CHAPTER 18 A BAD IDEA
1412 Words
I folded my arms, grounding myself and took a deep breath. This was really what I had signed up for. It was the life I had agreed on for one whole year.
The headlines, the attention, but mostly him.
The thought alone made my pulse stumble again, which only irritated me further.
Turning away from Adrian, I walked towards the floor-to-ceiling windows and stared out at the city. London stretched endlessly below us, busy and loud.
“You’re overthinking.” Adrian’s voice came from behind me, calm and knowing.
I let out a quiet laugh. “You got all of that from me standing near a window?”
“I get a lot more than people realise,” he stated almost immediately.
Of course he did.
I folded my arms tighter across my chest before glancing back at him over my shoulder. “This is exactly why I said nobody could know about the arrangement.”
“The arrangement was always going to attract attention eventually.”
“That doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it.”
“No,” he agreed smoothly. “But you will have to learn how to manage it.”
Something about his tone irritated me, but I knew that he was right.
Maybe because he sounded so calm while my entire life had felt like chaos for days.
“You make it sound easy.” I wrinkled my nose.
Adrian’s gaze held mine steadily. “It becomes easier when you stop caring what people think.”
I stared at him for a second. “And you really don’t care?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Too easily.
I shook my head slightly. “I don’t believe that.”
For the first time since I had walked into the office, something shifted faintly in his expression.
“You think everyone secretly falls apart over headlines and gossip?” he asked.
“I think everyone cares about something.”
Silence settled briefly between us.
Adrian walked towards the bar at the far side of the office before pouring himself a drink with slow, controlled movements.
“Care is a liability,” he said calmly, like it was no big deal.
I frowned. “That sounds miserable.”
“No, it is practical.”
I watched him lean lightly against the desk, looking completely at ease in a world I still wasn’t sure how to exist in.
“You really believe that, don’t you?” I raised my eyebrows.
“I believe emotions make people predictable.” The words should have sounded cold.
“You sound like someone who’s been burned before,” I said quietly.
His gaze flicked towards me instantly.
Sharp.
Careful.
And there it was again—that feeling that I had stepped too close to something personal without meaning to.
Adrian lifted his glass slightly. “You ask a lot of questions.”
“Maybe you avoid too many answers.”
A faint smirk touched the corner of his mouth. “You should be careful, Luna.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re starting to sound comfortable around me,” he smirked. The words hit harder than they should have.
I looked away first, irritated by the warmth creeping into my face.
“That’s confidence talking.”
“No,” Adrian said calmly. “Confidence sounds very different.”
I exhaled slowly and turned back towards the city skyline. “So what happens now then?”
“The media cycle continues for a few days,” Adrian replied. “More photographs. More speculation. More people pretending they know things that they don’t.”
“And Noel?”
Adrian was silent for a moment.
Then—
“He won’t come near you again.” The certainty in his voice made me turn back towards him immediately.
“You can’t actually guarantee that.”
“Oh, but yes, I can and I will.”
There was no arrogance in the statement.
No attempt to impress me.
Just certainty.
And somehow that was worse.
I studied him carefully. “You’re very used to getting your own way, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
At least he was honest.
I rolled my eyes softly, but before I could answer, my phone buzzed inside my bag.
The sound cut sharply through the tension in the room.
I pulled it out quickly.
Unknown number.
My stomach tightened instantly.
Adrian noticed the shift in my expression immediately. “What is it?”
I hesitated before unlocking the screen.
Then my blood ran cold.
A single message stared back at me.
You can run to Vale all you want. You’re still mine.
My breath caught sharply.
Adrian crossed the room before I even realised he had moved.
“What happened?”
“Unknown number, but it's him. It has to be.” I handed him the phone silently and watched as his eyes scanned the message.
Adrian lifted his gaze to mine slowly.
“Has he ever spoken to you like this before?”
I swallowed hard before nodding once. “When he was angry.”
“And did he ever put his hands on you?”
The question caught me off guard instantly.
“No,” I answered quickly. “No, Noel isn’t violent.”
Adrian’s expression didn’t shift.
“He’s possessive,” I admitted quietly. “He hates losing control of things.”
“People,” Adrian corrected me calmly.
My stomach tightened slightly because he was right.
Noel had never treated love gently. Everything with him had always felt consuming. Intense. Like being wanted and trapped at the same time.
Adrian looked back down at the phone before locking the screen.
“You won’t respond to this.”
I frowned immediately. “I wasn’t planning to.”
“Good.”
The simple approval irritated me more than it should have.
“You don’t get to control my life, Adrian. Neither does Noel.”
His gaze lifted back to mine slowly.
Then he stepped closer again.
Not enough to intimidate me.
Just enough to make my pulse start climbing all over again.
“No,” he said quietly. “But I do get to protect it.”
I stared at him.
What did he think he was? My personal bodyguard?
Adrian was close enough now that I could smell the faint trace of his cologne, expensive and subtle, and it completely ruined my ability to think clearly.
“You say things like that very easily,” I said finally, forcing my voice to stay steady.
Adrian’s gaze stayed fixed on mine. “Only when I mean them.”
My breath caught slightly.
God, that was the problem with him.
I folded my arms tighter across my chest, trying to regain some sense of control over myself. “You barely know me.”
“That hasn’t stopped your ex from deciding he owns you.”
The sharpness in his tone surprised me enough to make me blink.
Adrian noticed.
Of course he did.
A muscle shifted slightly in his jaw before he stepped back, putting a small amount of distance between us again.
The loss of his warmth was immediate.
Annoyingly immediate.
“You will stay somewhere secure for the next few days,” he said, slipping back into that controlled business tone.
I frowned. “Secure? What are you talking about?”
“Yes, Luna. Secure for your own safety.” He did not even blink.
“I’m not hiding from Noel.” I almost laughed. “I am not scared of that loser.”
“This is not a suggestion, Luna.”
I stared at him. “There it is, the controlling billionaire act.” I hissed.
I noticed a faint smirk touch the corner of his mouth. “Is that so?”
“It irritates me.”
“And yet you’re still here,” he added.
That shut me up far faster than I would have liked.
His smirk deepened slightly, as he knew it too.
I hated how aware he always seemed to be. Of everything. Of me.
Adrian walked back towards his desk and picked up his phone. “You will stay at mine tonight.”
My eyes widened. “Absolutely not.” I shook my head, shocked that he would even suggest such a thing.
“It’s already done.”
“You can’t just make decisions for me.”
“I can when your ex-boyfriend starts sending possessive messages from blocked numbers.”
- Writer
