Chapter 49 A War Against Herself

• The room still seemed to pulse with the echo of Damien’s rage, as though the walls themselves had memorized the violence of his voice, and Ivy could not keep herself from trembling even though she stood with her chin raised in defiance. The air between them was electric, charged not only with anger but with that cruel, addictive chemistry that always seemed to pull them together despite every reason she had to hate him. He had torn down her walls in a single night, exposed her secrets to the dangers of his world, and now stood looking at her with a mixture of fury and possession that made her heart beat too fast in her chest.
• She wanted to turn away, to gather the remnants of her dignity and walk out of the room with her pride intact, but his gaze pinned her like an iron shackle. He was not just a man in those moments; he was a force, something raw and uncontainable, and she knew that if she moved, if she dared to step toward the door, he would stop her. That knowledge infuriated her even as it thrilled some darker part of her soul that she didn’t want to admit existed.
• Damien finally broke the silence, his voice low but carrying enough weight to make her feel it in her bones. “You think you can play games with me, Ivy. You think you can test my patience and walk away when it pleases you. But you’re forgetting something—I don’t let people walk away. Not when they belong to me.”