Mia could still feel the ghost of Julian's smirk lingering on her skin as she stepped out of the elevator and into the penthouse. The entire ride home from the gala had been a quiet, suffocating war. Adrian had driven them in complete silence, shoulders tight, jaw locked, eyes fixed forward like he was gripping the world by its throat.
She didn't dare speak.
He didn't dare look at her.
And yet the air between them crackled; she could feel the anger rolling off him in hot, controlled waves.
The door clicked shut behind them.
Adrian shrugged off his suit jacket with one sharp, irritated movement.
Mia kicked off her heels with less grace but twice the resentment.
She could still hear Julian's voice:
"Men like Adrian don't fall. They take. And they destroy."
And she could still see the way Adrian had stepped between them, possessive, territorial, dangerous in a way that didn't make sense.
She hadn't asked him to defend her.
She didn't want him to care.
And yet, a tiny, traitorous part of her had burned when he did.
She crossed her arms. "So, you're not going to say anything?"
Adrian didn't turn. He was pacing, slow and controlled, like a panther fighting the urge to pounce.
"There is nothing to say," he replied, voice low.
"Oh, there's plenty to say," Mia shot back. "You acted like you wanted to strangle Julian on the spot."
He exhaled a humorless laugh. "If I wanted to strangle him, Mia, he wouldn't be standing. I showed restraint."
"Restraint?" she repeated, incredulous. "That wasn't restraint. That was…."
But he cut her off, turning in one swift, sharp movement.
"Why were you even talking to him?"
Mia blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
His eyes, dark, stormy, hungry and locked onto hers.
"You heard me."
She stepped closer, anger bubbling instantly. "Julian came to me. I wasn't seeking him out."
"You could've walked away," Adrian bit out.
"Oh, so now I need permission to stand in my own skin?"
He stepped forward. "That man hurts you."
"You hurt me too."
That stopped him.
The air shifted.
He stared at her, chest rising in slow, measured breaths like he was fighting something inside himself.
"Mia…" His voice dropped. "This isn't the same."
"Isn't it?"
She moved past him, needing distance before she said something stupid, but Adrian grabbed her wrist.
Not hard.
Not controlling.
Instinctively.
"Mia, I—"
"Let go of me."
He did. Immediately. But something sparked in his eyes, something molten and unguarded.
"You let him get inside your head," Adrian said. "You let him talk to you like you were…"
"Like what?" she snapped. "Like a human? Because you certainly don't."
His jaw clenched. "You think I don't see you as a human?"
"Sometimes I'm not sure you see me at all."
Silence engulfed them.
Heavy.
Irreversible.
Adrian's chest rose, then fell. "Mia… I see you more than I should."
She froze.
Those words.
The honesty in them.
It was too raw. Too striking. Too dangerous.
"Adrian…" Her voice faltered. "…what are we doing?"
"I don't know," he whispered. "But whatever it is, it's driving me insane."
He turned away, running a hand through his hair like he was trying to tear out the tension — then faced her again, eyes hot with something unspoken.
"You let him get to you," he said again, softer now. "You let him make you doubt yourself."
"And you don't?" she whispered.
He looked like she had slapped him.
So she kept going, her voice trembling with a cocktail of anger and vulnerability.
"You push me, Adrian. You corner me. You challenge me until I break. And then you act furious when someone else touches a bruise you left."
His breath caught.
"Mia…"
"No," she said. "We can't keep doing this. We can't keep pretending we're on opposite sides when everything between us is…."
She stopped herself.
But he heard it anyway.
"Everything between us is what?" he asked, stepping forward. "Go on."
She swallowed. Hard.
"Chaos," she whispered.
He closed the distance between them in one slow, devastating step. "You think I don't know that?"
His voice was a gravelled confession.
"You think I don't feel it?" he continued. "Every time you walk into a room? Every time you speak to someone else?"
He exhaled sharply. "Every time Julian touches your damn hand?"
Mia's stomach flipped.
"That's not part of the contract," she managed.
"No," he murmured. "It's not."
He reached up slowly, like he expected her to pull away and brushed a strand of hair from her face.
A simple touch.
Barely there.
But it set every nerve in her body on fire.
"Adrian…" she whispered.
His hand hovered at her cheek, not touching now, just waiting.
"Tell me not to," he said. "And I'll stop."
She should say it.
She knew she should say it.
They had rules. Walls. A contract made of cold ink and colder intentions.
But she couldn't lie to herself, not anymore.
she breathed.
And that was it.
Adrian pulled her in with a force that felt inevitable, like gravity, like destiny, like every moment since they met had been pulling them toward this exact collision.
Their lips met.
There was nothing gentle about it.
This was not a polite, careful kiss.
This was;
Anger.
Relief.
Possession.
Want.
His lips claimed hers with a hunger she felt down to her bones. She grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him closer, kissing him back with equal fire.
He groaned, a low, guttural sound that melted into her and deepened the kiss. His hand slid to her waist; her breath caught. Her fingers curled at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer, closer, like she needed him to breathe.
Adrian broke the kiss only to whisper against her mouth;
"Tell me this means nothing, Mia."
A challenge.
A dare.
She kissed him again instead, soft this time, like a confession.
He inhaled sharply, almost like the gentleness hurt him more than the heat.
"Mia…" His forehead rested against hers. "We can't do this."
"I know."
But neither of them stepped back.
He cupped her jaw, thumb brushing her lower lip where his kiss had swollen it.
"This changes everything," he murmured.
"I know," she whispered.
Another silence.
One that said all the things neither of them dared voice.
He stepped away first. Just one step but it felt like a chasm opening between them.
"We crossed a line tonight," he said, tone guarded now.
Mia nodded, heart still racing. "I know."
"We can't cross it again."
But the way he said it told her he already knew they would.