Chapter 18 A Man of Shadows
Damian Blackwood pulled into his private estate just past 3 AM, shutting off the engine of his Aston Martin with a quiet sigh.
The ride home had been too long, too quiet–leaving him alone with thoughts that had no business lingering in his head.
Or more specifically, one thought.
Ariana Cole.
Damian clenched his jaw as he stepped out of the car, the crisp night air biting against his skin. The estate loomed before him–a sprawling, modern mansion resting on the cliffs of Blackwood Heights, overlooking the city like a king’s fortress.
Inside, the space was dark, quiet, as he preferred it. No staff, no distractions. Just him and the weight of a life built on power, precision, and pain.
He slipped off his jacket, tossing it over the back of a leather chair before pouring himself a glass of whiskey. The burn of the liquor did nothing to erase the memory of Ariana’s smirk, the way she played with fire, daring him to touch it.
Damian exhaled sharply.
She was trouble.
And he wanted her anyway.
Damian hadn’t been born into power.
Not entirely.
The Blackwood name had once been synonymous with wealth and corruption, built on real estate, banking, and underground dealings that had made his father, Theodore Blackwood, both feared and revered.
But wealth didn’t make men invincible.
When Damian was fifteen, his father had been murdered in a hostile takeover gone wrong.
The world had expected the Blackwood Empire to crumble.
Instead, Damian had done the unthinkable.
By the age of twenty, he had revived the family name, turning Blackwood Enterprises into one of the most powerful investment conglomerates in the country.
Real estate. Private security. Elite technology firms. Even underground dealings no one dared to whisper about.
If there was money to be made, Damian was already two steps ahead.
Now, at thirty–one, he was one of the most powerful men in the world.
And he had made a lot of enemies along the way.
Power came with a price.
Damian had spent his life navigating a world where trust was a liability, where a handshake could be a death
sentence.
His enemies ranged from rival billionaires to corrupt politicians–people who had tried and failed to break him.
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<Chapter 18 A Man of Shadows
But Damian had one rule.
Never make the first move.
Because when he did?
He didn’t just win.
He buried people.
Despite the cold, calculated exterior, Damian had one weakness.
His grandmother.
Eleanor Blackwood had raised him after his father’s murder, shielding him from the worst of their family’s
enemies and scandals.
She was the only person who still saw the boy beneath the empire, the only one who could scold him without
consequence.
Even now, she was the only person who could make him pause.
Just last week, she had called him, her voice sharp with wisdom and impatience.
“Damian, I’m tired of seeing you on magazine covers with models who barely know their own last names.”
“Good morning to you too, Grandmother.”
“Don’t good morning me, boy. When will you find a woman worth your time?”
“When one exists.”
Eleanor had huffed, unimpressed.
“You remind me too much of your father.”
That had shut him up.
His father had been powerful, yes. But reckless.
Damian had spent his whole life making sure he would never be destroyed the way his father was.
And yet…
Ariana Cole had him thinking dangerous thoughts.
Damian rolled his whiskey glass between his fingers, staring out over the city skyline.
She was under his skin.
The way she played with power, unafraid of men who thought they controlled the world.
The way she challenged him, smirked at him like she wasn’t the least bit intimidated by who he was.
It had been years since a woman had genuinely intrigued him.
Ariana Cole wasn’t just intriguing.
She was lethal.
And God help him–he liked it.
Damian downed the rest of his drink, setting the glass aside before heading toward his bedroom. He pulled off his shirt, tossing it onto the chair before sliding into his massive king–sized bed.
But even as he closed his eyes, he knew.
Sleep wouldn’t come easily.
Not with Ariana Cole in his head.
And certainly not with the way she had kissed him and ran like she hadn’t just set fire to somethin
Damian smirked to himself in the darkness.
“Run all you want, sweetheart.”
“You won’t get far.”
