It took Ava several heartbeats to remember how to breathe.
The cab had screeched to a stop on the wet highway, barely avoiding a crash. Her pulse thundered in her ears as the door beside her clicked open from the outside.
"Well," the driver, no longer smiling murmured, a twinge of something unreadable in his voice. "That was fast."
The water drops from the earlier rain still shimmered across the windshield as Ava slowly turned her head, her eyes locking onto the sleek black car that had veered in front of them. A figure stepped out, moving with alarming speed and purpose. Her heart slammed into her chest when she recognized who it was.
It was Damien.
His face was dark, darker than she'd ever seen it, so dark that he terrified her as he moved towards the car. A cold, ruthless fury twisted his expression, making him look like a different person altogether. The kind of person who did not ask questions first.
She wasn't the only one who noticed.
The driver's face had gone pale, all the smugness erased in an instant. He barely had time to move before Damien reached the driver's side and slammed his fists into the glass with a force that cracked it instantly. Another blow shattered it completely, shards spilling across the seat. Damien wrenched open the door and, with terrifying ease, dragged the man out of the car. The rage on his face was evident.
"Mr. Blackwood," the driver gasped, panic slicing through his tone. "I…"
He was cut short by Damien's hand around his throat, it tightened by each second.
Ava watched, frozen and terrified as Damien slammed the man against the car. The sound of impact echoed over the quiet stretch of road. His grip tightened by the second, knuckles white with pressure. The man struggled, hands clawing at Damien's arm, but it wasn't working, he wasn't strong enough. The strength of Damien's grip lifted him slightly off the ground, fury radiating off him in waves.
Ava forced the cab door open, nearly falling out in her panic. Her legs felt weak, her breath came in shallow gasps, but it wasn't the near abduction or the creepy driver that shook her the most, it was the look on Damien's face.
It was the way he looked like he could kill.
"What are you doing?" she screamed, her voice hoarse. "You're going to kill him!"
Damien didn't answer her. He didn't even look her way. He was snarling now, low and deadly, yelling at the man.
"What were you up to? What do you think you're doing?"
The man choked and managed a desperate wheeze, "I don't know! I follow orders, you should ask him!"
Him? Ava watched on in confusion and fear.
Damien's expression darkened further, as if that single word flipped a switch inside him. His grip tightened again.
Ava's breath caught as she saw the driver's eyes roll, his limbs flailing. She couldn't let this happen. She couldn't watch someone die.
"Damien, stop!" she yelled.
His head snapped toward her. Their eyes met. Hers were filled with fear, not for the driver, but for Damien. For the man standing in front of her, who moments ago had looked like a lifeline and now looked like a weapon.
Damien froze. Something passed through his eyes, recognition, regret, restraint and slowly, very slowly, he released his grip.
The man dropped like dead weight, collapsing against the side of the car, coughing and gasping for breath as his hands clutched at his bruised neck.
Damien took a step toward Ava.
She backed away instantly, hands raised. "Don't come near me."
He stopped immediately. The look in her eyes said everything. It wasn't about the cab. It wasn't about the strange man or how creepy he was. It was him. She was afraid of him.
The fear was directed at him and Damien hated that.
"What were you thinking?" she demanded, voice cracking. "You could have killed him."
"But I didn't," Damien said, his voice lower now, tightly controlled. He extended a hand toward her. "Let's go."
Ava slapped it away. "No. I'm not going anywhere with you."
"Ava, don't be stubborn. Get in."
She looked at the man on the ground, still struggling to sit upright, and then back at Damien. Her stomach twisted. It was like choosing between fire and ice.
But better the devil you know than the angel you don't, she thought bitterly.
She walked past Damien, stiff and silent, and climbed into the black car. Damien didn't speak as he got in, started the engine, and began the drive back to the estate.
Silence filled the car. It was thick and alive with tension.
Ava's heart wouldn't slow down, it hammered hard against her ribs. Her hand pressed against her chest, as if to hold herself together.
Damien's grip on the steering wheel turned iron as it tightened.
"Ava," he said finally. His tone was soft, gentler than it had been all night, but it did nothing for her, it didn't sound genuine. Not after what she'd seen.
"I was trying to help," he said.
"Help?" she echoed. Her voice was quiet, brittle. "I had it under control. You on the other hand almost killed him."
"You had nothing under control," Damien said. "And he didn't die."
She turned to him, her eyes razor sharp on him. "Would you have killed him if I wasn't there?"
"Ava…"
"How did you even find me? How did the driver know you? Why would anyone try to abduct me? You weren't even curious to know who sent him, it was like you knew already." None of this was making sense to her.
Damien looked at her, his jaw clenched, but didn't respond.
"I'm not a murderer," he finally said. "And I was just passing by."
She gave a bitter laugh, more a scoff than that of amusement. "Do you know how that sounds? A lie. That's what it sounds like." He was built with secrets and it was starting to choke her.
He didn't argue and he didn't say anything else. Either of them did. The rest of the ride passed in silence.
When they arrived at the estate, Ava didn't wait. She stepped out of the car, walked up the stairs, and vanished into the house without a word.
She didn't stop until she reached her room.
Her hands shook as she closed the door behind her, her back pressed against the wood. Her head wouldn't stop spinning as her mind ran places.
Damien and the driver. The way his hands had tightened. The way the man had gasped, choked and nearly died.
She slid down the door to the floor, her breath coming in shallow bursts.
What kind of man had she married?
And she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she hadn't been there. Would that man still be alive?