Seraphine

thirty two

Damien

It takes him a couple seconds to make the decision to lift Seraphine into his arms, but once he does, Damien doesn't allow himself the pleasure of enjoying it. 

He cradles her against his chest, more concerned with getting her home--home, she said--than with how her tears are staining his jacket. 

Because they are--she started crying harder as soon as he picked her up, and it took everything in him not to go into that room and slaughter the men who thought it was okay to touch her, look at her, breathe in her direction. 

Seraphine is a work of art worthy of being in a museum dedicated to her and her alone, and Damien is determined to make that fact known by everyone, including the masterpiece herself. 

He stalks towards the back entrance, the one at the end of the VIP hallway, careful not to draw too much attention to himself or the weeping beauty in his arms. His back hits the door and he pushes it open, carrying Seraphine to his car. 

As Damien gets closer to the vehicle, he realizes three things. 

His keys are in his pocket. 

He has to either put Seraphine down or shift her into one arm to get his keys out of his pocket. 

He needs to call his brothers. 

"Seraphine, darling, can I put you dow--" before he can even finish his sentence, Seraphine is shaking her head against his neck. Damien nods and slows as he approaches his car, already starting to shift her to rest on his hip. "Then let me hold you like this for a moment." 

Seraphine maneuvers her body as best she can to fit against Damien's side and pulls her legs away from his pocket so he can grab his keys and his phone. She tightens her arms around his neck when he presses a kiss to her forehead, and lays her head against his shoulder. 

Damien pulls his keys out from his pocket and unlocks the car, bends down and opens the passenger door, and tries to get Seraphine to go in. 

She doesn't move. 

"Darling, I need to get you away from here and to the others. I promise nothing will happen to you on the drive home, okay?" When she shakes her head and clings to him tighter, Damien starts rubbing her back soothingly, searching his mind for a tactic he could use to get her to get in the car. 

His mind goes back to the drive over here, and although he's reminded of burning rubber and flinches, he's reminded of another thing. 

"Seraphine, do you know how cautious I am when driving these monsters? Like you said yourself, I belong in a horse and carriage. I'm much too old to be driving recklessly." He bargains, and breathes a sigh of relief when Seraphine giggles once. 

"Promise?" Damien's heart clenches at her soft voice, and he smiles for the first time in three days. 

"Promise."

After a moment's hesitation, Seraphine nods and starts unhooking her arms from around his neck, starting to lower herself to the ground. She sucks in a breath when she lands on her bare feet, and takes two unsteady steps to the car before ducking her head and climbing into the passenger seat. 

"I'll be right in, darling." Damien gives her a small, reassuring smile and shuts her door gently before rounding the car, already pulling up Luca's contact. 

He slides in and immediately reaches over, placing his hand palm up, fingers spread, on the center console. 

It takes Seraphine less than a second to lower her shaking hand into his and thread their fingers together. Damien almost combusts. 

"I'm going to call the others, okay darling? They need to know what happened." Damien's voice trails off as he finishes his thought, reminded once again of Seraphine running out of the room, bruised, tattered, and utterly shattered.

He squeezes her hand tightly, and she squeezes it back before giving him a single nod. 

"I understand." 

"Good girl. Now, it might be a little loud, so just bear with me, okay?" He starts the car and lets his phone connect to the bluetooth before punching Luca's contact and putting the car in reverse. 

Just as he suspected, Seraphine jumps at the sound of the ringtone, her hand pulling away from his slightly. He squeezes it tighter, and she turns to him with a small, unsteady smile. 

"Hello?" Luca's voice fills the car, and Damien notices Seraphine go rigid. He brushes his thumb over the backs of her knuckles and watches her out of the corner of his eye. 

"Luca..." Damien mulls over his thoughts for a moment, before deciding to just bite the bullet. "I have Seraphine." 

"Excuse me?" Damien pictures Luca standing straight up at this confession and chuckles humorlessly. 

"I found her at my club." 

"And you just took her? You do realize--" 

"I was being raped, prof--Luca." Seraphine finally speaks, shutting the professor up. She looks towards Damien, squeezes his hand, and lifts it to her lips. "Damien saved me, and now he's taking me home."