CHAPTER 2 – The Mafia king in the Classroom

I told myself to avoid him.

That lasted exactly twelve hours.

By the next morning, my entire body felt like it was moving through invisible wires—every nerve tight, every breath shallow. The mark on my wrist hadn’t faded. If anything, it looked darker. Like it had sunk into my skin instead of resting on it.

I covered it with my sleeve.

As if that could hide what he already owned.

The classroom was loud when I entered. Too loud. Like everyone was pretending nothing had changed.

But I felt it.

The tension.

The anticipation.

And then the room went silent.

Damon walked in late.

Of course he did.

He didn’t rush. Didn’t care that the lecture had already started. He moved like time waited for him to catch up—long strides, slow confidence, black coat brushing against his legs like it was alive.

The professor stopped speaking.

Again.

“Mr. Blackwood,” he said carefully.

Damon didn’t answer.

His eyes were on me.

I felt it immediately—like invisible hands wrapping around my ribs. I kept my gaze on my notebook, but I could feel him. Watching. Measuring. Claiming.

The chair beside me moved.

He sat.

Close.

Too close.

My pulse jumped.

“You didn’t thank me,” he said quietly.

I swallowed. “For what?”

“For not letting them tear you apart.”

My fingers trembled slightly as I wrote nonsense words across the page.

“Was that supposed to make me grateful?” I asked.

A soft breath of amusement brushed my ear.

“It’s supposed to make you honest.”

I risked a glance at him.

Big mistake.

His face was calm. Too calm. But his eyes… his eyes pinned me in place. Dark. Heavy. Hungry in a way that had nothing to do with bodies and everything to do with control.

“You’re afraid of me,” he said.

“That’s not hard to achieve,” I replied.

Slowly, his hand slid across the desk.

Didn’t touch me.

Stopped just an inch from my fingers.

“But you didn’t run,” he murmured.

“I find that interesting.”

The bell rang.

Too late.

---

I tried to escape him between classes.

Tried is the important word.

Every hallway turn, he was there.

Not chasing.

Not threatening.

Just… present.

Like a shadow that chose to belong only to me.

By the third time I felt his presence behind me, I snapped.

“Are you following me?” I turned sharply.

“Yes.”

No hesitation.

No shame.

Students nearby pretended not to listen, but they were frozen in place, feeding on the tension like it was air.

“Why?” I demanded.

Damon stepped closer.

One step.

That was all it took to force me against the lockers.

Not touching.

Just trapping.

“Because something follows you,” he said quietly.

“And I don’t share.”

Cold slid through me.

“You don’t own me,” I whispered.

He smiled.

Not kindly.

“Not yet.”

---

By lunch, the entire cafeteria buzzed with our argument. I sat with Rhea, barely tasting my food.

“He’s obsessed with you,” she whispered.

“No,” I said. “He’s dangerous.”

“It’s the same thing with men like him.”

Something twisted in my chest.

Across the room, Damon sat surrounded by people who looked terrified to laugh too loudly. Girls stared openly. Guys measured him carefully.

He didn’t look at any of them.

Only at me.

Every time our eyes met, it felt like pressure built inside my ribs. As if the air was thinning between us.

Rhea leaned closer. “If he touches you again, I swear I’ll—”

She stopped talking.

Because Damon stood.

And started walking toward our table.

My heart slammed violently.

Rhea went pale.

He didn’t acknowledge her.

Only me.

He placed his hands on the table on either side of my tray.

Caged me in.

“Eat properly,” he said. “You’re weak today.”

Embarrassment burned through me. “I’m not your responsibility.”

His eyes dropped to my wrist.

“To me,” he said calmly, “you are.”

Rhea stood abruptly. “You can’t just talk to her like that!”

Damon finally looked at her.

The room went cold.

Rhea’s spine stiffened.

Then—

“Go,” Damon said softly.

She didn’t argue.

She left.

And I was alone with him.

“You isolate people quickly,” I told him.

“Only the ones who interfere.”

His fingers brushed my tray. “Finish your food. After class, you’re coming with me.”

My breath caught. “That’s not a choice, is it?”

His gaze darkened.

“No.”

---

After the last lecture, I found two Blackwood men waiting outside my classroom.

Armed.

Silent.

Prepared.

Panic rippled through me.

“I said no,” I told Damon as he approached.

“You don’t get to refuse me,” he answered.

I tried to step back.

One of the men blocked my path.

Damon stopped inches in front of me.

His voice dropped to something low and unsettling.

“You attract things that would tear this campus apart if I wasn’t here.”

“Then let them,” I whispered.

For the first time…

His expression cracked.

“You don’t understand what that would cost you.”

The air around us shifted.

The shadows at the walls began to move.

Students screamed as the lights flickered violently.

Damon didn’t look away from me.

Instead, his eyes burned red again.

And the shadows froze.

Everyone ran.

Everyone except me.

My body wouldn’t move.

He grabbed my wrist.

Not violently.

Firm.

Protective.

Possessive.

“Now,” he said, “you’re coming.”

---

He took me to the underground level beneath the campus.

Not a basement.

A fortress.

Black walls. Iron doors. Men with weapons. Surveillance screens glowing like watchful eyes.

“This place shouldn’t exist,” I breathed.

“It exists because monsters do,” he replied.

He stopped in front of a locked chamber.

Turned to me.

Pressed my hand flat against his chest.

His heart beat slow.

Strong.

Inhumanly steady.

“Tell me what follows you,” he said.

I shook. “If I do… you’ll never leave me alone.”

His gaze softened dangerously.

“I already won’t.”

Tears burned my eyes. “They’ve been with me since I was thirteen. They whisper. They watch. They wait.”

“For what?”

“For you,” I whispered without meaning to.

Silence fell between us.

Heavy.

Electric.

Then his hand cupped my cheek.

Not rough.

Not gentle.

Claiming.

“Then the very things that hunted you were leading you to me.”

My breath stuttered.

“Why?” I asked.

His forehead touched mine.

So close our breaths tangled.

“Because I am the only thing in this world they fear.”

---

When he finally let me go, my legs trembled.

He walked me back to the surface himself.

No guards.

No weapons.

Just the two of us.

Before I left, he spoke again.

“You will come to the party tomorrow night.”

“I’m not agreeing,” I said.

“You don’t need to,” he replied.

“I’ve already set aside the dress.”

---

That night, I couldn’t sleep.

Because every time I closed my eyes…

I felt his hand on my face.

And the terrifying truth that settled into me was this:

I wasn’t only afraid of Damon Blackwood.

I was afraid of how badly a part of me didn’t want him to let go.

---

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