9. Bella
— ? —
Bella
The weeks following Marcus’s arrest are a whirlwind of activity, but they’re also some of the happiest of my life.
Adrian and I fall into a rhythm - working together during the day at the office, coordinating with the district attorney’s office and Detective Morrison, and spending our evenings wrapped up in each other.
It’s during these quiet moments, away from the chaos of the investigation, that I truly fall in love with Adrian Sterling.
Not the powerful businessman or the strategic mastermind. But the man who makes me coffee every morning, who listens when I talk about my fears and doubts, who holds me when I wake from nightmares about Marcus.
The man who looks at me like I’m the most precious thing in his world. The man that seeks to protect me like I’m worthy of being protected and cherished. The man that would burn the world down for me.
My man.
One evening, about a month after Marcus’s arrest, Adrian and I are in his penthouse kitchen. He’s attempting to cook dinner - attempting being the key word - while I sit on the counter, sipping wine and watching him with amusement.
“I don’t understand,” Adrian says, frowning at the recipe on his tablet. “It says to sauté the vegetables until they’re tender. How tender is tender?”
I laugh, hopping down from the counter to peer into the pan. “They’re already tender, Adrian.”
He gives me a boyish, dumbfounded look. “Huh?”
I laugh and roll my eyes, “You’re about two minutes away from turning them to mush, babe,” I point out candidly.
“Damn it,” Adrian mutters, quickly removing the pan from the heat. “Why is cooking so damn complicated?”
“Because you’re overthinking it,” I say, taking the spatula from his hand. “Here, let me help.”
Together, we finish preparing dinner - a simple pasta dish with vegetables and grilled chicken. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s delicious, and more importantly, it’s something we made together.
“This is nice,” Adrian says as we sit down to eat. “Domestic. Normal.”
“Is that a bad thing?” I ask, twirling pasta around my fork.
“No,” Adrian says quickly. “It’s perfect.
I’ve spent so much of my life focused on work, on building my company, on winning.
I never took the time to just… be. To enjoy simple moments like this.
” He reaches across the table to take my hand.
“You’ve changed that. You’ve changed me.
” He smiles softly. “And I do mean for the better.”
I feel warmth bloom in my chest at his sincerity and kind words.
Sometimes all it takes is a kind word from the person you love to turn your day around or your mood.
“You’ve changed me too. Before I met you, I thought I knew what I wanted.
A comfortable life, a stable relationship, a predictable future.
But now I realize that’s not what I want at all. ”
“What do you want?” Adrian asks, his eyes intent on mine.
“I want passion,” I say. “I want purpose. I want to wake up every morning excited about the day ahead. I want to feel alive.” I pause, squeezing his hand. “I want it all and I want it with you.”
Adrian’s smile is slow and devastating. “You have me, Bella. You know that? I swear. You’ve had me since the moment I saw you. Even before you were running down that street in your wedding dress.”
“Have I?” I ask, my voice soft. “Because sometimes I wonder if this is all real. If what we have is genuine, or if it’s just… circumstantial. Born out of revenge and trauma.”
Adrian sets down his fork and stands, coming around the table to kneel beside my chair. He takes both of my hands in his, his expression serious.
“Bella, look at me,” he says. When I meet his eyes, he continues.
“I’ve told you this before, but I will keep telling you this as many times as I need to in order to get you to hear me.
What I feel for you has nothing to do with Marcus or revenge or circumstance,” he says clearly enunciating every word.
“Yes, the way we met was unconventional. Yes, my initial offer to hire you was partly strategic. But everything that’s happened since then - every moment we’ve shared, every conversation we’ve had, every time I’ve held you in my arms - that’s been real.
That’s been genuine. And I wanted you long before any of this started. ”
“How do I know?” I whisper, voicing the fear that’s been lurking in the back of my mind. “How do I know you’re not just saying what I want to hear?”
“Because I’m going to spend every day for the rest of my life proving it to you,” Adrian says fiercely.
“I’m going to show you, through my actions and my words and my unwavering commitment, that you are the most important thing in my world.
That I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone.
That I would do anything - anything - to make you happy. ”
Tears prick my eyes. “Adrian-”
“I love you, Isabella Hayes,” Adrian continues, his voice rough with emotion.
“I love your strength, your intelligence, your compassion. I love the way you bite your lip when you’re concentrating, the way you laugh at my terrible jokes, the way you look at me like I’m capable of being a better man than I ever thought I could be.
I love everything about you, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life making sure you never doubt that. ”
A tear slips down my cheek, and Adrian reaches up to wipe it away with his thumb. “I love you too,” I say, my voice breaking. “So much it scares me sometimes.”
“Don’t be scared,” Adrian says, standing and pulling me up with him. “Be brave. Be bold. Take this leap with me, Bella. Trust that what we have is real and worth fighting for.”
I look into his eyes and see nothing but sincerity, nothing but love. And I realize that I do trust him. Completely. Utterly.
“Okay,” I say. “I’m in. All the way.”
Adrian’s smile is brilliant. He cups my face in his hands and kisses me, deep and passionate and full of promise. I melt into him, my arms wrapping around his neck, my body pressing against his.
“Bedroom,” Adrian murmurs against my lips. “Now.”
I don’t argue. “Yes, boss.”
He laughs breathlessly. “God, I love it when you call me that.”
Later, as we lie tangled together in Adrian’s bed, our bodies slick with sweat and our hearts still racing, I trace patterns on his chest with my fingertips.
“Can I ask you something?” I say quietly.
“Anything,” Adrian replies, his hand stroking my hair.
“The murder,” I say, and I feel Adrian tense slightly beneath me. “David Reed. Do you really think Marcus ordered it? Do you think he’s capable of that level of evil?”
Adrian is quiet for a long moment. When he finally speaks, his voice is heavy. “Yes. I do.”
“How can you be so sure?” I ask.
“Because I’ve seen what Marcus is capable of,” Adrian says.
“I’ve seen the way he operates, the way he views other people as obstacles to be removed rather than human beings with value.
David Reed was a threat to Marcus’s empire, to his freedom.
And Marcus eliminated that threat the only way he knew how. ”
I shiver, despite the warmth of Adrian’s body against mine. “It’s hard to believe I almost married him. That I thought I knew him.”
“You knew the version of himself he wanted you to see,” Adrian says. “The charming, successful businessman. The devoted fiancé. But that was a mask, Bella. The real Marcus - the one who bribes officials and orders murders - that’s who he’s always been. He just hid it well.”
“Do you think he ever loved me?” I ask, voicing a question that’s been haunting me.
Adrian shifts to look at me, his expression serious. “I don’t know if Marcus is capable of love. I think he’s capable of possession, of wanting to own things and people. But love? Real, selfless, genuine love? No. I don’t think so.”
The words hurt, but they also bring a strange sense of relief. Because if Marcus never loved me, then I didn’t lose anything real when he left me at the altar. I lost an illusion, a fantasy.
“But I love you,” Adrian continues, his hand cupping my cheek. “And what I feel for you is nothing like what Marcus felt. I don’t want to possess you or control you. I want to stand beside you, support you, build a life with you. I want to be your partner in every sense of the word.”
“You are,” I say, leaning in to kiss him. “You’re everything I never knew I needed.”
We make love again, slower this time, more tender. And afterward, as I drift off to sleep in Adrian’s arms, I feel a sense of peace and contentment I’ve never experienced before.
This is what love is supposed to feel like. Safe and exciting all at once. Comfortable and thrilling. A partnership built on trust and respect and genuine affection.
This is real.
The next morning, Adrian and I are having breakfast on his terrace, enjoying the view of the city, when his phone rings. He glances at the screen and frowns.
“It’s Detective Morrison,” he says, answering the call. “Detective. What can I do for you?”
I watch Adrian’s expression shift from curiosity to concern to anger as he listens to whatever Detective Morrison is saying.
“When?” Adrian asks sharply. “How did this happen?”
My stomach drops. Something is wrong.
“Understood,” Adrian says. “We’ll be there in an hour.” He ends the call and looks at me, his expression grim.
“What is it?” I ask, my heart racing.
“Marcus made bail,” Adrian says. “His lawyers found a judge who was willing to set bail at five million dollars. Marcus posted it this morning. He’s out.”
Fear floods through me, cold and sharp. “He’s out? But I thought - I thought he was being held without bail.”
“He was,” Adrian says, his jaw tight with anger.
“But his lawyers filed an appeal, argued that Marcus isn’t a flight risk because of his business ties to the city.
The judge agreed and set bail.” He stands, his hands clenched into fists.
“This is bad, Bella. Marcus is desperate and dangerous. We need to be careful.”
“What do we do?” I ask, standing as well.