All Chapters of The Darkest Devotion: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

28 Chapters

Chapter Eleven

GABRIELLAThe corridor outside his office is quiet, too quiet for a Monday afternoon. Most of the other lecturers have already closed their doors, and the hum of student chatter has thinned to a few scattered voices. My flats click against the tiled floor, the soles sounding louder to my ears as I stop in front of his door.He unlocks the door and slips in first. I take a deep inhale before following suit.Professor Daniels.The brass nameplate on his clustered desk gleams under the flickering light, and for a moment I consider walking away. I have never been in an organized, professional learning environment as this one before. I watched several videos and tutorials on how to navigate being a college student, but none of those prepared me for a moment like this. My nerves skitter across my stomach. I wish I could go back in time and prevent the night of my birthday from happening. That night has caused many terrible ripple effects for me, this being one of them.‘You’re being over d

Chapter Twelve

LEONThe bench is cool beneath me, hidden away in a trimmed patch of garden near the school parking lot. The late afternoon sun filters through the leaves over my head, scattering shadows across the cobblestones. Several students wander past, some in groups, some walking alone. They’re all different, individual people, yet so alike in more ways than one. Dripped in expensive clothing, polished shoes, and the latest designer bags swinging at their sides, it’s obvious to anyone with eyes that this is an environment only the wealthy can thrive in. They move with a certain kind of carelessness and reckless abandon that comes from not having a worry in the world. Their only concern is probably what to wear to the next party, and for the academically serious ones, they have the luxury of focusing on that without any outside distractions. That’s a privilege people like me are never afforded to have. I lean back with one arm stretched across the bench and drag my eyes away from the students

Chapter Thirteen

GABRIELLAThe man Leon was just talking to strolls off with his hands in his pockets. I didn’t catch a proper look of his face, but his height and gait are very similar to Leon’s. They’re even dressed alike, both in all-black attire.Who is he?For some reason, it never crossed my mind that Leon has a life outside of being my bodyguard. Well, it’s not my fault I assumed that. The man never smiles. He’s cold and practically unfeeling. He acts like a robot. But seeing this man makes me wonder exactly who Leon is. Outside of being my annoying bodyguard, who is he? I don’t know anything about him other than his first name. Does he have friends? I doubt it. The guy that just left seemed more like an acquaintance than a friend. Does he have a family? I would assume he does. Everyone comes from somewhere, right? Does he have a girlfriend?The question leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Leon doesn’t look like the type of man to tolerate the presence of any woman. Men like him probably don’t ev

Chapter Fourteen

GABRIELLAMy heart does a flip in my chest. Jack freezes. His lips hover close to mine, but his eyes flick past my shoulder to stare at Leon, and I see the way his confident playboy persona shrinks under Leon’s gaze. He doesn’t wait for Leon to repeat himself. One look at Leon’s intimidating, quite terrifying expression is enough.My heart pounds so hard I feel it in my throat. Around us, I see a couple of students stop to see what is happening. Some are pretending not to stare; others are staring blankly. The air tenses, filled with whispers of confusion and a hint of excitement at what is going to happen.Jack takes a step back. His face is red with anger, his jaw flexing repeatedly. For a second, I think he’s about to say something to Leon. I badly want him to. I want someone else to look Leon in the face and tell him off. But Jack doesn’t do that. He seems to weigh his options and maybe realizes that it’s not worth it—I’m not worth it—before his eyes turn to meet mine instead. “I

Chapter Fifteen

GABRIELLAThe glass in my hand suddenly feels too small and fragile from how tight I’m holding it. I become painfully aware of what I’m wearing, just a pair of thin silk shorts and a matching camisole that does absolutely nothing to cover me. My skin prickles under the weight of realization. It’s not like I’ve never worn something like this before, but always in my room, never with him around to see me in it. Never around someone who radiates the kind of still, dangerous energy he does.I can practically feel the heat climb up my neck as he crosses the kitchen in calm and deliberate movements. He doesn’t even look at me. Isn’t it normal to say ‘good morning’ when you see someone for the first time this early in a day? I internally scoff. Of course, a man like Leon has no manners. That shouldn’t shock me.He brushes past, close enough that I catch the faint scent of his soap—clean, sharp, and masculine—and it hits me in full force. I’m tempted to take a deep inhale, to fill my lungs wi

Chapter Sixteen

LEONEverything about her gets under my skin and lingers there, from the hair on her head to the tips of her painted toes. She’s the physical, present embodiment of everything I’ve spent my whole life hating, wrapped in a pretty package. I can’t decide what I hate more: her, for existing, or myself, for letting her little acts of mischief get to me.The past few days have been a distraction I can’t afford. Every second I waste watching her, tolerating her excesses, and holding myself back from acting on my anger is a second lost from the mission. But I can’t lose sight of the game plan. Tomaso still doesn’t trust me, and I know better than to rush it. I haven’t worked that long for him to gain his trust. And trust takes time. Trust makes people let their guard down. It makes them sloppy. And when Tomaso becomes sloppy, I’ll strike.My goal is to serve justice, and that doesn’t come cheap. It demands patience. I replay the reminder in my head every time Gabriella opens her mouth.I c

Chapter Seventeen

GABRIELLAMy heart pounds so hard it almost drowns out the sound of the city outside the taxi. I rattle off the address to the driver, trying to keep my voice steady, but my fingers tremble slightly where they rest on my lap. I’ve memorized the place by heart, Lisa’s instructions from earlier still echoing in my head.When Leon revealed I had physiotherapy at the clinic, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to slip away. I didn’t know how I would do it, but the desire and determination burned in my veins throughout the drive there. I quickly texted Lisa and told her my situation. She revealed they were having a hangout at Nicole’s mom’s restaurant. Apparently, it was the same hangout Jack invited me to. More reasons to go.Lisa gave me various escape options, including pretending to go to the bathroom and taking a second exit and causing a scene at the clinic so I could slip away. Throughout my session with the doctor, I kept thinking about how I would execute that plan. But I d

Chapter Eighteen

LEONTwo Hours EarlierFor a second, I think I’m seeing wrong. That she’s missing. That she actually slipped away from me. But the longer I stand there, the more it sinks in.For a brief moment, I panic. My brain whirls in a million directions. But I force myself to remain calm. To assess my surroundings. To think.Her phone. There’s a tracker in her phone. I never thought I’d have to use the built-in dashboard Tomaso had installed in my work phone, which is connected to the tracker on Gabriella’s phone. When Tomaso told me about it, I thought it was a little overboard. Now, I’ve seen why. The man knows his daughter more than I do.The screen pulls up a map, and the blinking red dot where her phone is located is…close to where I’m standing. She’s not far. Maybe she couldn’t run away and now she’s hiding somewhere. I let that hope linger in my chest as I follow the dot which leads me to the side of the clinic, not too far from the front door. I get closer to the wall and take a few s

Chapter Nineteen

GABRIELLAThe air outside does nothing to cool the heat and embarrassment crawling up my neck.I can feel him behind me as I storm toward the car. As usual, his annoying presence is like a shadow I can't outrun no matter how fast I move. My shoes click against the pavement in sharp, angry bursts. I don't look back. I refuse to, because I know if I do, I’ll lose my temper completely.When I get to the car door, my hand finds the handle, but something makes me hesitate. Maybe it’s my pride. It’s been barely three hours since my escape attempt, and he still managed to find me. Getting into this car feels like I’m just giving up. Like I’m helpless.But Leon immediately appears beside me, leans in close enough that I catch a whiff of his cologne, and lets out a sharp hiss. "Get in."I've heard him use a lot of tones with me. Cold. Flat. Bored. Even mildly irritated. But this? This is different. He’s angry.And I don’t know if I should be pleased or upset at that. "Don't talk to me like t

Chapter Twenty

LEONMy hand won't stop shaking.The tremor is faint, but I feel it all the way up my arm and down the rest of my body.I had her throat in my hand.Two thoughts hit me at once, and they've been circling my head ever since I walked away from her.The first: how easy it would have been to kill her.The second: how impossible it would have been to kill her.Fuck! I couldn't even press hard enough to leave a mark. The thought of choking her, of actually hurting her, felt like trying to breathe underwater. My hand just… refused. My whole body refused. And that terrifies me more than anything else about tonight.I immediately drop to the floor and start doing push-ups. There is an inbuilt gym in the penthouse beside Gabriella’s studio, but I don’t feel like leaving the room right now. If I mistakenly stumble across her, I don’t know how I’ll react. I move to the weights I keep in the corner of my bed, lifting them and going at them until my muscles burn, my lungs ache, and there's nothing

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