mistake, she decided to trust the beautiful dark man before her.
“I know that he's alive. He changed the voice message on his phone, but I don’t think he’ll be coming home any time soon.”
“That would be best. It will keep all of you safe for the time being.” She sighed in relief. He seemed truly interested in her well being.
“What if I go up to the big scary guy outside and tell him that I don’t know anything? Maybe that might work.” Kennedy tried to lighten up the atmosphere, successfully hiding her real fear.
“That is not funny.” He said blandly.
“No, I guess not, but I’m retarded remember?” She meant it.
She thought that she saw a smile begin to appear on his face before he asked, “Why are you taking this so lightly?”
“What else can I do? I doubt that going hysterical would help me. I think that if you wanted to hurt me, you already would’ve.” Her words made her sound a lot braver than she felt.
“You should not be so trusting.” Kennedy knew the hidden meaning behind his words. He meant to say that she shouldn't trust him as easily as she did, but her mind was made up.
“Was it all an act then, just part of a big lie?” She hoped that his answer wouldn’t prove her wrong.
“No, at least nothing of significance was. I have been honest in my opinions and feelings towards you.” His voice had taken on a soft quality.
“Feelings?” Her gut twisted, but not in fear.
He averted his eyes to the floor and responded.“I am still the same Damien that you met that day in the yard.” He stood so close to her now, only a breath away.
When had he moved?
His eyes reverted to their usual azure tinge and her hand reached up, almost as if by its own accord, to caress the side of his face. His eyes searched hers imploringly.
“Yes, yes you are.” She wasn't surprised to find that she truly believed it and if that was what it felt like to be damned, then they could drag her to hell for all she cared.
Damien let out a heavy sigh and then she was pulled roughly into his arms. The sudden embrace startled her. Nothing had ever felt so right.
There, within the hold of his strong arms, she felt safe, invincible, as if nothing could happen to her while he held her like that. It was a bittersweet notion, because even though she would be safe, her father might not run the same fate.
“Kennedy!” Reality called – more like screamed – at her.
Lauren’s terrified scream filled the silence of the house and reminded her of where she was.
Kennedy jumped away from Damien and retracted into herself as if she had been burned. He glared intently at the door.
Lauren must have encountered the big shady guy guarding the door to her father’s office. He turned to look at her and gave a brief nod in the direction that the sound had come from. She went reluctantly to silence her frightened friend before she woke up the entire neighborhood.
Damien watched her go without a word.
She walked out of the room to find Lauren about to scream bloody murder once more. Her friend’s shriek stopped abruptly when she saw her. Kennedy watched as she looked comically between the giant standing stoically by the doorway and her.
Lauren appeared to be speechless and rightfully so. Her sun darkened skin had acquired an ashen quality, it made her brown hair seem black in comparison. Kennedy remembered the cold fear that she had felt when saw the intimidating man for the first time. She tried to reassure her friend.
“I promise that I’ll explain later.” Her words only seemed to make things worse. Lauren didn’t look the least bit appeased, but she gave a silent nod nonetheless. She let Kennedy know with a severe look that she understood her need at the moment and would be expecting a detailed explanation soon.
Kennedy turned to the tall man that impersonated an English Queen’s Guard, he was only missing the red uniform and black furry hat. She snickered a bit as she conjured the amusing picture in her mind’s eye.
She highly doubted that he would stand as still if she were to poke him. That sobered her up right away and she wondered idly if she was going crazy at last. She stared at his rigid posture with slight apprehension and wondered whether she should speak to him or not.
Kennedy had enough sense of self-preservation left in her to realize that even though she knew in her gut that she could trust Damien, trusting this man was a completely different matter.
To her immense relief, Damien appeared at the door besides her.
The space was limited and Kennedy’s senses went haywire at his proximity. Even though it was neither the time nor the place for such epiphanies, she realized that letting Damien go that night without making sure that they would see each other again would be yet another calamitous event in her life. But, maybe one she could prevent after all.
She wasn’t as immature as to harbor any dreamy notions about a serious romantic relationship between her demonic neighbor and her. Even so, she couldn’t deny the fact – at least to herself – that she had come to care deeply for him and relied on his presence as a beacon of light in her shadow packed days.
She saw Lauren’s eyes widen in appreciation at the sight of him and a sharp uncalled pang of some strange emotion that she was shocked to recognize as jealousy filled Kennedy’s chest. She knew it was senseless to feel that way, especially when the person in question was her almost sister whom she personally knew would rather gauge her eyes out than knowingly ogle her best friend’s boyfriend.
Then it occurred to her that first, Damien was not her boyfriend. Second, he was nothing near that and Lauren didn’t know of her attraction towards him and third, any hot blooded woman would stop and take her time to admire Damien’s perfection, no matter the circumstances.
Kennedy was ashamed to find that she was greatly pleased at noticing that Damien was either totally oblivious to Lauren’s awing or he chose to ignore her in favor of looking sternly at the other man.
“I told you to leave.” He said in the same cold commanding tone that he had used earlier in the study, but the man just looked at him wordlessly and didn’t move. Damien scowled, the expression giving him an air of menace that did not ugly his features.
“Wait for me at my house, that is not a request.” He finished dangerously, the authoritative note in his voice sent chills throughout Kennedy’s spine. She decided that she found this new side of Damien thrilling, thus finally convincing herself that she had truly lost her mind.
The other man turned and left her house using the front door. He seemed very familiar with the way out of the house, as if he had taken that same route some time before. The thought unnerved her.
She looked at Lauren to see her staring at his retreating back, so she finally turned to Damien who waited silently for her to acknowledge his presence. His current demeanor was a great contrast to the one from seconds before.
All the coldness had seeped from his eyes, eyes that turned the deep color of the ocean after a storm as they clashed with hers.
“I must leave now as well.” He stated plainly, but his gaze told Kennedy that he would rather stay.
“Okay.” She hoped with all her might that her eyes showed him how she really felt. He gave a nod in return and prepared to walk away when Kennedy's voice stopped him.
“Damien, can I – she thought better and rephrased – should I tell them about it?” By them, she meant Lauren and Teresa.
“Due to the circumstances, it would be best that you speak thoroughly with your mother about the matter. Your friend, I leave at your discretion.” He caught on pretty fast and the silent meaning of his words struck home.
If she brought Lauren into that mess she would only be placing her best friend in danger. She had to find a way to keep her out of the loop, but it would be a nearly impossible thing to accomplish after what she had just witnessed.
“I understand.” She told him and avoided Lauren’s eyes at all costs.
“We
will talk about it tomorrow. That is, if you still want– ” His sentence trailed off, his words holding a small note of insecurity that almost melted her heart.
She had a hard time placing this soft spoken Damien next to the detached imposing one. It was difficult to believe that they were one and the same. One of his personas had to be a carefully practiced act. The frightening question was, which one?
“Of course!” She flushed. It came out a little more enthusiastic than she had planned. He smiled.
“Very well.” He nodded in agreement, crooked smile still in place, and exited the house tracing the steps the defiant giant had taken just moments before.
It was her turn to watch him leave and she did so with a heavy heart and an even weightier sigh. She would be a complete idiot to expect their quiet evenings to remain the same after what had transpired that night.
The optimist in her, which was hidden very, very deep down in her consciousness tried its hardest to make her hope for the best. To her left, someone made a fuss out of clearing their throat. She flushed deeply in embarrassment.
She'd been caught letting her mind wander and forgetting all about her friend’s presence for the second time that night. Kennedy turned to look at Lauren with a guilty expression. She waited quietly for the barreling of questions that was undoubtedly going to come at any moment now.
However and to her unmasked surprise, Lauren just looked her over seriously for a few seconds before she returned upstairs in silence. Kennedy was