Chapter 15 Adrian
T he cold bites into my skin as I bolt down the snow-covered path, following Mia’s tracks, my heartbeat loud in my ears. I barely register the ache in my muscles or the burn of icy air in my lungs. All I can think about is getting her back. Safe.
“Mia!” I call out to her. I need her to slow down and make a move that will clue me in on where she’s hiding. Worry gnaws at me, but underneath, a deeper anger builds—a fury I’m barely holding down. This isn’t just about her escape attempt. It’s about her misunderstanding, her willingness to believe I would betray her, use her. After last night. After everything.
I catch a glimpse of her ahead, tucked between two trees, her body stiffening the moment she realizes I’ve seen her. She tries to run again, but within a few strides, I close the distance and pull her back into me, holding her firmly as she struggles against my grip.
“Let me go!” she cries, pounding her fists against my chest, twisting in my arms. Her voice is raw, filled with anger, fear, and something else—betrayal.
“What the hell, Mia?!” I yell, my temper starting to spill over. My grip tightens, pressing her back against a tree, forcing her to look at me. “Calm down. Stop this right now! What’s wrong with you? You’re going to freeze to death out here.”
“You don’t care about that!” she screams, eyes flashing with anger and pain. “You’re just trying to get me to talk, to give up everything on my family. I know you’re just using me, just like the rest of them.”
Her words ignite a fury within me, my restraint hanging by a thread. I want to shake her, to force her to see the truth, but I grit my teeth, wrestling down the impulse. She doesn’t understand, not yet.
Without thinking, I crush my mouth against hers, silencing her accusation, forcing her to feel something other than fear and anger. I expect her to fight back, but her body softens, her resistance fading as I deepen the kiss. When I finally pull back, her eyes are wide, confusion warring with hurt.
“I’m not using you,” I say, my voice rough with barely restrained anger. “You think I’d risk everything—my standing, my family, my life—just to manipulate you? You mean more to me than that, Mia. But you… running off like this…” I trail off, my hands trembling slightly from both the cold and the sheer effort of holding back my anger.
She stares at me, breathless, doubt flickering in her green eyes.
“I heard you on the phone,” she says hoarsely, the hurt in her voice cutting deep. “You said you’d get me to switch sides. You don’t care about me; you’re just following orders.”
I clench my jaw, the surge of anger intensifying. “You think so little of me?” I take a breath, struggling to calm the storm inside. “Let’s go back to the cabin. You need to warm up. Then we’ll talk.”
For a moment, I think she’ll resist again, but she gives a small, reluctant nod, allowing me to keep my arm around her shoulders as we make our way back to the cabin. I keep a tight hold on her, needing to feel her close, to reassure myself she’s here, safe. But my fury simmers, knowing I’ll have to confront her recklessness—and her misunderstanding of me—in a way that makes it clear that she’ll face consequences if she ever pulls that kind of stunt again.
***
The warmth of the cabin wraps around us as we step inside.
She shivers, still in shock, and I wrap a thick blanket around her shoulders, guiding her to sit near the fire. I look down at her feet covered in icy wet socks. Kneeling down on one knee, I pull them off, knowing that anything wet and cold on her body is the first thing that needs to go. After tossing them in the washing machine and grabbing a dry pair of socks for her to wear, I stay silent as she pulls them over her cold feet.
My fingers tremble with the urge to touch her, reassure her, but I hold back, fists clenched as I go into the kitchen to heat up a mug of water to make her some tea.
“Here,” I say, coming back from the kitchen and handing her the mug of hot tea and honey.
“Thank you,” She takes it carefully, watching me as if she’s worried I might snap at her. As she takes several sips, the silence hangs heavy, thick with everything unsaid.
I take a seat next to her on the sofa.
She clasps her hands together after setting aside the mug on the end table, her fingers turning a little pale as she tightens them on her lap.
When I finally allow myself to speak, my voice is cold, controlled, belying the storm of emotions underneath. “You could have died out there, Mia. You ran into a storm, without shoes, without a plan, based on… what? A half-heard conversation?”
Her cheeks flush, and she looks down, avoiding my gaze.
“I need to know that you understand what you did,” I continue, voice lowering. “If you’re going to be with me, Mia, you can’t just run into danger like that. You don’t get to put yourself at risk like that—not if you’re mine.” I catch the flicker of surprise in her eyes, but I press on, stepping closer. “Not without facing the consequences.”
The fire crackles, filling the silence with a steady, heated pulse, as if matching the restrained fury coursing through me.
“I—I didn’t know,” she stammers, a note of defiance creeping in as she squares her shoulders. “How was I supposed to know what to believe, Adrian? I heard you, and it sounded like—”
“Like I was using you?” I growl, inching closer, enough to be able to feel her warmth against my side. “After everything we shared last night, you still thought I’d throw you away like that?”
Mia’s eyes flash with disbelief, her chest rising and falling as she pulls herself away from me, a raw fury radiating off her in waves. “How was I supposed to know how you felt?” Her voice is sharp, trembling with desperate emotion. “We’ve known each other for less than 24 hours, Adrian! That’s just one day. You know how I felt about you. I told you last night. But you didn’t say a damn thing back. Not one word.”
I open my mouth to argue, but she cuts me off, a fierce, hurt light in her eyes. “You think I was just supposed to trust you? You, a man with a reputation for tossing women like used tissues after a quick fuck in bed? Why would I believe I’d be any different?”
The sting of her words hits deep, piercing through my righteous anger and dragging out the truth I’ve barely had time to reckon with myself. I grip her shoulders, forcing her to meet my gaze. “You are different, Mia,” I say, my voice low, a dangerous edge sharpening each word. “You walked into my life, and in less than a day, you’ve done what no woman has ever come close to doing.”
She lets out a disbelieving laugh, her fists pressing against my chest in resistance, her face set in a mask of disbelief. “And what exactly is that, Adrian? Make it make sense to me.”
I tighten my hold, my heart pounding as I let the words tumble out, raw and unfiltered. “You. Belong. To. Me,” I growl, each word a steady thrum of truth. “And I belong to you. Do you understand that? There isn’t a woman alive who could have made me consider breaking every vow I swore to my brother, every line I promised not to cross, just to be close to her.”
Her eyes widen, a flicker of uncertainty breaking through her anger, but I’m not finished.
“Do you have any idea what that means for me? What it means for a man like me to feel this way?”
I pull her closer, my voice dropping to a dark, possessive whisper. “It means I would do anything for you. I would go against every oath, every loyalty, just to make sure you’re safe. And you, Mia Vitale, have the audacity to risk your life, to think you can run away from me.”
She tries to look away, but I tilt her chin, forcing her to look into my eyes, to see the depths of my fury and devotion. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, if you ever think you can just leave me—” I pause, taking a ragged breath to control the surge of anger that boils under the surface, “I will make damn sure you can’t walk straight for a week. I’ll keep you in that bed, my bed, until you’re so full of me you can’t see, hear, feel anything but what I give you.”
Her breath hitches, and I see the heat in her eyes, the defiance battling with desire as she realizes I’m deadly serious.
“And don’t even think about defying me again, Mia. Because next time,” I lean in until my lips are a hair’s breadth from hers, “I won’t let you out of my sight. I’ll keep you locked away if that’s what it takes. I’ll take you over and over until the only thought in your head is how you belong to me. Barefoot and pregnant, if I have to.”
A soft gasp escapes her, and I feel her fists unclench against my chest, her hands flattening, her touch softening. She’s struggling, torn between her need to hold onto her independence and the undeniable pull that’s left her trembling in my arms.
I take a breath, forcing myself to soften, my hand moving up to cradle her cheek, my thumb brushing over the slight dampness of her tears that spilled over. “You mean more to me than you know,” I murmur, my voice thick with barely controlled emotion. “But if you want to test me, if you want to risk yourself, then understand there are consequences.”
She glances up with a puzzled look. “Consequences?” Her voice is a mixture of defiance and curiosity, and I know she’s challenging me, pushing against the limits just to see how I’ll react.
“Yes. Consequences.” My voice drops to a growl as I pull her close, pressing her against my chest. “You don’t get to scare me like that, Mia. You don’t get to put your life at risk and expect me to just let it slide.”
For a moment, neither of us speaks, both of us breathing hard, the raw heat between us almost unbearable. Finally, she lifts her chin, her eyes blazing with the last embers of defiance.
“Are you going to… punish me?” Her voice is barely a whisper, a mix of disbelief and fascination spreading across her face.
Those words ignite something primal inside me. Her question is half a challenge, half a plea, as if she’s daring me to take her, to push past the boundaries we’ve kept between us.
I cup her face, tilting her head up to meet my gaze, my thumb brushing over her lower lip, feeling the slight tremble there. “If that’s what it takes to make you understand,” my voice laced with a dark promise, “then yes, that’s exactly what I plan to do.”