Chapter 9 - SHADOWS IN THE GARDEN
The rain had stopped by evening, leaving the sprawling gardens of the Blackwell estate smelling of wet earth and blooming jasmine.
Kate stood on the stone balcony outside her private office on the fourth floor, breathing in the cool night air.
The cast on her arm was scheduled to come off in two days, much to Dr. Vance's amazement.
Her body was healing, but her mind was racing.
The confrontation with Senator Caldwell had proven that Damon’s world was a chessboard, and every move carried deadly consequences.
A soft click behind her signaled the balcony door sliding open.
Damon stepped out into the moonlight, holding two crystal glasses filled with amber scotch.
He handed one to her.
"You're working late," he noted, leaning against the stone balustrade beside her.
"I was reviewing the endowment distribution lists for the new hospital wing," Kate replied, taking a small sip of the smooth liquor.
"Everything checks out."
"You don't need to work around the clock, Kate."
"I like having a purpose."
Damon looked at her sideways in the pale moonlight.
"Before you came to my estate, what did you want out of life?"
The question caught her off guard.
She looked out over the dark gardens, watching the distant security lights sweep across the iron perimeter fence.
"I wanted safety," she whispered honestly.
"I wanted enough money to pay my mother's medical bills so I wouldn't have to watch her slip away in a public ward. I wanted a life where I didn't have to look over my shoulder wondering who was going to yell, or break something, or ruin everything."
"And now?"
Kate turned her head to look at him.
The sharp angles of his face were softened by the moonlight, his dark eyes reflecting the stars above.
"Now, I don't want safety," she said quietly.
"I want power. The kind of power where nobody ever gets to hurt me—or my family—ever again."
A slow, approving smile spread across Damon’s face.
It was the most genuine expression she had ever seen on him.
"Good," he murmured.
"Because in this world, safety is an illusion. Power is the only currency that matters."
Before either of them could speak again, a sharp, piercing sound cut through the quiet night air.
Crack.
A bullet shattered the stone balustrade two inches from Damon’s shoulder, spraying stone dust across his jacket.
Instinct took over before thought could intervene.
Damon grabbed Kate by the waist and threw her hard against the brick wall of the mansion, shielding her massive frame with his own body just as a second gunshot echoed from the tree line beyond the garden wall.
"Sniper!" Damon shouted into his comm-link.
"Sector four! Perimeter breach!"
Inside the mansion, alarms began to wail in a frantic, deafening rhythm.
Floodlights snapped on all across the estate grounds, turning the dark gardens into a blinding arena of white light.
"Are you hit?" Damon demanded, his hands gripping her shoulders, his eyes scanning her frantically for blood.
"No! I'm fine! What about you?" Kate gasped, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Damon didn't answer.
He pulled a suppressed pistol from his shoulder holster with lightning speed, his eyes locked on the tree line.
"Marcus!" Damon roared into the comm.
"Lock down the estate! Nobody enters, nobody leaves!"
"Already on it, boss!" Marcus’s voice crackled back over the radio.
"We’ve got movement near the west gate! Two men on bikes heading for the highway!"
Damon lowered his weapon slightly, but his body remained coiled like a striking viper.
He looked down at Kate, his jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek.
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"Someone just signed their own death warrant," Damon whispered, his voice colder than ice.
THE END OF CHAPTER 9
