3. Adrian
Adrian
Iwalked to the back office of Allure nearly shaking with excitement.
I had often said that the enjoyment of a particular woman directly correlated with the degree to which she pushed back on me.
There could be little doubt that Delilah wasn’t so much pushing back on me as she was outright refusing me, or doing everything she could to refuse me.
Most men who didn’t pay attention would have assumed she was not interested.
It would have been a missed opportunity on their part.
Call it attention to detail, call it nuance, call it whatever the fuck you wanted, but I saw how Delilah reacted to me. I saw the hair go up on her arms. I saw the slight eyebrow raise. I felt her nervousness and her excitement.
This would make for a great fuck, but more than that, it would make for a great mouthpiece.
She would make our family look great. She would give us what we needed in the face of the Morrills—a better image, better press, and a better face.
I would have my way with her, and it would be of utmost delight as it went along.
The only question, really, was whether I had the patience to ride things out as they went along.
Because if I had a downfall, it was that I tended to try to seize the moment too fast. It made me great as the media liaison since media was an instant reaction thing; in a weird way, it made me great as the CFO, because I could spot prime investment opportunities before everyone else piled on.
But in matters of romance and love… well, I wasn’t really into that. I wasn’t interested in tying myself down. Maybe if you counted the high school days, I could come in too hot. But what fucking man in his thirties did that when—
“What the hell are you doing back here?”
Ah, right. That man in his thirties.
I stood and turned around. Cassius Vale. Engaged Cassius Vale. For fuck’s sake, he even had his engagement ring on.
“I could ask the same of you, except at least I’ve been speaking to a journalist for the last ten minutes,” I said. “Where the hell have you been beforehand? Cooking dinner and making kissy faces to your sweet, sweet fiancée?”
“Funny,” Cassius growled. “You understand that just because I am engaged does not mean I have turned into a shriveled bitch, right?”
I snorted. Truthfully, yes, I kind of did think that. Maybe not to the extent I’d mock him for it, but it was undeniable he’d lost some of his edge.
“There’s a difference between understanding that there’s a time and place to be heavy-handed and turning into a bitch,” Cassius said. “Just because I am not the cold asshole you once knew does not mean I am not when I need to be.”
“No need to defend who you are to me, brother,” I said, putting my hands up in mock deference. “In any case, let’s put aside perceived images. Where have you been?”
“If you must know, I was speaking with Sarah about whether or not to put her front and center in the gala,” Cassius said, which didn’t exactly help my perceived new image of him.
“Ultimately, we decided not to, since she feels she’s been at the front too much recently and that we want it to appear she’s there for her work, not for who she’s with. ”
“Even though Vegas knows who she’s with?”
Cassius snarled at me, but I was actually being serious.
“It’s not a bad thing,” I said. “Have you actually bothered to read the articles recently? They talk about how the King of Hearts has finally stopped playing the game. How he’s finally found his Queen of Hearts.”
“I pray that if there’s any influence you have over whichever journalist you just spoke to, it’s that you will get them to abandon the King and Queen of Hearts nonsense.
That was from a prior life, when I meant it to have a double meaning.
I only wish now for me and Sarah to live things out without putting titles on them. ”
Besides “married” and “husband” and “wife,” I suppose. I wisely just nodded though.
“In any case, I have now answered your question, and now you will answer mine,” Cassius said. “What the hell are you doing back here? We all agreed we’d be out there as much as we could.”
“I know,” I said, stalling, looking for the right answers. Cassius, of all my brothers, could not know what I felt after the meeting. He’d read into it too much, say that he went through the same thing. Sure, sure.
Except Delilah and I had never met in person before tonight. Maybe, maybe you could say we’d been in the same room before, maybe even exchanged looks as attractive people did to one another, but I had never dated her. I’d never even touched her before about ten minutes ago.
So if there were any similarities between us and Cassius and Sarah, they would be purely superficial. But that wouldn’t matter to Cassius. He’d mock me nonstop for following in his footsteps. It wouldn’t be the first time.
“I made a deal with the journalist, Cassius,” I said, framing it as much as I could in business terms. “I promised her she could call me at any point to go on record. And in return, we’d get the favorable coverage we seek and the unfavorable coverage we need of the Morrils.”
Cassius just stared me down for what felt like a good minute, undoubtedly parsing through what I’d said.
Of all of us, his stare unnerved me the most. Lucas didn’t have much of a stare, and though Dante’s was hard, it was hot-red, not subtle.
Cassius had a way of gradually unraveling you, an icy glare that could cause even the hottest of tempers to calm down and succumb to his will.
“I have no doubt that’s the deal that you struck,” Cassius said.
“I want to know what the journalist thought she struck. You know how the good ones are, Adrian. They will make it clear matters are on their terms, they’ll be professional, and so on.
The weak ones succumb or trade sex for interviews.
But the good ones? So tell me, Adrian. What deal did she make? ”
“This is a professional deal, Adrian. That means that if we talk after sunset, we do so for business, not personal matters. I also make no promises that I will only write good things about you. The more I learn about you, the more leads I get, the more I will have to study the underbelly of the Vale family.”
Parts of the conversation, so fresh in my mind, echoed loudly in my head. Fuck. Cassius might just be right. The deal I thought I had procured might not be the deal I actually get in the end.
“She made a deal that was professional and fair,” I simply said. “You have nothing to worry about, Cassius.”
“I would agree, except I saw how you two interacted. I was in your shoes mere months ago, Adrian. I know how the game is played.”
Oh, fuck me.
Of course Cassius would keep a bit of information like that until everything was said and done. He was a Vale, after all; he knew better than to reveal critical information until it could be used as leverage.
“The way you looked at her, and even the way she looked at you, I know you want to fuck her,” Cassius continued.
“And I have no issues with that. Who you fuck is your business and yours alone. But Adrian, do me a favor and be very careful. There’s a reason women have been used as spies throughout the years, and it’s because a man fucked senseless will give up everything. ”
“What are you implying?” I growled, taking a step toward Cassius. “And are you really one to talk?”
Cassius snorted and smirked.
“I may have made a few mistakes along the way,” he said.
“You would probably argue that my still being with her is a mistake in its own right. You would be wrong, but you could argue that. However, the worst that Sarah would ever do to me was tell her fellow artist friends or paint a picture demonstrating me to be a demon. Creative and hurtful, but also easily denied. You know how artists work. They can never do anything literally. It’s too boring for them. ”
Cassius took a step forward himself. We were now all but chest to chest, staring each other down.
“A journalist is different, Adrian,” he warned.
“It’s their job to tell the full truth, to be literal in their writing and to show everything in its full form.
If you hurt her, or if you do anything to break her heart?
We will all burn as a result. I’m not saying be scared around her.
I’m not saying cower in fear of journalists.
We didn’t get this far without having some bad press.
But there’s a difference between being criticized for being too rich or negotiating terms too favorable to us versus breaking a woman’s heart.
Fuck over a city? That’s bad press. Fuck over one woman? That’s an asshole.”
I swallowed. He wasn’t wrong. Delilah had also made it very clear that she had firm boundaries, and the thing I’d learned long ago was that while women with strong boundaries were some of the best lays once those boundaries came down, trying to force those boundaries down could lead to some terrible consequences.
“I suppose if there is a way to have a happily ever after, why the fuck not?” Cassius said with a sarcastic laugh.
“But Delilah is a friend of Sarah’s. I see how she operates not just as a friend, but as a journalist. The only happily ever after you’ll get with her is a good clip to tear down the Morrils. Tread. Carefully. Adrian.”
Without waiting for me to respond, Cassius turned around and walked back to the door. I was pissed. Pissed that he was right; pissed that I couldn’t help but still want to fuck Delilah; pissed that Cassius was getting the last word.
And then, as if to rub salt into the wound, he paused at the door, turned, and smirked.
“She’s still out there, you know,” Cassius said. “The auction has another three hours to go. I’d hate to think that your first impression to her is you talk once and run away. Surely, you can be around her and handle yourself.”
Motherfucker.
Cassius smirked and left. I nearly punched the wall in frustration, pulling my punch back only at the last second.
That fucker, I swore. One of the few people who could truly get under my skin.
But gradually, I got a grip of myself. Gradually, I told myself I’d deal with his annoying ass later.
I had an auction to be present for, dressed to the highest level possible, and a journalist to be near.
I had a job to do, and no Vale ever did their job poorly.
Especially if it happened to involve a beautiful woman.