ADELINE'S POV
"You know I always knew you would change your mind." Adrian says as he drives us to my place.
"Oh yeah? How?" I ask turning my gaze towards him with as much difficulty as it would take me to lift a boulder. His eyes are fixed on the road but he uses a second to glance at my exposed thighs on the passenger's seat. He gulps lustfully and licks his lips and honestly, I don't know how much longer I can stand him before I throw up.
"You're an amazing woman Adeline. A woman of your caliber deserves a man who compliments you. A man who is compatible with you. Dante was anything but. He was nothing." Adrian says confidently.
"Or maybe I'm here because you threatened to ruin my parents. Or maybe it's how you've had your body guard follow me around like you had some kind of target on my head." I say, addressing the elephant in the room immediately. Adrian laughs and shakes his head as if what I said was so funny to him.
"I didn't know I was a clown." I say with irritation.
"I'm harmless Adeline." Adrian says. "The only reason I came to your office was because I honestly just wanted to see you. I admit I got carried away because I was so hurt by your rejection. It was impulsive and wrong of me to threaten you but I hope you know I would never do anything to ruin the launching of your parents' company."
"Because you have something to gain from it when it finally launches." I state.
"Because what kind of business man would I be if I reacted like that just because a woman rejected me." He says, and he talks a good game but we both know it's bullshit. The only reason he's acting all noble and moral is because he finally has what he wants. He's the kind of person who can throw a tantrum until they get what they're after.
Now that he has me, the storm he was brewing has calmed. That little trait of his makes him dangerous. He's a liar and a manipulator.
"And what excuse do you have for having your guard follow me?" I question.
"I didn't trust your little boyfriend." He says with a dark look in his eyes which tells me there's more and there's something isn't telling me.
"You know people like Dante. The only thing they can do is ruin amazing ladies like yourself. I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I will always keep you safe." He says with a smile.
"You don't even know anything about Dante." I say.
"But we were all right, weren't we? He used you and then dumped you. That is something I will never do. You're such a beautiful little thing and any man would be spending all their money if it meant they had you for themselves. You should be treated like a queen and that's what I'm here for." I can't even believe how easy it is for him to switch from being a psychotic maniac to this sweet man in front of me. Unfortunately, his words mean nothing to me because this is all a lie, only he doesn't know it.
"I hope you know I'm not doing this for your money. I have a job that pays me extremely well and I've never needed a man to provide for me. I'm doing this because my parents made a deal with you and I realized my mistake. But who knows, maybe I can actually grow to like you with time. I feel like there's more than what meets the eye with you Mr. Wellington." Is ay with the most seductive yet sweetest voice I can muster up.
He gulps and shifts in his seat, keeping his eyes on the road as they darken with lust and something even more evil. Something that looks like ownership. I have no doubt that Adrian is going to treat me like a princess. He's rich and he has money to spend, but he's also the kind of man who views woman as trophies.
As a flashy possession that he can show off to his other rich friends. In no time, he's going to start treating me like he owns me, which is why I need to have the upper hand as soon as possible. I need to make this man get so obsessed with me that he will want to serve me and not the other way around.
That is how I get him to sign the contract without him wanting to read it. I need to win his trust. After a few more minutes of driving, we finally reach my place.
"You know you've never really properly invited me to your place." Adrian says once I reach my doorstep. I walk closer to him and place both my palms on his chest. I stand on my tiptoes and place a kiss on his cheek. His hands instinctively settle on my waist and now we're so close to each other that my heart beats in fear of that he might kiss me.
"I promise I'll invite you over at the right moment. But right now, I'm exhausted. I'm just going to take a bath and crash once I'm in. Plus, it's still very messy because I just moved back in from…"
"From Dante's." He finishes my sentence for me. I keep my head down as I pout with a sad face.
"I'm sorry. I know you don't want me talking about my ex." I say looking up at him with baby doe eyes.
"It's okay Adeline. I suppose it will take time, but I am happy that you're willing to give us a chance after suffering a heartbreak with Dante. I'll treat you like the queen you are. Something no other man will ever be able to do." He says, placing his hands on my chin, then he lets me go and takes a step back.
"I'll see you soon Adeline." I nod as smile at him as he walks back to his car. Once he's gone, my shoulders fall and I let out a huge sigh of relief. The mask I've been wearing all day has really been tiring. Now that I'm all alone again, I can finally be myself.
As soon as I step into my house, strong and familiar arms wrap around me, lifting me up from the ground making me laugh merrily.
"If he touches you again, I'll cut his arms off." Dante says as he puts me down. He grabs a flower from a small table next to us and my eyes light up as I take the stalk from him.
"A chrysanthemum. My favorite." I say as I pull the oink petals to my nostrils. It makes me remember the day someone left a white chrysanthemum on my doorstep and I thought it was my ex, Dain. I still think it was him even though he basically denied it, but it can't have been anyone else.
"How was dinner?" Dante asks and I groan as I fall to my back on my couch.
"It was just effortlessly awful Dante. My parents kept bringing you up and Adrian kept bragging about his wealth and connections. Liam and I were basically glancing at each other the whole time from the awkwardness in the room." I respond keeping my eyes shut. I'm actually so tired I think I might just pass out in my dress.
"And how was Adrian?" Dante asks with a deep and dark voice.
"He said he was having me followed because he wanted to keep me safe from you. He's a liar. There's something off about him. I just don't know what yet but the curiosity in me just wants to snoop. He makes himself seem like such a perfect and moral person but I feel like he has skeletons in his closet. I want to up our plan jus a notch. Maybe I can snoop and find something about him. Something bad."
I turn my gaze to Dante and he's standing extremely still, as if I just gave him the worst news in the world. The look in his eyes is not even anger or hatred. It's fear, as if he were scared that something might happen to me.
"What's wrong?" I ask, my face morphing to a frown.
"Let's just stick to the plan Adeline. Snooping in his business might be dangerous. The plan is to get him to sign that contract. What you're thinking about might distract you. What if he catches you snooping around in his things?"
"He won't catch me and I'll be careful. Besides, this will be like killing two birds with one stone. I'll get him to sign the contract and if my hunch is right about him, I'll find out something bad. If I'm wrong then he still signs the contract and it's a win win. I can do this." I say but Dante places his hands on my shoulders and looks me straight in the eye, not a single emotion on his face.
"Please baby. I don't want anything to happen to you and I have a bad feeling about Adrian too but we have no idea what he might do to you if you get caught. Promise me you won't do this."
I stay quiet for a few seconds, contemplating Dante's reaction and contemplating if I'm going to listen to him or not.
"Promise me Adeline." He repeats making me nod my head instinctively.
"I promise." I lie. I guess I've officially turned into a pathological liar. I never though I would lie to Dante but I've always followed my instincts and my intuition has never been wrong. I've had a bad feeling about Adrian Wellington from the day I met him and I even became more suspicious when he came into my office and threatened me.
I don't know what I'm hoping to find but I won't rest until I feed my curiosity. I have to know. I'm sorry and I feel bad for lying to Dante too but I just have to do this.
Dante nods and pulls me towards him for a tight embrace. I bury myself in hold and close my eyes as he lifts me off the floor, effortlessly carrying me upstairs with him.