Stella's POV

The noise in the kitchen froze me in place.

My heart slammed into my ribs, and for a second, I couldn't breathe.

Slowly, I turned toward the doorway that connected the kitchen to the living room.

And there he was.

A man in a hood, half-hidden in the shadows, holding something I couldn't immediately identify.

"Who—" I managed to choke out.

I didn't get to finish.

One of the guards Damian always kept nearby rushed in through the front door. In one fast, precise movement