Chapter 5
1134 Words
The doorknob twisted slowly, scraping against the metal like a warning.
Camille’s breath hitched. Panic flashed across her face so clearly that Adrien stepped in front of her without thinking, shielding her with his entire body.
“Who are you expecting?” he whispered sharply.
“No one,” she breathed.
But her eyes didn’t match her words.
Something tightened inside Adrien.
Someone had scared her. Someone she didn’t want to see. Someone who made her collapse into panic the moment they knocked.
His fists curled.
The door pushed open a few inches before a worn-out sneaker appeared in the gap. A rough voice slipped through.
“Camille. I know you’re in there. Open up.”
Adrien’s eyes darkened instantly.
Camille grabbed his sleeve, shaking her head desperately. “Don’t. Please, don’t do anything.”
“Who is that?” Adrien asked under his breath.
She didn’t answer.
Her silence was enough.
The man on the other side jiggled the handle again.
“Camille! We’re not done talking.”
Adrien’s jaw clenched so hard his teeth ached.
The bar manager.
The one who cornered her.
The one she ran from.
The reason she ended up in his penthouse.
Adrien stepped forward, ready to rip the door open but Camille pulled him back with both hands.
“Please,” she whispered. “If he sees you, it’ll get worse. Please just… stay still.”
Stay still?
Stay still while a threat stood five feet away?
“Camille,” Adrien said, voice low, “I’m not letting that man near you.”
“You don’t understand,” she whispered. Her hands shook against his shirt. “He knows where I work. He knows where I live. And if he finds out I’m not alone he’ll…”
She cut herself off, fear choking the rest.
Adrien’s face shifted, something cold and lethal hardening in his eyes.
The bar manager banged his fist against the door.
“Open up, Camille! This is the last time I’m asking nicely.”
Adrien’s voice dropped into a tone she’d never heard before.
A controlled storm.
“I’m opening the door.”
“No!” Camille stepped in front of him, blocking the handle with her body. “You don’t know him. He’ll make trouble.”
“For you?” Adrien asked.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“And for me?” he added.
She blinked. “You? He might call the police or…”
Adrien almost smiled, dark and humorless.
“No one makes trouble for me.”
Her breath trembled. “Please. Don’t.”
He took in her pale face, her trembling body, the sheer fear in her eyes.
And he softened just enough to stop.
“Fine,” he murmured. “But step behind me.”
“No.”
He raised a brow.
“No?”
“If he hears a man’s voice, he’ll break the door. And then he’ll drag me back to the bar. And they’ll fire me. And I won’t survive that right now.”
Adrien stared at her, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
She wasn’t wrong.
But the idea of letting that man yell at her from the hallway made his blood boil.
The banging stopped abruptly.
A few seconds of thick, eerie silence.
Then—
The bar manager spoke again. His voice was lower.
More dangerous.
“I’ll be back in the morning. And you better open.”
Camille’s entire body stiffened.
“What time you start?” he added. “Six? Don’t be late.”
The slow scrape of footsteps faded down the hall.
Adrien waited, unmoving, until the sound disappeared completely.
Only then did Camille collapse back onto the sofa, burying her face in her hands.
Adrien turned toward her slowly.
“What does he want from you?”
She didn’t answer.
“Camille.”
Her voice was a whisper. “He wants control. I refused something he asked me to do. And he didn’t like that.”
“What did he ask you to do?”
Her silence told him everything.
Adrien inhaled sharply, muscles tightening with fury.
“How long has this been happening?”
“Not long,” she whispered. “And it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“It matters,” Adrien said, his voice like steel. “More than you think.”
She shook her head, exhausted, overwhelmed. “I don’t want this life to get messier.”
“It already is.”
She looked up sharply.
Adrien sat beside her, his presence overpoweringly calm, but his eyes burned with a restrained anger she didn’t know how to read.
“You fainted,” he said quietly. “You’re dizzy. You’re late. And there’s a man out there threatening you.”
“Adrien”
“You’re not alone anymore.”
Her heart squeezed painfully.
She didn’t know if that was a comfort… or another complication she wasn’t ready for.
“I didn’t ask for your help,” she whispered.
“No,” he said, leaning closer. “But you need it.”
“I don’t want you involved.”
“I already am.”
Her breath caught.
Adrien’s eyes dropped to her trembling hand resting unconsciously on her stomach again.
He swallowed.
“Camille,” he said softly. “We need to know.”
“I told you,” she whispered. “I’m scared to find out.”
“I’ll go with you.”
She froze. “No.”
“You shouldn’t go alone.”
“I will,” she said stubbornly. “I have to.”
He shook his head. “Not anymore.”
She looked away, blinking back tears.
“I don’t want you to feel responsible for me,” she whispered.
Adrien leaned forward, his hand brushing her arm gently.
“I already do,” he murmured.
Her breath faltered.
He wasn’t pushing.
He wasn’t demanding.
He was just there.
Solid.
Present.
Unmoving.
Silence settled between them; slow, heavy, charged.
Camille wiped her eyes and looked at him properly.
“What do you want from me?” she whispered.
Adrien held her gaze.
“Truth,” he said softly. “And a chance to fix what I broke.”
She frowned. “You didn’t break anything.”
“Didn’t I?” His voice dropped. “I thought you were someone else. I dragged you into something you didn’t understand. And now you’re scared because of me.”
“That’s not fair,” she whispered. “I’m scared because of everything.”
He nodded slowly.
Accepting.
Processing.
Then he stood up.
Camille’s heart jumped. “Where are you going?”
He looked over his shoulder.
“To deal with the man who just knocked on your door.”
Her eyes widened in terror.
“Adrien, no!”
He didn’t answer.
He reached for the door handle.
- Writer
