The billionaire's forbidden pit stop

Episode 16: The Cost of Control

The shock wave of the kiss still echoed in the quiet space of the vehicle. Asaliya’s survival instincts flared into pure, unadulterated fury. Without a second of hesitation, her right hand shot back and cracked sharply across Adrian’s handsome face with a loud, violent *SLAP!*

The force of the blow echoed inside the luxury SUV. The violent impact split the corner of Adrian’s lower lip, a bright bead of crimson blood instantly welling up and running down his chin.

From the front seat, Adrian’s private driver froze entirely, his eyes widening in extreme wonder through the rearview mirror. No one in the world dared to lay a single finger on Adrian Novak. Men feared him, corporate executives bowed to him, and only his elite inner circle like Ren and Felix ever dared to even push him around. Yet this small, trembling girl had just struck the untouchable billionaire across the face—and the most baffling thing wasn't the slap itself. It was the fact that Adrian didn't react with violence. He didn't strike back, nor did he rage. He simply sat there, his head turned slightly from the force of her hit.

"You f*****g lying scumbag!" Asaliya shrieked, her chest heaving as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, her eyes blazing with tears of anger. "You agreed to no touching! You agreed to no kissing! You piece of absolute garbage!"

Adrian slowly turned his head back, pulling a black silk handkerchief from his pocket. He wiped the blood from his split lip, his scary black eyes fixing on her with a terrifying stillness.

"I never agreed to anything," Adrian said, his voice smooth, low, and completely unbothered. "It was *you* who demanded those ridiculous rules, sweetheart. I remained dead silent. But you explicitly agreed to be my girlfriend. And girlfriends get kissed."

Asaliya’s face burned red at the trap she had walked straight into. Blinded by rage, she reeled her hand back to slap his face a second time. "f**k you, you arrogant—"

*CLUTCH.*

Before her palm could connect, Adrian’s large hand shot up mid-air, his fingers clamping around her thin wrist with an iron grip that instantly cut off her momentum.

He leaned in close, his voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper. "One slap is enough for one day, Asaliya."

He released her wrist, tossing her hand back into her lap. Asaliya let out a shaky, furious breath, violently turning her head away to glare out the tinted side window, refusing to look at his face for another second. Adrian casually dabbed the remaining blood from his hand with the handkerchief, his face entirely unreadable as the SUV sped down the highway.

Minutes later, the vehicle pulled up to the private terminal of the Sydney international airport.

Outside the tinted glass, the scene was absolute chaos. Dozens of Japanese and Australian paparazzi photographers were swarming the perimeter, their blinding camera flashes strobing through the dark glass of the SUV. The moment Asaliya saw the sea of flashing lights and shouting reporters outside, her defiant posture melted into pure terror. Her body stiffened.

Adrian noticed her fear instantly. He reached into the leather compartment behind his seat and pulled out an oversized, dark grey cashmere jacket—one of the custom designer coats he kept stocked in every single one of his luxury vehicles.

He held the heavy jacket out to her.

Asaliya looked at the coat, then snapped her eyes up to meet his. Her brows furrowed in confusion. "What is this for?"

Adrian let out a low, mocking smirk.

In her blind panic during his sudden invasion and kidnapping at her apartment, Asaliya had completely forgotten what she was wearing under her clothes. She had thrown on a baggy, casual thin hoodie when she woke up, without wearing a single thing underneath it against her bare skin. She had never expected Adrian to actually show up at her door, and he had hauled her away so fast that she hadn't had a single second to change or grab a bra.

Adrian leaned across the leather seat, moving closer into her personal space. Asaliya instinctively backed away from his massive frame, her head almost hitting the hard metal frame of the car door—but before her head could strike the surface, Adrian’s large, broad palm slid behind her neck, cushioning the impact entirely.

Asaliya swallowed hard, her heart pounding against her ribs as his face hovered inches from hers. "Why... why are you doing this?"

Adrian’s eyes narrowed into a dark, intense glare. "I let you stay like this inside the car because it is completely dark in here, and no one can see your body."

He tilted his head, his gaze shifting down to the roaring crowd outside the window. "But the moment we step out there, the street is lit with thousands of camera flashes. I am not about to let the entire world see what I haven't even seen myself."

Asaliya made a completely bewildered, wondering face. She stared at him, her tired brain struggling to grasp his meaning. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Adrian slowly dragged his intense glare from her dark eyes down to her lips, and finally down to the subtle curve of her chest beneath the thin fabric of her hoodie. He slowly ran the tip of his tongue into the corner of his mouth over his split lip, giving her an intensely dirty, flirty look that dripped with raw, possessive intent.

The realization hit her like a lightning bolt. Her face flushed bright red with pure embarrassment and fury.

"You f*****g pervert!" Asaliya hissed, violently snatching the heavy jacket out of his hands.

Adrian’s smirk widened. "Wear it, zip it up to your chin, and step outside the moment I open your door."

Adrian pushed his door open, stepping out into the chaotic sea of media. His elite security detail immediately formed an impenetrable human wall around the vehicle, shoving the aggressive reporters back. Adrian reached into the back seat, took Asaliya’s gloved hand firmly in his own, and guided her out. Without uttering a single word to the screaming journalists, he led her straight up the stairs of his private jet.

The moment the aircraft took off into the sky, the sheer, crushing weight of the past twenty-four hours caught up to Asaliya. Exhausted, terrified, and physically drained, she fell into a deep, heavy sleep in one of the private leather recliners.

Adrian was equally exhausted, the fatigue of constant international flights pressing against his skull. But he couldn't sleep just yet. He sat at his mahogany desk in the forward cabin, reviewing a stack of digital corporate files on his tablet.

His satellite phone rang softly. It was Zain.

"Mr. Novak," Zain reported smoothly. "The deployment is complete. Every single negative article, leaked photo, and forum thread regarding your incident on the avenue has been permanently scrubbed from the global network. The official announcement of your relationship with Asaliya Millicent is currently trending at number one globally."

Adrian gave a slow, silent nod. "Good. Keep the servers locked."

He hung up the phone, closed his tablet, and finally leaned back in his leather seat, shutting his eyes as the jet soared through the night sky toward Japan.

Hours later, the private jet landed at the Tokyo terminal.

Waiting right on the private tarmac beside two sleek, blacked-out luxury SUVs were Ren and Felix. They had driven out personally to pick them up.

Ren was dressed casually, looking thoroughly rested, his dark eyes clear and sharp. Felix was leaning against the hood of the front SUV, a relaxed, welcoming smile on his face. However, as Adrian and Asaliya approached the vehicles, Ren’s welcoming expression completely dissolved. His face turned entirely dark with fury.

They all climbed into the lead SUV. Ren took the driver's seat, his jaw clenched tightly as he accelerated onto the highway heading toward Adrian’s private Tokyo penthouse. Felix sat in the front passenger seat, while Adrian and Asaliya sat in the spacious back row.

As they drove, Felix glanced into the side mirror, his sharp blue eyes catching Adrian’s reflection. He blinked, staring intently. Adrian’s left cheek was distinctly swollen and red, and the lower corner of his lip was split open and raw. Ren saw it clearly through the rearview mirror as well.

Felix turned around in his seat, a massive, teasing grin spreading across his face. "Hey, Novak... what the hell happened to your face?"

Adrian stared blankly out the window. "Nothing."

Felix chuckled, his eyes gleaming with mischievous humor. "Oh, come on! Nothing? What happened to your lips, man?" Felix leaned closer, dropping his voice into a filthy, suggestive whisper. "Did the little reporter bite you too hard while you were showing her your high-torque aerodynamic setup in the back of the jet? Did you get a little too aggressive with the pit stop?"

Adrian slowly turned his head, directing a dark, lethal death stare straight into Felix’s soul. The absolute, icy danger radiating from Adrian’s eyes was so intense that Felix instantly shut his mouth, swallowing his next dirty joke.

Felix cleared his throat nervously and turned his gaze toward Asaliya, who was sitting quietly in the corner of the backseat. Felix offered her a warm, genuine smile. "Welcome to Japan, Asaliya."

Asaliya looked at Felix, but she didn't smile back. A sudden, deep pang of guilt hit her chest. She remembered the terrible, scandalous articles she had written about Felix and Adrian’s fake relationship—yet here Felix was, smiling at her with a completely pure, friendly heart. She looked down at her hands, unable to meet his eyes.

The moment the SUV pulled into the underground garage of Adrian’s luxury penthouse, Ren slammed the vehicle into park. He stepped out of the car, marched straight to the back door, yanked it open, and aggressively grabbed Adrian by his arm.

"Inside. Now," Ren barked, dragging Adrian down the hallway into a private side conference room, slamming the door shut behind them.

Ren was furious. Unlike Adrian and Felix, Ren held a deep, unshakable moral code. He utterly despised it when his two wealthy best friends treated women like disposable pawns in their corporate games.

Ren lunged forward, grabbing Adrian by his jacket collar, his voice vibrating with intense rage. "What the f**k are you thinking, Adrian?! Have you lost your mind completely?!"

Adrian stood still, his black eyes calm. "Lower your voice, Ren."

"No! f**k you!" Ren yelled, his grip tightening. "Think about what you are doing to this girl! Think about what will happen to her when you inevitably break up with her! The entire internet and social media will eat her alive! Everyone will gossip about her, tear her personal life apart, and label her a gold-digger! And what happens if you get a DNF on the track next weekend?! They will blame her! They will say she is your bad luck, a distraction, a curse on your career!"

Adrian let out a slow, quiet smirk. He looked down at Ren’s hands on his collar, his voice completely level. "I know everything about this game, Ren. Every single move is calculated. Nothing is going to happen to Asaliya."

He stepped back, breaking Ren’s grip effortlessly, his dark eyes filled with absolute, cold possession. "I can take care of what is mine."

Ren stared at his friend for a long moment, letting out a heavy, exhausted sigh. He rubbed his temples, realizing there was no stopping Adrian’s dangerous trajectory.

Adrian tapped Ren’s shoulder firmly. "Let it go." He turned and walked out of the room.

Meanwhile, in the massive, opulent dining room of the penthouse, Felix and Asaliya were sitting at the long mahogany dining table. They were seated literally meters away from each other at opposite ends of the massive table, surrounded by an awkward, suffocating silence.

Felix, trying his best to break the ice, leaned forward and called out to her. "So... Asaliya! Is this your first time in Tokyo? The food here is incredible if you know the right places."

Asaliya didn't say a single word. She kept her head down, her face pale and distant, completely ignoring his attempt at conversation.

At that moment, the double doors opened, and Adrian walked back into the dining room. He casually walked over to Felix’s end of the table and pulled out a chair right beside him, taking a seat.

Felix immediately leaned over to Adrian, whispering frantically into his ear. "Dude, I'm telling you, she is an actual witch! She didn't even smile at me! I offered her a nice conversation and she acted like I was invisible!"

Adrian took a sip of water from a crystal glass, a dark, mocking smirk touching his lips. "Women can smell danger, Felix."

Felix frowned. "What?"

"She definitely smelled that you are an unhinged fuckboy," Adrian whispered back smoothly, his tone flat and dry. "That is precisely why she didn't smile at you."

Felix’s mouth dropped open in shock. "You arrogant son of a—"

Felix stood up violently and punched Adrian hard in the shoulder. Adrian simply chuckled, completely unbothered. Felix turned around, grabbed the innocent, exhausted Ren—who had just stepped back into the dining room—by his arm, and began forcefully dragging him toward the door.

"Come on, Ren! We are leaving!" Felix shouted dramatically. "I am not staying in the same room as this ungrateful bastard and his scary girlfriend!"

Ren groaned, letting himself be dragged out. "Felix, let go of my jacket, you idiot..."

The heavy double doors clicked shut behind them, leaving the massive dining room in complete, heavy silence once again.

Adrian’s rare smile slowly faded back into his signature, calm composure. He stood up from his chair, his tall, broad frame casting a long shadow across the marble floor as he slowly walked down the length of the dining table toward Asaliya.