CHAPTER 26 — THE LINES THAT CANNOT BE CROSSED
The mansion had gone silent again—too silent.
The kind of silence that didn't belong to a home, but to a battlefield right before an attack.
Damian didn't let go of Mara even once as they walked through the dimly lit hallway toward his private security chamber. His fingers were wrapped firmly around hers, his thumb brushing her skin in a way that was both protective and grounding.
But Mara could feel it… the tremor running beneath his skin.
Damian Knight was afraid.
Not for himself—
for her.
And that alone made the danger feel sharper, more real.
When they reached the reinforced steel door at the end of the corridor, Damian typed a rapid sequence of codes. The door slid open with a low hiss.
"Mara," he said quietly, "once we step inside, stay close. No matter what you hear. No matter who comes. Do not move away from me."
She swallowed. "I understand."
He led her in.
