Boundaries

***A/N: Everything in Italics is a FLASHBACK...it's not all the same scene being flashed back but I think it's pretty easy to follow. If there are any trying to follow sequences let me know and I'll try to fix them! ENJOY!!


Chapter Three

Of course Damian knew! He seemed to be all knowing. He was probably having her tailed. She would not put anything past him. During the times the two of them were together in the afternoons, she had sometimes heard him doing business and ruthless way he would talk. Damian’s business was all about scooping up other corporations, breaking them down and profiting off whatever possible only to re-invest it and do it all over again.

That was how Damian had found Kaila. Her fledgling art gallery at the time was a branch of a restoration business. When Damian came along he dismantled the entire thing in less than two weeks. All of the other business partners that formed the other branches were given their walking papers. All except for her, Kaila, who instead got a dinner meeting with the head honcho.


She could remember that night so clearly. She was a wreck and he was impeccably dressed.

Kaila entered the dimly lit restaurant. It never registered with her to wonder why they were meeting in such a place for a business meeting. There was nothing business-like about the atmosphere at all but this did not occur to her. She was too busy trying to calm herself enough so that her voice would not stutter and her hands would not shake. Her livelihood depended on this meeting with Damian Michaels to go well. Kaila did not want to go back to having her passion for art be a hobby; she needed it to be her life.

‘Ms. Turner, do you plan on eating standing up or would like to join me?’ a cool husky voice questioned.

Kaila’s cheeks flushed, she had not even realized when the waiter had led her to the table. She was so wrapped up in her worries. ‘Of course Mr. Michaels, I’ll join you. Thank you again for requesting this meeting. I truly believe that we can work together to ensure that Turner’s Gallery stays open.’ she stated with as much confidence as she could muster up. He looked a bit menacing because of the flicker candlelight everywhere. All of his features were suddenly more angular and his almost black made her voice choke in throat. Was she in trouble? Probably.

Damian simply surveyed her before replying, ‘Ms. Turner, Kaila, as you know, I don’t have a need for an art gallery. I am, however, aware of your financial situation and that is what led me to invite you here tonight.’ His voice was deep and straight forward and it made Kaila’s skin tingle in the weirdest way.

On top of that, Kaila was confused. If he did not care about the art gallery that what was he here for and what exactly did he know about her financial situation? ‘I’m sorry Mr. Michael’s; I don’t understand where you’re going with this.’

‘Please, call me Damian. How about we order dinner before we get into all of the details?’

Kaila took a deep breath. The details were something Damian never discussed. He only told her what she wanted to hear and she would have listened to anything he had to say because he had what she wanted. Any other detail was just a move in his game and no one ever knew what his motives were. Just thinking about Damian caused her body to do magically wicked things. Things, which would not have happened if there was no Damian in her life.

“Mr. Michaels, I mean, Damian, I don’t understand what any of these questions have to do with whether or not I’ll be able to keep my business.” Kaila asked with exasperation.

“Kaila, for me, business is personal. It always is. For me to invest in your business, I need to know the kind of people that are going to be involved. Everything about your life will become my business. If that’s something you can’t handle, then you can leave right now.” Damian stated, looked at her dead in the eyes. He looked so confident that she would cower away from him.

Kaila knew she was being threatened. She felt it. Biting her lower lip, she knew she did not have anything to hide and even though by nature, she was a private person, she would withstand Damian intrusiveness. “I’ve got nothing to hide Mr. Michaels. You can look where ever you want but the only thing you’ll find is my determination to get my gallery up and running” she responded.

“That’s exactly what I’m banking on Kaila.” He stated with a self-assured tone.


He invaded every part of her life after that meeting. There was nothing she could do business or personal-wise that he did not know about. Damian would never tell her directly that he knew things she thought were private and the longer their business arrangement lasted, the more invasive he got. It was driving her insane until one day when it just got too much to bear.


“What are you doing here?” Damian looked at a dishevelled Kaila with amusement.

“Me? Oh, I just wanted to come over! You know, watch tv, order a pizza and eat it on your couch. Or, I was also thinking about going on a little scavenger hunt around this dungeon for files, secret vaults...maybe a trap door or secret passageway somewhere. What do you think? Huh? Where should I get started?” Kaila asked, ragingly while she moved around the house picking things up, inspecting them and then putting them down again.

“Are you drunk? Is that it?” Damian could help but crack a smile. It was driving Kaila absolutely out of her mind, even more so, to see him try to hold back laughter!

“Oh no, I hate alcohol but I’m sure you know that already...This is me, imitating YOU! You’re like this slithering worm that just makes its way into every little hole in the ground and THEN, when you get caught you stand there looking so smug. Like right now, for instance. I can’t get away from you! Why is it that you need to be involved in EVERY single aspect of MY life?” Kaila yelled. Her fury was getting the best of her but she did not care anymore. It was like a releasing of pressure that she had felt since the day she heard the name Damian Michaels.

“I told you from the beginning Kaila. What you do IS my business. I pay for your gallery. I own you, where you live, what you eat, who your friends are; those are all things that are dictated by ME. I am your livelihood, understand me? You don’t want that? Fine by me! Get out of MY studio apartment; give me back the keys to my gallery as well as my car!” Damian growled, backing Kaila into a corner, both literally and metaphorically.

Kaila felt trapped! Her height only reached to his shoulders, which were broad and excellent for boxing her in. She slammed her fists onto his chest, “What the HELL do you mean YOUR apartment and YOUR car? Those are MINE. I paid for them with the money I EARNED!”. Her whole body was flushed and shaking.

Damian suddenly gripped her chin with a callused hand and huskily growled, “I own the apartment complex YOU live in. It is MY employee that maintains the dealership you bought that car at! You, and everything about you is MINE.”

With that said, he slammed is lips on to hers. The two of them were furious and on fire. Kaila did not know to respond. Her fingers kept trying to pry his fingers off her face but to no avail. Damian’s hard body was tightly pressed up against hers and she could feel every ridge imprint it self onto her softness. His breath was hot and wet. His tongue did not want to tempt her but instead, wanted to dominate her.

She felt his other hand grab the hem of her flowing skirt and yank it higher until it reached the edge of her hips. His mouth moved off hers and made its way to her neck where he bit down into her soft flesh and made her moan.

“Stop it! Get your hands off of me! Right NOW!” she yelled but for some reason her hands remained on his shoulders, with her nails scouring his skin. Things were escalating so fast, she thought.

Kaila’s body was responding. Her thoughts were muddled between wanting hit him and trying to feel his body as close as possible against hers. Silently, she wondered how she got to this point. Did she want this?

These are the two questions she asks herself even now. Nothing has changed.


A/N: Thank you soooooo much for the reviews! I appreciate them more than you know! So if you've got something good or bad to say, I'll accept it...as long as it is constructive criticism! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'll have two more chapters next week!