Faking it with Damian Black by Louise Jane

Chapter 30

-MILLIE-

I was awake the entire tthey stitched the wound on my left side. I was lucky

my attacker only sliced my skin and didn’t stabwith his knife; that’s what

the doctor said. I knew better, and my attacker gotwhere he wantedto

be.

I was in the Emergency room, and Damian hadn’t left my side. He stood guard

beside my bed, looking lethal, eyeballing every nurse and doctor who

approached me.

None of the guests at the party knew we were in the hospital. I begged Damian

not to make a fuss about this. I didn’t want Mom and Nancy to worry. He called

Nancy on the drive here, making up a story that he’d be takingout on a date

to fix our issue. Nancy seemed to buy his story, and now here we are.

“I’m here for the stabbing.” I stiffened in my bed, recognizing that voice.

Of all the police officers in Roslin City, why would they assign Hunter in my case?

He was in the drug control unit.

“Bed four,” the nurse answered. Seconds later, the curtain to my bed was pushed

to the side, the metal rings ground against

the bars.

Hunter locked eyes with me. He doesn’t look surprised to seelying on a

hospital bed. Then again, the guy deals with criminals for a living, trained to

hide his emotions.

“Millicent,” my nrolled off his tongue, throwing a dark look at Damian, who

inched closer to me. Damian’s hands were clenched into a fist, and the veins in

his arms looked like they were seconds from bursting. “Well, this is interesting.”

Hunter moved with deliberate slowness and pulled out a pad and pen from his

pocket. He wore dark jeans and a fitted gray tee. his badge and gun hanging

from his belt.

“My nis Detective Hunter Lean,” his tone was business-like. For the record,

can you state your name?”

“Mil…” I swallowed. My mouth was as dry as a desert. “Millicent Alejandro.”

He gavea once over, l*ps curling on the end to a sneer. He peeked over the

curtains and asked a nurse for a bottle of water. Damian helpedsit up. I took

a small sip, feeling the tension growing between Damian and Hunter.

“Where were you injured?” Hunter started again.

I pointed at my side and my n*eck. My n*eck needed one stitch, but my side

needed four.

Hunter leaned. Damian moved to a defensive stance, ready to jump at Hunter.

The latter’s eyes shone with amusement as he dropped his gaze back to me,

taking a closer look at my stitched wounds.

He scrawled something on his pad. “Can you tellwhat happened?”

1 hesitated. Hunter frowned, and Damian reached for my hand, running his

thumb over my knuckles. Since Saturday, this was the first tDamian touched

me. His touch was surprisingly soothing. I leaned on him for strength.

“Don’t force yourself if you don’t want to talk about it,” Damian mumbled. His

gentle tone spiraled down my spine. Even if I practically pushed him away for

reasons unknown to him, he was still here, offeringcomfort without

judgment.

I nodded and squeezed Damian’s hand. He tightened his hold onas I turned

to Hunter. 1 backpedaled at the murderous. glare he was panning on Damian. He

masked it quickly when he sawfrowning at him.

“I barely finished my business in the cubicle when the door was forced open.

This guy catlike a blur. He grabbed me, wrapped his arms around my

n*eck, and pushedagainst the wall. That’s…” I swallowed. “That’s when I felt

a slight sting on my side.”

“Did you fight him?” Hunter cutoff.

09 26 Sat, Feb 10 M

Chapter 30

I shook my head. “He was top strong. I struggled, but then he pressed

something into my n*eck.”

“Did he say what he wanted from you?”

I glanced up at Damian. He smiled atreassuringly, squeezing my hand. “No..

no, he didn’t say anything at all.”

Hunter frowned, writing on his pad. “Did you get a good look at him?”

I shook my head again. “He had gloves and a mask. And the only tI saw him

was when he grabbedand when…. when Damian fought him.”

Hunter stabbed Damian with narrowed, probing eyes. “Can you tellyour

name?”

“Damian Black. The boyfriend,” Damian added. Hunter’s gaze could melt steel.

“And what were you doing in the ladies’ room?”

Damian told Hunter why he started to look forand how he found me. His

voice was filled with power, dominance, and an underlying annoyance.

“Aren’t you lucky your boyfriend was there like he knew what was about to

happen?” Hunter commented

“Excuse me?” I frowned. What was he trying to insinuate?

Hunter shrugged. “I’ve been to the Black Hotel. There are restrooms inside every

function hall. boyfriend knew which restroom you would use and what tto

clooking for you?”

all. Isn’t it

convenient that your

i

“I don’t appreciate your tone, Detective Lean.” Damian remained calm, though

his dominating aura rolled off him like billowing smoke.

“It’s my job to look at all the angles of this case and not to please you, Mr. Black

Damian didn’t back down. He released my hand and glared at Hunter through

the tip of his nose. “If you’re done here, my girlfriend would really appreciate it

if you leave and start doing your f**king job of finding who assaulted her.”

Amusement, with a pinch of annoyance, crossed Hunter’s face. “No.”

Damian took another step. I reached for his hand, shaking my head when he

looked down at me.

“No, I wasn’t done yet.” Hunter clarified. “For the record, do you have any

enemies?”

I drew in a huge breath. The testosterone level was suffocating. “Not that I know

of. I’ve been living in New York for a whil and recently decided to cback to

Roslin City for good.”

I’m giving too much information, but I had to take Hunter’s attention from

pissing off Damian. And I succeeded. “You’re moving here?”

Feigning bored, I nodded. “Yeah. I found my y reason to cback.”

I smiled up at Damian. He easily caught up with my play, k*ssing my forehead.

Hunter’s detective facade waned, pinningwith dead confusion. The look he

gavewas unnerving.

“Are there more questions you’d like to ask my girlfriend, Detective?”

Hunter’s molar ground, his jaw fiuttered. “I’ll be in touch.”

His parting words felt more like a threat than a promise to find my assailant.