Chapter 28 – Adrik
I sat in my office that night, fingers absently solving a Rubik’s Cube. I’d sent the divorce papers to her and was wondering how she’d react when she saw them. Would she sign them right away, like we’d never shared anything real?
I shouldn’t care about her reaction. She’d made her choice, and for one whole year, she never contacted me. According to a reliable source, she was already doing well. There was no report of any special man in her life, but at least things were beginning to fall in place.
Her mother had been discharged from the hospital and was working at a restaurant downtown. Emika herself had earned her law degree. She was now Emika Morgan, Attorney at Law.
I’d been keeping tabs on her, yes. Not because I couldn’t move on, and definitely not to stalk her.
No. I just wanted to make sure that none of my enemies would ever go after her.
Because even though she’d hurt me in ways no one else had, I felt it was my responsibility to keep safe from the evil of my world.
She didn’t know this, but she was never alone. I had my men watching over her from a distance. I knew my enemies would want to target her since we were no longer together. And I was right.
On several occasions, Bratva intelligence had intercepted assassins sent after her and her mother. They’d killed them on the spot without her even knowing. She went about her daily life, oblivious to the shadow war going on around her.
Everywhere she went, bodyguards she’d never asked for followed, making sure no harm ever came to her. When my enemies realized that I’d set up a system of protection around her, they ceased fire.
She hated me. Yet she had no idea how many times I’d saved her life within the last few months. She was right when she said she hadn’t only inherited my name; she’d inherited my enemies too. That was why I couldn’t bring myself to leave her out there unguarded.
Even though I had eyes and ears everywhere, I never asked them to report details about her life to me. Only the actions of an enemy. Whatever she chose to do with her freedom was entirely up to her.
However, when I learned about her achievements and her mother’s improved health, I couldn’t help but feel happy for her. Proud, even. She’d chased her dreams without looking back until she made a name for herself. And she was only twenty-four.
This was a lady who’d come from nothing and received no external help. I was proud of her. I really was.
Perhaps it was never meant to work between us. Perhaps she was better off alone, away from me and the violence in my world. I wished she never left, though. I wished she’d taken a chance on me and trusted my ability to protect her.
But if only wishes were horses.
What if she comes barging in through that door? a voice whispered in my head.
I thought it was ridiculous. This wasn’t a telenovela. Stuff like that didn’t always happen in real life.
To my greatest shock, though, the door did swing open, and I’d be damned if it wasn’t her—Emika Morgan. Dressed in a black corporate gown that hugged her in all the right places, she stormed into my office.
Her dark auburn hair fell loosely over her shoulders, her hips swaying steadily with every step she took. She looked as beautiful as ever. And more mature too.
How the hell had that voice in my head predicted her arrival so accurately?
It was almost as though time had slowed the fuck down, allowing me to revel in her presence. Was I dreaming? If I were, let nothing wake me up. The faint clicking of her heels against the floor echoed in my head, my gaze never leaving her face.
I was lost in her beauty, squeezing the Rubik’s Cube tightly to be sure this was real.
It was. It fuckin’ was.
Time reset back to normal as she halted in front of my desk with a blank expression on her face.
I stared at her, pretending to be unfazed by her presence. “What’re you doing here?”
“To find out if this is true.” She dropped the divorce papers on my table. “It says in there that you’re getting married.”
Was that jealousy I heard in her voice?
Good.
“Is it true?” she asked, her eyes never leaving mine.
“You were supposed to sign the divorce papers,” I said calmly, “not go prying into what isn’t your business anymore.”
Her head instinctively jerked upward, her throat bobbing as she swallowed. “Who is she?”
The slight tremble in her voice cracked something inside me, something I’d frozen months ago. But I wasn’t about to make this easy for her.
“Answer me, Adrik!” she snapped, her tone laced with more pain than anger.
“Damn it, Emi!” I banged a hand on my table.
She flinched at my reaction.
And just like that, all those pent-up emotions came rushing back in. “You don’t get to walk in here after one whole year asking questions about my life like nothing happened!” I lost control, eyes red with fury. “You abandoned me! Or did you forget that?”
“Don’t judge me, Adrik!” She leaned in, her tone matching mine. “I stood by you, even with all the attempts on my life!” she continued, the words tumbling out in a rush. “I chose you over Richard—hell, I even killed for you!”
“Then why’d you leave?!” I thundered, rising from my chair and walking over to face her.
She melted like ice before my towering frame, her eyes filling with unshed tears.
“Why did you leave me when I needed you the most?” The memory of her walking out of the mansion flashed through my mind. “Why didn’t you stand by me again when my strength was failing? Why did you abandon me?”
Her lips quivered, and her shoulders were shaking as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Because I was a coward.”
Those quiet words humbled me in a strange way.
She looked into my eyes, her voice low and trembling. “I couldn’t face the truth—I was too afraid to do so.” She paused for a second, then continued, “I thought leaving was what was best for both of us.”
“Both of us?” My scowl deepened. “You mean you thought it was the best decision for you!”
She pressed her lips together, her eyes shining with regret.
“What gave you the right to decide what was best for me?” I demanded, my voice low and gravelly. “Did you ever stop to think about what I thought of your plan—how it made me feel?”
“You never talk about your feelings, never express your emotions, so how was I supposed to know?” She raised her voice slightly higher, her tone laced with frustration.
“So this is my fault, then.” I took a step back. “Classic. Blame it on me. Blame it all on me.”
“I’m not trying to do that!” she yelled, crying.
“Then what’re you trying to do, Emika?!” I pressed on.
“Goddammit, Adrik!” She slammed her fist against my chest. “I’m trying to say that I love you!”
Silence.
Dead silence.
Time stood still.
The room and everything else faded into the background, leaving just the two of us.
I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly.
“There, I said it.” Her voice was calmer now. “God, that feels so much better.” She pressed her hand on her chest.
“You love me?” I asked her, my eyes locked with hers.
“Did I stutter?” she teased, a grin playing on her lips.
I stared at her in silence, wondering why this moment had taken so long to happen.
“You…you don’t feel the same way?” she whispered, her breath hitched in anticipation of my response.
I combed my fingers through my hair, walked over to my table, and picked up the divorce papers. She looked at me, her chest rising and falling as she wondered what I was up to.
“You should’ve confessed this earlier,” I said to her, wearing a stoic expression.
Tricked by my nonchalance, her head and shoulders dropped in dismay, believing she was too late.
I continued, a faint grin tugging at the corner of my lips, “That way, you would’ve saved us both the stress.”
She glanced up in time to watch me rip the papers in half, the sound echoing through the office. Like steel to a magnet, we rushed toward each other, lips crashing in the heat of passion.
I almost forgot how good this felt: the rush of adrenaline, the excitement. My arms wrapped around her waist, our heads tilting together in harmony. The fervency of our kiss left us gasping for air as tongues invaded our mouths.
We devoured each other’s lips like starving beasts, allowing the flames of passion consume us both. My hands ran along the familiar curves of her body while she melted into me, moaning in my mouth.
“Fuck, I’ve missed this,” she whispered, breathless.
Me too.
My hands climbed up her thighs, lifting the hem of her dress in the process. I caressed her skin, basking in the slight trembling of her legs. I’d waited a long time for this moment, the moment that I’d taste her again.
She shed my jacket, her manicured fingers ripping the buttons off my undershirt. My hand settled between her thighs, my middle finger stroking her wet panties.
“Oh, fuck!” She let out a throaty moan that fueled my lust.
She rubbed the print of my erection over the fabric of my pants while I fingered her cunt.
“What’re you waiting for?” she breathed in my ear. “Take me. Take me already. Please.”
I pushed my finger deeper and deeper.
“Oh, Adrik, I want you—I want you so bad!” She slid her hand under my pants and withdrew my cock.
I grabbed the zipper at the back of her gown and dragged it down in a single sweep. With desperate moves, she pulled out her arms from the short sleeves, revealing her lacy red bra. The sight made my cock grow harder within my pants.
“I’m gonna destroy you,” I growled, my voice dripping with desire.
“Yes, please.” She bit her lower lip. “I want that.”
I whisked her off her feet, and she locked her legs around my waist. Her dark auburn hair spilled over her face as she bent over to kiss me. I walked over to the table and set her ass on the surface.
She grabbed my cock and began stroking it with the kind of ease that made my legs tremble. Her eyes locked with mine in the heat of passion, as if savoring the look on my face.