The Seductress

Chapter 5: Walk away

Adrian Valez had mastered the art of absence.

He knew how to withdraw without being noticed, how to disappear in plain sight. For months after the scandal, he had perfected the skill until it became instinct, short replies, closed doors, dinners alone. Silence was safer than questions. Distance was easier than trust.

So it unsettled him how loud the quiet had become.

Selena Cruz had not called in weeks.

Not that she ever called first. That was the rule she never broke. She appeared, she shared space, she left. No expectations. No pressure. Just measured presence, offered like a courtesy rather than a demand.

And yet her absence clung to him.

Adrian sat in his car outside his office building long after the engine had gone cold, fingers resting on the steering wheel without purpose. He told himself he was tired. Overworked. Distracted by deadlines and legal meetings and the constant hum of rebuilding a reputation that had been dragged through public judgment.

None of that explained why he checked the café across the street every morning.

They had only ever shared meals. No touching. No confessions. No promises. Selena never lingered longer than necessary, never crossed the boundaries he set so carefully. She treated him like a man, not a project, not a broken thing that needed fixing.

It should have meant nothing.

Instead, it became everything he noticed.

He replayed their conversations at odd hours. The way she listened more than she spoke. The way she never filled silence just to avoid it. The way her eyes sharpened when she was thinking, calculating, patient to a fault.

Too patient.

Adrian had wondered once, briefly, if that patience was real.

He shook the thought away. Speculation led to assumptions. Assumptions led to mistakes. He had learned that lesson the hard way.

That night, he attended a networking dinner he had intended to cancel. The kind of event filled with polished smiles and careful alliances. Normally, he would move through the room untouched, detached, untouched by any familiar face.

He wasn’t prepared to see her.

Selena stood near the far end of the room, dressed elegantly but not provocatively. A deep wine-colored dress, tailored and restrained. She was laughing softly at something a man beside her said, her posture angled toward him in polite engagement.

Adrian stopped walking.

The man was close. Too close.

He hated the immediacy of his reaction—the tightening of his jaw, the sharp heat that flared in his chest. It made no sense. Selena owed him nothing. She was free to speak to anyone, to laugh with anyone, to share her attention as she pleased.

And yet the sight unsettled him in a way he didn’t understand.

He watched her carefully. Noticed what others wouldn’t. The way her smile faded a fraction too quickly. The way her fingers curled around her glass as if grounding herself. The patience was there, but beneath it—tension.

She was tolerating the man.

The realization irritated him further.

Adrian told himself to look away. He didn’t. He stood at the edge of the room, pretending to engage in conversation while his attention stayed fixed on her. The man leaned in, said something low. Selena responded evenly, but there was a sharpness in her eyes now, a faint crack in the composure she wore so effortlessly.

She excused herself and stepped onto the balcony.

The man followed.

Adrian moved without deciding to.

Outside, the night air was cool and damp, city lights blurred by mist. Selena stood at the railing, posture rigid, her patience thinning. The man spoke again, clearly emboldened. Adrian saw Selena straighten, pride lifting her chin even as irritation flashed across her face.

This was not seduction.

This was endurance.

The man reached out, his hand brushing her arm.

Adrian felt anger spike—hot, immediate, unwelcome.

He stepped forward.

“I was looking for you,” Adrian said, his voice calm but firm.

Selena turned, surprise flickering before she masked it. For a split second, something raw crossed her face.. relief, annoyance, something sharper.

The man glanced between them, sensing the shift. “I’ll give you a moment,” he said, retreating quickly.

Silence stretched.

“You didn’t need to do that,” Selena said.

“I know,” Adrian replied.

Rain began to fall, light but steady. Selena folded her arms, pride settling back into place. “If you’re worried, you shouldn’t be.”

“I wasn’t,” Adrian said, then corrected himself. “That’s not true.”

Her brows lifted slightly. “Then what was it?”

Adrian searched for the answer and found none that felt safe. He only knew this, seeing her with someone else felt wrong in a way he couldn’t justify.

“You seemed uncomfortable,” he said finally.

Selena let out a quiet breath, a laugh without humor. “That’s because I was.”

“You didn’t leave.”

“I don’t run,” she said. “I endure.”

Something in her tone struck him. Not weakness. Frustration.

“You’re different tonight,” Adrian said.

Her gaze sharpened. “So are you.”

They stood there, rain soaking the space between them, neither willing to step closer nor farther away.

“You’ve been distant,” Adrian said.

Selena smiled, slow and controlled. “Funny. I thought you preferred it that way.”

He had no response.

She turned to leave, pride intact despite the crack he had glimpsed. Adrian watched her walk back inside, every step deliberate, controlled, unyielding.

Anger curled in his chest.. not at her, but at himself.

Because for the first time in a long time, he knew one thing with certainty.

He missed her. And the realization unsettled him far more than her absence ever had.

---

Adrian told himself he wasn’t jealous.

The word felt crude, too exposed, like an admission he wasn’t ready to make even in the privacy of his own mind. What he felt, he insisted, was irritation. Discomfort. A rational unease rooted in observation, not possession.

Selena Cruz was about to leave with another man.

That was the fact. Everything else was noise.

He watched from a distance as she slipped on her coat, movements smooth but tight around the edges. The man beside her leaned in, murmuring something meant to sound intimate. Selena smiled, controlled, practiced, the kind of smile that agreed without committing.

Adrian recognized it now. The smile of endurance.

She nodded once, the silent signal that she was ready to go.

Something in his chest twisted.

He moved before he could talk himself out of it.

“Selena.”

She turned, clearly surprised to see him again. Annoyance followed quickly, masked beneath composure. “I’m busy.”

“I won’t take long.”

The man frowned slightly. “Everything alright?”

“Yes,” Selena said, already tired. “Give me a moment.”

The man hesitated, then stepped a few feet away, close enough to watch.

Adrian didn’t waste time. “You don’t have to do this.”

Her eyes sharpened. “You don’t get to decide that.”

“I know,” he said. “I’m not trying to.”

“Then why are you stopping me?”

He struggled for an answer that wouldn’t betray him. “Because you look like you’re forcing yourself.”

Her laugh was soft but edged. “That’s rich, coming from you.”

“I’m not saying I understand you,” Adrian replied. “I’m saying I see you.”

That gave her pause.

Footsteps passed behind them. The moment felt too public, too exposed. Selena’s jaw tightened, pride settling back into place. “I’m leaving.”

She stepped past him.

Adrian reached out, catching her wrist.

She froze.

“Don’t,” she warned quietly.

He didn’t let go. He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “This isn’t about him.”

“Then let me go.”

“I can’t.”

That was the truth, raw and unfiltered. It surprised them both.

Selena looked up at him, something dangerous flickering in her eyes, anger, disbelief, something close to satisfaction. “You don’t want me,” she said. “You just don’t want anyone else to have me.”

Adrian didn’t deny it.

He didn’t confirm it either.

Instead, he did the one thing he had sworn he wouldn’t, acted without permission from his own restraint.

He cupped her jaw, thumb brushing the edge of her cheekbone. She inhaled sharply, caught off guard.

Then he kissed her.

It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t reckless. It was controlled desperation, months of restraint breaking through in a single, undeniable moment. His lips pressed to hers with intent, not asking, not apologizing.

For half a second, Selena didn’t move.

Then she shoved him back.

Her eyes burned. “You don’t get to do that.”

“I know,” Adrian said hoarsely. “But you were walking away.”

“And that scared you?”

“Yes.”

The admission sat between them, heavy and irreversible.