Chapter 4 - The Billionaire's Impossible Promise
After Ethan left, Adrian stayed.
Mia sat between us.
She looked at him.
“Are you my daddy?”
Adrian nearly choked.
“No.”
“Do you want to be?”
He looked at me.
I expected him to laugh.
He didn't.
“I don't know.”
Mia nodded thoughtfully.
“Okay.”
Then she returned to her coloring.
I stared at Adrian.
“You don't have to answer her questions.”
“I know.”
“You don't owe us anything.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you still here?”
He looked at me.
“Because someone threatened you.”
I lowered my voice.
“You don't even know me.”
“I know more than you think.”
“What does that mean?”
He hesitated.
“My father had your company watched for years.”
I froze.
“Why?”
“Because your creative work was becoming influential.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It doesn't have to.”
He looked toward Mia.
“She makes you vulnerable.”
My chest tightened.
“She's not a weakness.”
“I know.”
He smiled faintly.
“She might be your strongest asset.”
I stared.
“She's six.”
“And already understands people better than most executives.”
I laughed despite myself.
“She told you to become her daddy.”
“Yes.”
“Don't encourage her.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
A pause.
Then he said:
“But I understand why she said it.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because she sees how I look at you.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
He looked away.
I felt my face heat.
“Adrian…”
“I shouldn't have said that.”
“No.”
He stood.
“I'll go.”
I caught his wrist.
“Wait.”
He turned.
I didn't know what I wanted to say.
But I knew I didn't want him to leave.
Not yet.
He looked at my hand.
Then at me.
“You're dangerous,” he whispered.
I smiled nervously.
“Why?”
“Because you're the first person in years who makes me forget what I'm supposed to do.”
My heart raced.
Then my phone rang.
It was the police.
Ethan had been attacked.
He was alive.
Barely.
May you like
And before they took him into surgery, he had given them one message.
Richard Kane ordered it.
