the end of the hallway.”
Aria frowned.
“Why?”
Damien looked back at her.
“Because that's where I keep the things I don't want anyone to find.”
The door closed behind him.
Aria stood alone in the enormous penthouse.
Her eyes slowly moved toward the dark hallway.
At the very end…
was a locked black door.
And beneath it…
a thin line of red light was glowing.
Aria took one step toward it.
Then another.
She didn't know it yet.
But behind that door was the reason Damien Cross had entered her life.
And the truth about her father's death.
To Be Continued…
