Billionaire's Hidden Heir

CHAPTER1

“Who do you think you are walking into my office looking like you own it?” Tess Harper’s voice cut through the stillness of the law firm. She focused her sharp eyes on the man who sat on the chair opposite her desk.

Adrian Black.

There he was. Taller, stronger, and more dangerous than she remembered. He had always been intense but this time, his presence was domineering. The remoteness had only streamlined his sharp features. Dark, intelligent, and deep, his gaze bore into her and slowly undid her composure into that of a cornered animal.

“Tess,” he spoke in a relaxed and controlled nature. “We need to talk.”

“I don’t think we do,” Tess shot back, standing straighter. Her heart raced within her but she did not let any shield move her face. She must not show weakness, not now, not before him, not after everything.

Adrian did not etch a single expression. Instead, he moved in, carefully, as a hunter does to a hunted. “It’s business. I need the best lawyer and you are it.”

“There are hundreds of lawyers under your command, Adrian,” Tess said, her voice cold and almost devoid of passion. “Why me?”

His lips quirked up slightly, maybe that was an attempt at a smile. “You are the only one I can give it to.”

A laugh left her mouth before she could manage to catch it. Trust? That word was like sand in her mouth. Her head moved sideways as a refusal of any suggestion- “I do not work for billionaires who think that money can solve any problem.”

Adrian clenched his jaw. He lowered his voice one more time, as if speaking to Tess wouldn’t make headway. “This concerns much more than the money, Tess. It’s about revenge, it’s not business.”

She stopped moving. That dreaded word again, personal. She felt the past coming back to her, trying to overwhelm and drown her. No, not like this. Not today.

Tess folded her arms, attempting to appear collected. “I am pretty sure that there is a way to resolve these problems without involving me. You may try to call someone else.”

Adrian has tilted his head slightly as he examined her dark eyes as if there is something that he needs to figure out. “I would, but it’s a little too late for that.”

She gave a scowl. “What are you talking about now?”

Then placing the folder down on her desk, he made sure that it was done with purpose. “Open it.”

Tess bit her lip and hesitated for a moment but in the end snatched the folder and tugged it open. Her eyes flicked across pages and then went wide in shock which she hated. It was a legal case and probably the worst part of it all was that it was a very large and complex legal case that was very much connected to her employer, the law firm. She could feel the pressure beginning to build inside her.

“Wait. . . is this really my firm’s case?” She asked, still a little shaky.

Adrian nodded once. “I saw it to it.”

With the same force, she slammed the folder and put it on the table again. “You arranged this.”

“Business is strategy, Tess,” he answered, unfazed by the unwillingness to disguise her rising fury over business matters. “And there’s nobody who understands you more than I do. You are the best in your field and I will win this battle, because you are the one who holds the ace.”

Her blood boiled. He wasn’t here because he needed help. He came here to trap her, to make her act. Nothing had really changed. He had no less of those manipulative tendencies, nor was he any humble. And most worst of all – to her heart at least – he still posed a threat.

“Crazy is the word for you, if you think I would play your ballgame,” she practically yelled and turned her back towards him. She needed to pull herself together, to reason properly. But her mind began racing in terms of matters she’d rather forget about than confront.

Adrian stayed rooted to the spot. There was no change in the tone of his voice. ‘I don’t want you to like me, Tess. I want you to win. And that’s what you do.'

She faced him again, her heart thudding. “You can’t just waltz in here after five years and assume that I would abandon my life for you.”

He stepped forward. “I can and I will. Because whether you like it or not, we have incomplete tasks.”

He seemed to be in a different place, in his tone at least. Much darker. More sinister. Tess’s pulse began to race, no doubt about it. He is not just discussing the case material. No, he is speaking about the time… the waves of feelings and the betrayal that was never settled.

But even to him, she made it a point that he will never know how big of an impact he still has on her. “You think that you can be the one who has the command and authority over everyone. But not over me.”

Adrian’s eyes blinked, as if they contained the hint of remorse. It was there and then it was gone, only to be replaced by that rigid steely resolve. “I never aimed to dominate you, Tess. It was always you that I wished to keep.”

The feelings behind those words became a sword, simply hanging in the air so angrily. She could feel her windpipe constricting but there was no way out. Not back. Not now. Not with how things are currently along to be.

She extended her arm towards the exit as she gently shook her head. “You have to go, Adrian.”

He just kept standing there for a long moment looking intensely at her as if he was trying to find something in her eyes. Finally, however, he took the folder and without looking back threw it under his arm. “Just think about it,” he said in a quieter voice than before. “You have time until the end to present this week.”

Tess flushed and swallowed dryly and stood like a statue as he passed her. Every part of her body was wound up like a spring at its breaking point. But as soon as he reached for the door he turned around and staple backward.

“That reminds me,” Adrian added in as his eyelids squinted involuntarily, “who is that little guy in that picture frame sitting on your modest work desk?"

Tess however stood frozen, her blood numbing up to cold levels. She had not for one single moment noted the picture that had been left at her workstation to sit there without being noticed. Her son's picture, Leo. Those enquiring brown eyes, disheveled hair and that same cheeky grin of his. Her head spun. How could she have been this reckless?

It was all relative though, she had primed herself to stay calm, however, it was obvious that the ground was either cracking or changing location little at a time. “I don’t have to tell you that,” she replied, her voice tight.

Adrian’s eyes remained glued to her, unmoved and critical. He’s a little earnest in that he held back his appreciation for a moment but continued studying the woman in front of him. “We shall see about that,” he finally said and turned around to leave the room, a moment later, he muttered.

The moment he left, Tess slumped back to her chair which had her heart almost racing inside out. She tousled her hair in an effort to calm herself. He couldn’t know. He mustn’t know.

The space was especially suffocating and restrictive, as if it were literally drawing nearer. Adrian had certainly returned. He came back, but moreover, he was already asking questions.

But that wasn’t the only reason, and she was well aware of it. It was concerning Leo. Their child. The very thing she’d concealed for five years, as far as she thought she had put it away so that it will never see the light of day.

Tess got out of her seat and began to walk around the room nervously as if her brain was overloaded. What was she going to do? There was no way she could hide Leo for long, and not with Adrian lurking. But she also couldn’t afford to tell him the truth-not now. Not like this.

The phone on the table rattled, drawing her attention away from her previous train of ideas. She turned to the phone thinking it was one of her staff members messaging her, and was taken back that it was an unknown number. It was like a punch to the gut as she read it.

"Let’s cut to the chase. You need to see me tonight. There is more you are unaware of.”

Adrenaline rushed through her body. She gazed blankly at the message, attempting to discern who the sender might be. More she didn’t know? What did that imply? Was there someone out there who was tailing her? Did this relate to Adrian, or was it something else entirely?

Before she could catch her breath, the office door opened again. She flinched, her breath nearly choking her, but this time it wasn’t Adrian. It was Sarah, her assistant and she looked jittery.

“Tess,” Sarah spoke . “There is someone else waiting to see you too. They said it was very bad.”

Tess felt as if she had been tossed from a rotatable doll house, trying to piece together every situation. First it was Adrian, then it was the unknown message, and now yet another guest. What was going on?

She responded slowly as if waiting to burst out any time. “Let them in.”

Sarah dipped her head and walked away, making Tess stay by herself for a brief period. She steadied herself, concentrating to hide all of her feelings. Whoever this was, she had to prepare herself.

The next knock that came was answered by a man as opposed to the receptionist. The guy appeared, standing tall with sharp eyes dressed in an upmarket suit. Tess did not know who the man was, but his expression was linear and distant. There was an element of risk in it.

“Tess Harper,” the man said, his tone unctuous, yet sinister. “This is about your client. And this is about the problem you are shortly going to step into.”

Tess blinked and with it her heart started beating rapidly. “Who the hell are you?”

The man beamed at her, though it was unfriendly. “Let’s put it this way. I am someone who is quite well versed with Adrian Black. If you think that this is just a straightforward endeavor that may not be so. You are dead wrong.”

He moved in closer and spoke in low voice. “Prepare yourself. You are on the verge of being sucked into something bigger than what you think.”

Tess looked at him with her eyes wide open, as she knew many thoughts inside her head were whirling. Just what had she stepped into?

“Listen to my words,” the man said in a quite persuasive tone. “Retaining this case will be the worst decision you have ever made in your entire life.”

The man crossed the room to the window, took out a picture from his jacket and threw it on her desk. Tess’s heart almost stopped when she saw the picture. Leo. Her son.