6. Bella
— ? —
Bella
The knock on my door comes just after nine o’clock.
I’ve been sitting in the dark, wrapped in my blanket, staring out at the city lights. I’ve been thinking about Adrian, about Marcus, about everything that’s happened in the past three months.
I’ve been thinking about what I want.
When the knock sounds, I know who it is before I even open the door.
Adrian stands in the hallway, still wearing his suit from earlier, though he’s loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. He looks exhausted, his hair slightly mussed, dark circles under his eyes.
But when he sees me, his expression softens, and I feel my heart skip a beat.
“How did you know where I live?” I ask, even though I already know the answer.
Adrian has the grace to look slightly sheepish.
“I had you investigated,” he admits. “When I hired you, I needed to know everything about you. Where you lived, where you went to school, your employment history, your credit score.” He pauses.
“I know it’s an invasion of privacy. But I needed to know you were who you said you were. ”
I should be angry. I should slam the door in his face.
Instead, I find myself stepping back, letting him in.
“You had me investigated,” I repeat, closing the door behind him. “Of course you did. Because that’s what you do, isn’t it? You investigate people, you gather information, you use it to your advantage.”
“Yes,” Adrian says simply and openly. He doesn’t apologize, doesn’t try to justify it. Adrian spreads his arms wide open, as if to say he has nothing to hide, as if to say he is spreading himself open to let me in to let me see him for who he really is. “That’s what I do.”
I turn away from him, walking back to the living room. I hear him follow, his footsteps soft on my hardwood floors.
“Why are you here, Adrian?” I ask, not turning around.
Even though I knew he would never keep his word about staying away. That’s not the Adrian I’ve come to know.
“Because I couldn’t stay away,” he says quietly. “Because I needed to see you, to talk to you, to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine,” I say, though we both know it’s a lie.
“Bella, please.” Adrian’s voice is closer now, and I can feel the warmth of his presence behind me. “Please, I just want to talk.”
I turn to face him, and the vulnerability in his eyes nearly undoes me. “What do you want to talk about, Adrian? About how you manipulated me? About how you used me to get to Marcus? About how everything between us has been a lie?”
“It hasn’t been a lie,” Adrian says fiercely. “None of it has been a lie. My feelings for you - they’re real, Bella. They’ve always been real.”
“But you were going to use me,” I say, my voice breaking. “You admitted it. You said you were going to use me to get to Marcus.”
“Yes,” Adrian says. “I was. When I first offered you that job, part of my motivation was strategic. I knew you could provide insight into Marcus, into his business practices, into his weaknesses.” He takes a step closer.
“But that changed, Bella. The moment I found you on that street, the moment I saw the pain in your eyes, the moment you looked at me like I was your last hope - everything changed.”
I feel tears prick my eyes. “How am I supposed to believe that?”
“Because it’s the truth,” Adrian says. He reaches for my hands, and this time, I let him take them. “I’ve been investigating Marcus for five months. I’ve been building a case against him, gathering evidence, preparing to take him down. That was always the plan.”
“I know,” I say. “I saw the files. The investigation started before my wedding.”
Adrian nods. “It did. But finding you that day - that wasn’t part of the plan.
That was fate, or luck, or divine intervention.
I don’t know what to call it. All I know is that when I saw you running down that street in your wedding dress, bleeding and crying and so fucking beautiful it hurt to look at you - I knew I had to help you. ”
“So you offered me a job,” I say.
“I offered you a job because your goddamn name was all over this! He framed you, don’t you see?
And I didn’t want you to go to jail with him but it was more than that.
I wanted to give you a purpose,” Adrian says.
“I wanted to give you a reason to get out of bed in the morning, a reason to keep fighting. And yes, I knew that having you on my team would be an advantage in the fight against Marcus. But more than that, I wanted to be near you. I wanted to get to know you. I wanted to see if the connection I felt was real.”
“And was it?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
“It was more real than anything I’ve ever felt,” Adrian says.
He raises one of my hands to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to my knuckles.
“I’m falling in love with you, Isabella Hayes.
I’ve been since the moment I saw you. And I know I’ve made mistakes.
I know I should have told you about Marcus being the target sooner.
I know I should have been honest about my motivations from the beginning.
But please, please believe me when I say that my feelings for you have nothing to do with revenge or strategy or business.
They’re just… feelings. Pure and simple and terrifying. ”
I feel a tear slip down my cheek. “I want to believe you.”
“Then believe me,” Adrian says. He cups my face in his hands, his thumbs gently wiping away my tears. “Believe me when I say that I love you. Believe me when I say that I would do anything to protect you, to make you happy, to give you the life you deserve.”
“Even if it means destroying Marcus?” I ask.
“Especially if it means destroying Marcus,” Adrian says, his voice hard.
“He hurt you, Bella. He humiliated you, betrayed you, destroyed you. And that’s not even counting the crimes he’s committed, the lives he’s ruined, the man he had killed.
” He pauses, his eyes searching mine. “He deserves to pay for what he’s done. And I’m going to make sure he does.”
I think about David Reed, the young accountant who was killed for trying to do the right thing. I think about all the people Marcus has hurt, all the lives he’s destroyed in his quest for power and money.
I think about the way he looked at me in the conference room, with contempt and cruelty, like I was nothing.
“Are you saying you did all this because of what he did to me that day?” I ask.
Adrian is quiet for a moment, his hands still cradling my face.
“Partly,” he finally says. “But more than that, I did it because he hurt you. Because he destroyed you. And I wanted to be the one to rebuild you. I wanted to be the one to make you see your own strength, your own worth, your own incredible value.”
I feel my heart swell. “Adrian-”
“I’m going to take his business from him,” Adrian continues, his voice fierce and determined.
“I’m going to strip him of everything he’s built, everything he’s stolen.
And then I’m going to make sure he rots in prison for what he’s done.
For the embezzlement, for the bribery, for the murder.
” He leans his forehead against mine. “But I’m not doing it for revenge, Bella.
I’m doing it for justice. For David Reed, for all the people Marcus has hurt, and yes, for you.
Because you deserve to see him pay for what he did to you. ”
I close my eyes, feeling the warmth of Adrian’s breath on my face, the solid strength of his body so close to mine. “Show me,” I whisper. “Show me the evidence. Show me everything.”
We sit together on my couch, Adrian’s laptop open between us. He walks me through the investigation, showing me documents I haven’t seen before, testimony from witnesses, financial records that paint a damning picture of Marcus’s crimes.
“This is another smoking gun,” Adrian says, pulling up a series of emails. “Marcus communicated with a known hitman through an encrypted email service. He thought he was being careful, but our tech team was able to trace the messages back to his personal computer.”
I read the emails, my stomach churning. They’re coded, but the meaning is clear. Marcus ordered a hit on David Reed, and he paid fifty thousand dollars for it.
“Oh my God,” I breathe.
“There’s more,” Adrian says grimly. He shows me bank records, wire transfers, testimony from the hitman himself, who was arrested on an unrelated charge and agreed to cooperate in exchange for a reduced sentence.
The evidence is overwhelming. Even though the other night, when Adrian first brought me in on this, I found the smoking gun, Adrian had lots already. Marcus is guilty, and there’s no way he can escape this. He did it and now it’s done.
And as far as I’m concerned, so is he.
“When are you going to the authorities?” I ask.
“Soon,” Adrian says. “We’re still gathering a few more pieces of evidence, making sure the case is airtight. By tonight, we’ll turn everything over to the district attorney.”
“Tonight?” I ask, eyes wide. By soon he meant real soon.
Adrian nods grimly. “Marcus will be arrested, charged, and tried. And he will go to prison for a very long time.”
I sit back, processing everything. Marcus is going to prison. His empire is going to crumble. Everything he’s built, everything he’s stolen, will be taken away from him.
And I’m going to be part of making it happen.
“I want to help,” I say suddenly. “I want to be part of this. I want to see him pay for what he’s done.”
Adrian looks at me, his eyes searching. “Are you sure? This is going to get ugly, Bella. Marcus is going to fight back. He’s going to try to discredit us, to threaten us, to do whatever it takes to save himself.”
“I’m sure,” I say firmly. “He hurt me. He hurt so many people. And I want to be part of bringing him down.”
Adrian smiles, and it’s fierce and proud. “Then we do this together.”
“Together,” I agree.