Their Hidden Treasure

Chapter 28

I looked at him and gulped.

“You are an idiot,” I said.

He looked up at me with an angry expression on his face.

“You were trying to protect her from yourself, and there is nothing to protect her from,” I continued. “You would never hurt her.”

He tightened his jaw.

“I did hurt her,” he said angrily. “She almost fucking died, Elijah. What the fuck are you talking about?!”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“You hurt her because you didn’t let her in,” I told him. “You hurt her because you kept trying to push her away for the wrong reasons.”

I took a deep breath and gulped.

“You should stop trying to push people away,” I mumbled quietly. “There are some that really want to stay.”

Damien gulped and I looked at his lips. My hands suddenly got very sweaty. My stomach flipped and an intense wave of nervousness washed over me.

I looked away quickly.

“Not many wanted to stay,” Damien mumbled quietly, making me look back at him.

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“She will want to stay,” I said quietly. “She is your sister. She is your family. She will stay, Damien. You just have to let her.”

He gulped again and this time his eyes fell on my lips. I felt the sudden urge to lick them.

I could feel the tension between us growing and it was making my heart race. I clenched my fists and tightened my jaw.

Damien looked back up at me.

“Would she stay if she wasn’t my sister?” he asked. “Would she stay after everything that I’ve done?”

Why did I have a feeling that he wasn’t asking about her?

Why did I have a feeling that he was asking about…

“She would,” I answered before I let myself finish that thought. “She would stay. You are worth staying for.”

His eyes widened a little.

I couldn't believe that I was saying those words to the man who was my enemy until a few days ago. I hated him until a few days ago.

But I meant every word that I said. He was worth staying for.

A shiver went down my spine when I saw him bite his lower lip. My hands started shaking and I knew that I had to get the fuck out of there.

“Alex will come around,” I said the first thing that came to mind. “He can be a jerk sometimes, but he is a very good man. He won’t keep her away from you.”

Damien gulped and looked down at his lap. He furrowed his eyebrows and clenched his fists.

“I love her,” he mumbled. “I love her with my entire heart. I just…”

I instinctively reached out and took his hand in mine. His hand was shaking and it was ice cold. He squeezed my hand tightly and closed his eyes.

“I know, Damien,” I said quietly. “I know that you love her. You just need to learn how to show it to her.”

He looked up at me and nodded. His eyes were filled with unshed tears and it was making my heart hurt.

I gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand.

“I never thought I would be comforted by you,” he mumbled. “I never thought I would want…”

He stopped talking and tightened his jaw.

My stomach did a weird flip.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” I mumbled, keeping my eyes on his. “She brought us all together. We were enemies until a few days ago and now we are…”

I stopped talking because I didn’t know how to finish that sentence.

Damien gulped again. He was about to say something when the door to his room opened abruptly.

We stopped holding hands immediately.

I looked behind me and saw a very pissed-off Lucas.

“Well, this is my cue to leave,” I said as I stood up. “I don’t want to be on the receiving end of that.”

I pointed at Lucas, making him roll his eyes at me.

“Alex needs you, Elijah,” Lucas said, keeping his eyes on Damien. “And I need to talk to my brother.”

I nodded and started walking out of the room. I looked at Damien again before I closed the door. He was staring at me and my entire body shivered.

I closed the door and started walking downstairs. I had to get him out of my head. I had to focus on something or someone else.