Chapter Three
1053 Words
Elena's Pov
The knock at my apartment door was sharp enough to wake the dead.
I groaned, rolling off the couch, my laptop still glowing on the coffee table. Court files, invoices, and a half-finished brief were scattered across the cushions. My head throbbed from staring at them too long.
“Coming,” I muttered, shoving papers aside.
The moment I opened the door, my younger brother Leo stumbled in, grinning like a fool with that boyish charm he used whenever he was in trouble, which meant always.
“Elena, mi reina,” he said dramatically, dropping a kiss on my forehead before collapsing into the armchair. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
“And you’re a sight for bail papers,” I shot back, folding my arms. “What happened this time?”
He winced. “Technically nothing… illegal. Just some money that needs returning. Soon. Like… tomorrow.”
My chest tightened. I didn’t even want to know the amount. “Leo……”
“I swear I’ll fix it,” he interrupted quickly. “But I need help. Just a little, until the fight next week. After that, I’m golden. I’ll pay you back.”
I sank onto the couch, pinching the bridge of my nose. This was our cycle. He got into trouble, I pulled him out, and then he promised it wouldn’t happen again. It always happened again.
I loved him. God, I loved him. But he was reckless, a hurricane in human form, and sometimes I wondered if I’d spend the rest of my life cleaning up after him.
“How much?” I asked finally.
He shifted, avoiding my eyes. “Ten.”
“Ten what?”
He winced. “Thousand.”
I nearly laughed. Nearly. “Leo, I don’t have ten thousand lying around.”
“You’re a lawyer,” he argued, as if that meant I had gold pouring out of my kitchen sink.
“I’m a lawyer who just started her own firm,” I snapped. “Do you see this apartment? Does it scream ten thousand dollars to you?”
Silence. He had the grace to look ashamed.
I softened a little, reaching for his hand. “I’ll figure something out, okay? But you have to stop doing this to me.”
He nodded, eyes wide with sincerity that I knew would evaporate in a week.
When he finally left, I collapsed back against the cushions, exhaustion crushing me. My phone buzzed on the table. An unknown number.
I almost ignored it. Almost.
“Elena Marquez,” I answered, trying not to sound as drained as I felt.
“Miss Marquez,” came the cool, deliberate voice I would recognize anywhere. “It’s Adrian Kael.”
I sat up so fast my laptop slid off the couch. “How the hell did you get this number?”
“Does it matter?” he replied smoothly.
“Yes, it matters,” I snapped. “You don’t get to just…..”
“I need to see you,” he cut in, his tone brooking no argument. “Tomorrow. Eight o’clock. Leontine’s.”
I actually laughed, sharp and disbelieving. “Leontine’s? That’s a Michelin-star restaurant, not a meeting place.”
“It’s private,” he said simply. “Be there.”
And before I could curse him out properly, the line went dead.
*****************
The next evening, I stood outside Leontine’s in a dress I’d worn to my cousin’s wedding two years ago, trying to convince myself not to bolt.
Why was I here? Why had I let his command get under my skin?
Because he was Adrian Kael. Because despite my fury, I couldn’t ignore him. Because something in his tone had told me this wasn’t about business alone.
The hostess led me to a secluded table in the back, where Adrian sat in a tailored suit, every inch the cold empire-builder he was.
“Elena,” he said, rising as I approached. He didn’t smile. Of course he didn’t. He was carved from marble, and marble didn’t smile.
“Kael,” I replied, sliding into the chair across from him. “This had better be good. I have real clients waiting.”
“Then I’ll be direct,” he said, settling back. “The board is pressing me to marry.”
I blinked. “Congratulations?”
His gaze sharpened. “They think you’re the solution.”
For a moment, I thought I’d misheard him. Then I laughed, loud enough that the waiter glanced over nervously.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I don’t joke,” Adrian said evenly.
“You….marry me?” I repeated, incredulous. “Have you lost your damn mind?”
“It wouldn’t be real,” he clarified, as if that made it better. “A contract marriage. Stability for the company, credibility for your firm.”
I stared at him, my blood boiling. “You’re insane. Absolutely insane.”
He didn’t flinch. “I’m offering you more than stability, Miss Marquez. I’m offering you power. Exposure. The resources to make your firm untouchable.”
The words cut deeper than I wanted them to. Untouchable. That was what I wanted, wasn’t it? A firm no one could tear apart, a future where I didn’t have to scrape and beg for clients while bailing Leo out of his disasters.
But at what price?
“You think I’d tie myself to you, of all people?” I hissed.
His eyes glinted, cool and unyielding. “I think you’re smart enough to recognize an opportunity when you see one. You need me, Elena. Whether you admit it or not.”
My throat tightened. Damn him. Damn him for seeing too much.
“Why me?” I demanded. “You could buy anyone, convince anyone. Why me?”
For the first time, something flickered in his expression. Not softness, never that, but something almost like calculation tinged with… respect?
“Because you don’t bend,” he said quietly. “And that’s exactly what they believe will make this real.”
Silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating.
Then he reached into his briefcase and slid a folder across the table.
A contract.
“Read it,” Adrian said calmly. “And then decide if you’re ready to make a deal with me.”
- Writer
