Him.
They’d only fessed up to the package and paint device.
Oh god, hedidsend her flowers in the past. And they always had a note attached. Maybe, subconsciously, that was why she got spooked seeing the pairing again.
The bodyguards moved, closing ranks, but Damien didn’t flinch. He took another step forward, one hand propping onto his hip as if daring them to act.
Nicolas became rigid. “Stay behind me,” he murmured to Emily, never breaking eye contact with their threat.
Her stalker’s smile widened. “I’ve been patient, Emily. I’ve been watching—waiting.But I won’t complain. Seeing you on stage tonight made it all worth it. I didn’t plan for our reunion to be like this. I wanted it to be more sentimental.Less…startlingfor you. I scared you the last time and it was the last thing I wanted to do with this second chance. But…tonight made me change my mind. I don’t see the point in me hiding in the shadows of your life anymore whenhegets to be introduced center stage.”
“Stop talking!” one of the guards barked.
For a moment, it seemed Damien might comply. Then, with a flick of his wrist, a weapon appeared, gleaming under the parking lot lights. Emily’s breath caught at seeing the pistol. Nicolas pulled her tighter against his back as the bodyguards all aimed at their target. Three against one.
“Drop the weapon or we’ll shoot,” Cameron hissed.
“Should I?” Damien cocked a brow. “I’ll consider it if you answer my question,Emmy.That’s what everyone calls you, isn’t it? So you won’t mind if I do too.”
Emily remained silent.
“You won’t talk to me? Aw, sweetheart, you’re breaking my heart over here.” Damien pouted. “It’s nothing crazy. I just wanted to ask…is it the money? No, that can’t be, you’re loaded. The looks? Hmm…I don’t think I’m lacking there. The height?” He assessed Nicolas from head to toe. “Fuck, I admit I don’t exactlymeasure up. But that isn’t all there is, is it? There has to be more. What makeshimqualified to be your husband and I’m not? Emily, we’re the ones with actual history here.”
She frowned. What the hell was he talking about?
“We went to Juilliard together,” he revealed. “We weren’t close, god, I wished, but we’d shared two major classes together. I dropped out after the second year because of that fucking tuition, but I hoped you might’ve recognized me a year later at an audition. I was working there as a staff member. You’d always been good at remembering a face, so I was a bit disappointed, Emmy.”
“Stop fucking calling her that,” Nicolas snapped.
“And you should shut the fuck up!” Damien yelled, flailing his gun at him.
Cameron’s fingers pulled closer to the trigger, his shoulders squared. “I”m giving you one last warning. Drop the fucking gun.”
Damien glared. “I still have more to say.”
“Well, we don’t want to hear it, and neither does she,” Nicolas bit out. “She doesn’t want to hear from someone who’s caused her nothing but misery. You think that what you have for her is love, but it’s not. Not even close. It's obsession.”
“You don’t know what the hell I feel,” Damien growled. “You’re a piece of shit with a silver spoon shoved so far up your ass you don’t even realize it’s there. What do you know about me? About how much I’veadoredher—her hard work, her kindness, her way of lighting up a room. I didn’twantto break into her apartment. I just wanted to be seen. I had no other choice!”
“The police found duct tape and cords with you.”
Everyone’s head turned at the sound of Emily’s voice.
Damien’s lips parted. “Emily…you’re actually talking to me again? You’re not mad at me anymore?”
“You carried duct tape and cords with you,” she repeated louder. “You didn’t want to be seen. You wanted to hurt me, take advantage of me…and you think that’s love?”
“It is because I do. I love you, Emily!”
“Well, I hate you!”
Nicolas tried to pull her back behind him when Damien jerked like he’d been slapped, but she refused. She stood her ground, staring at the man who’d haunted her dreams.
“I hate you with every fiber of my being. I’ve thought about inflicting the same pain you’ve caused me, the sametorment, paranoia, about a hundred times. But even then, it still wasn’t enough. I wish you’d just go to hell.”
Damien froze. “Do you really?” he whispered, facing scrunching up, his hold on the gun faltering.
Emily had thought about confronting him many times and now that it was happening, a surge of strength came.
