After Rebirth, I Became My Ex's Aunt-in-Law

”Jade!”

Aria dropped Damien’s arm and took a frantic step forward, her bare feet slapping against the freezing concrete of the parking garage.

She didn’t even get three steps before the sedan’s tires shrieked against the pavement. The car peeled out of the parking bay, the engine gunning as Jade sped toward the exit ramp and disappeared into the night.

Aria stumbled to a halt, the tuxedo jacket slipping slightly off her bare shoulder. She stared at the empty space where the car had just been.

”Did you see that?” Aria asked, her heart suddenly hammering against her ribs.

Damien stepped up close behind her, picking his unlit cigarette out of his mouth. ”It was hard to miss.”

”She was crying,” Aria noted, turning around to look at him, her brow furrowed in deep concern. ”She was full-on sobbing. And that suitcase was massive. She looked like she was fleeing a crime scene.”

Damien let out a tired exhale. He just wanted to take his wife upstairs, put her in his bed, and sleep for ten hours.

”Come on,” Damien replied, placing a warm hand on the small of her back to guide her toward the private elevator. ”You’re freezing.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were upstairs in the penthouse.

Aria had taken a ridiculously fast, three-minute shower. She threw on one of Damien’s softest, darkest t-shirts and marched back out into the master bedroom.

Damien was sitting on the edge of the mattress in a pair of low-slung sweatpants, rubbing a towel through his damp silver hair.

”We need to break into their hotel room,” Aria announced, pacing the length of the carpet.

”No,” Damien deadpanned.

”Damien, please,” Aria pleaded, stopping at the foot of the bed and gesturing wildly with her hands. ”You literally own Sinclair Tower. It’s your hotel. You have a master keycard sitting in a drawer somewhere, don’t you? Or you can just call down to security and have them override the door lock.”

”I am not breaking into a guest’s room,” Damien stated, tossing the towel onto a nearby armchair and sliding under the silk duvet.

”Why not?!” Aria threw her hands up in exasperation.

”Because there are strict hospitality laws, Aria,” Damien sighed, resting his head back against the pillows. ”There are privacy contracts in place for residential suites. I am not catching a corporate lawsuit because you want to play true-crime detective.”

Aria’s jaw literally unhinged.

She stared at the man lying in the bed.

”Hospitality laws?” Aria repeated, her voice pitching up into a baffled squeak. ”Are you kidding me right now? You commit felonies for fun! Suddenly, you care about the terms and conditions of a hotel lease?!”

”I care about going to sleep,” Damien corrected, closing his eyes and patting the empty space beside him. ”Get in bed, Aria.”

Aria let out a frustrated huff, blowing a stray curl out of her face. She knew arguing with him when he was this tired was like arguing with a brick wall.

”Fine,” Aria muttered.

She climbed onto the mattress, keeping her back turned toward him. She pulled the duvet up to her chin and stared fiercely at the dark wall, forming a brilliant plan in her head.

She just had to wait him out.

Damien was a heavy sleeper when he was exhausted. She would just lie here, perfectly still, until his breathing evened out into that deep, rhythmic cycle. The second he was fully out cold, she would slip out of bed, sneak into his home office, dig through his desk for a master keycard, and take the elevator down to floor sixty-five herself.

Aria closed her eyes. She carefully regulated her breathing. Inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale. She kept her body stiff as a board, performing the most dedicated fake-sleeping routine of her entire life.

Ten slow minutes ticked by in the pitch-black bedroom.

Aria listened closely. The room was dead silent.

’Okay,’ Aria thought, her heart doing a quick, nervous flutter. ’He’s out. Time to go.’

She slowly peeled the edge of the duvet off her shoulder. She moved an inch toward the edge of the mattress, holding her breath to keep the bedsprings from making a sound.

”Stop faking your breathing, Aria. You’re going to hyperventilate.”

Aria froze.

Her eyes snapped open in the dark.

”I am sleeping!” Aria lied defensively, her voice a slightly panicked pitch.

”You are plotting,” Damien corrected. He didn’t even open his eyes. ”And you are terrible at faking sleep. Your heart is beating so fast I can hear it from my side of the bed.”

Aria groaned loudly, throwing the duvet off her legs and spinning around to sit cross-legged on the mattress.

”How can you just sleep?!” Aria demanded, glaring down at his relaxed face in the shadows. ”Leo didn’t even show up to the premiere! This is the biggest night of his entire career, and he completely ghosted the red carpet! He isn’t answering any of my text messages, and his sister is fleeing the building in tears with a suitcase the size of a mini-fridge! Something happened!”

”They are siblings,” Damien reasoned calmly, his voice laced with the weight of sleep. ”Siblings fight. Maybe he forgot to pay a bill. Maybe she found out he’s recklessly spending his movie paycheck on stupid things and she decided to move out. It is entirely personal, and it is none of our business.”

”What if they’re in danger?!” Aria countered, leaning forward over him.

Damien looked up at her, an entertained smirk spreading across his lips.

”Danger?” Damien repeated softly, raising an eyebrow. ”Why on earth would they be in danger? You were the one who lectured me about how they are just innocent, sweet civilians. You swore up and down they have nothing to do with the mafia. So, what exactly is threatening them?”

Aria’s mouth popped open.

She stared at him, utterly stumped. She tried to scramble for a comeback, but her brain short-circuited. He had taken her previous defense of Jade and Leo and completely flipped it on its head to shut her down.

”I hate it when you use my own words against me,” Aria huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

”Go to sleep, Aria,” Damien chuckled softly, closing his eyes again.

He didn’t give her a chance to slide back to her side of the bed. He wrapped his arms around her waist. With an effortless tug, he pulled her down, dragging her backward until her back was pressed flush against his chest.

Aria let out a startled squeak as he trapped her in a tight cuddle, his chin resting on the top of her head.

”Damien, let go,” Aria complained, squirming against his hold.

She twisted her hips, trying to create an inch of space between them. But as she moved, something hard pressed into the curve of her lower back through his sweatpants.

Aria froze.

”Damien,” Aria hissed, her cheeks instantly burning a shade of red. ”Are you actually hard right now? How are you horny during a missing persons crisis?!”

”I am a guy,” Damien mumbled unapologetically against her hair, his arm tightening around her. ”And you are a very sexy woman pressing your bare legs against mine. It’s basic biology.”

”Loosen your grip,” Aria demanded, trying to peel his arm off her waist.

”No.”

”I am getting too warm!”

”You’re fine.”

Aria huffed, dropping her head back against the pillow in sheer exasperation. She stared up at the dark ceiling, her mind still frantically spinning with worry about her co-star.

”I just want to check that everything is okay,” Aria argued softly, dropping the aggressive tone and trying to appeal to his softer side. ”Just a quick peek at the security cameras. Five minutes, Damien. Please?”

Total silence answered her.

Aria sighed.

”Fine,” Aria whispered into the dark. ”You leave me with no other choice.”