CHAPTER TWO
1081 Words
PROTECTION
The boardroom doors closed behind Adrian with a quiet click.
Inside, the executives immediately erupted into hushed arguments, their voices muffled through the thick wood and glass.
Adrian didn’t bother looking back.
He walked down the long corridor toward the elevators, his pace calm and unhurried, as if he had just finished an ordinary meeting instead of threatening an entire board of powerful people.
Lucas followed a few steps behind him.
Silent.
Observant.
The hallway lights reflected off the polished marble floor, creating long shadows that moved with them as they walked.
After several seconds, Lucas spoke.
“You enjoy provoking people.”
Adrian pressed the elevator button.
“Not particularly.”
Lucas raised an eyebrow slightly.
“You just walked into a room full of executives and blackmailed them.”
Adrian shrugged.
“Blackmail is such an ugly word.”
The elevator doors slid open.
They stepped inside.
Lucas pressed the button for the underground garage.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The elevator hummed softly as it descended.
Lucas studied Adrian from the corner of his eye.
Most people who had just confronted that many powerful enemies would show some kind of reaction.
Stress.
Adrenaline.
Fear.
Adrian showed none of it.
His expression was calm.
Almost bored.
Lucas finally broke the silence.
“You knew they’d react like that.”
Adrian leaned casually against the wall.
“Of course.”
“And you knew someone might try to retaliate.”
Adrian tilted his head slightly.
“Possibly.”
Lucas frowned.
“That’s not a game.”
The elevator stopped.
The doors opened into the dim underground parking garage.
Rows of luxury vehicles sat in the low light, their polished surfaces reflecting the faint overhead lamps.
Adrian stepped out first.
Lucas immediately scanned the area.
His eyes moved across the garage automatically.
Entrances.
Blind corners.
Movement.
Nothing obvious.
Still, something about the atmosphere felt… wrong.
Adrian walked toward a sleek black sedan parked near one of the concrete pillars.
“You’re very serious,” he said over his shoulder.
“That’s the job.”
Lucas followed, his steps slower.
More deliberate.
“You deliberately antagonized them.”
Adrian stopped beside the car.
“Sometimes you have to shake the cage to see which animals come out.”
Lucas crossed his arms.
“And if one of those animals kills you?”
Adrian turned and looked at him.
“That’s where you come in.”
Lucas didn’t smile.
He stepped slightly ahead of Adrian, his attention drifting toward the far end of the garage.
A flicker of movement.
Barely noticeable.
Lucas froze.
His instincts sharpened instantly.
“Wait.”
Adrian frowned slightly.
“What?”
Lucas’s eyes locked onto a shadow between two parked cars.
His voice dropped.
“Get in the car.”
Adrian glanced toward the darkness.
“You’re being dramatic.”
Lucas stepped in front of him.
“Now.”
The word had barely left his mouth when a loud c***k echoed through the garage.
Glass exploded.
The bullet slammed into the concrete pillar behind Adrian’s shoulder.
Lucas reacted instantly.
He grabbed Adrian’s coat and shoved him behind the car.
“Stay down!”
Another shot rang out.
Metal sparked as the bullet struck the hood of the sedan.
Lucas pulled a handgun from inside his jacket in one smooth motion.
His eyes scanned the darkness.
There.
Movement.
A figure running toward the exit ramp.
Lucas raised the weapon.
But the shooter disappeared behind a pillar and then into the darkness beyond the garage entrance.
Silence returned.
Only the distant sound of rain echoed faintly from outside.
Lucas kept the gun raised for several seconds before lowering it slightly.
The attacker was gone.
Behind the car, Adrian slowly stood up.
He brushed a bit of dust from his sleeve.
“Well,” he said calmly.
“That was fast.”
Lucas turned toward him in disbelief.
“You almost got killed.”
Adrian shrugged.
“That happens when people feel threatened.”
Lucas stared at him.
“You’re not even surprised.”
Adrian opened the car door.
“No.”
Lucas stepped closer.
“You expected this.”
Adrian paused before getting inside.
For a brief moment, his expression shifted.
Not fear.
Not panic.
Something colder.
More calculating.
Then it disappeared.
“Let’s just say,” Adrian said lightly, “I suspected someone might react poorly.”
Lucas studied him carefully.
“Your brother?”
Adrian slid into the driver’s seat.
“Maybe.”
Lucas walked around to the passenger side but didn’t get in immediately.
Instead, he leaned slightly toward the open window.
“You’re not telling me everything.”
Adrian looked up at him.
“Would that surprise you?”
Lucas held his gaze.
For the first time, he saw something behind Adrian’s calm demeanor.
Years of resentment.
Years of anger carefully buried beneath charm and confidence.
Men like that were dangerous.
Not always because they wanted to be.
But because the world had made them that way.
Lucas finally got into the car.
The engine started with a quiet hum.
As they pulled out of the garage, rain began falling harder outside.
The city lights reflected off the wet streets.
Lucas kept watching the mirrors.
“You made yourself a target tonight.”
Adrian drove smoothly through the streets.
“I’ve been a target my whole life.”
“That’s not the same.”
Adrian glanced at him briefly.
“No,” he admitted.
“It’s not.”
The car stopped at a red light.
Lucas turned toward him.
“Why me?”
Adrian frowned slightly.
“Why what?”
“Why hire me.”
Adrian tapped his fingers lightly on the steering wheel.
“Your reputation.”
“That’s not the real reason.”
Adrian looked at him again.
Lucas didn’t look away.
“You knew someone would try to kill you,” Lucas said.
Adrian didn’t answer.
The silence between them stretched for several seconds.
Then the light turned green.
The car moved again.
Lucas leaned back in his seat.
He wasn’t sure yet what Adrian Vale really was.
A victim.
A manipulator.
Or something far more complicated.
But one thing was certain.
Adrian wasn’t just reacting to danger.
He might actually be creating it.
Lucas wasn’t ready to judge him yet.
But he would be watching closely.
Because protecting Adrian Vale might be the most dangerous job he had ever taken.
And something told him this was only the beginning.
- Writer
