Chapter 15 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW ADRIEN'S HEART|
The threat arrived in an encrypted message at six in the morning.
Richard Sloane demanded a meeting at an abandoned office building downtown. If Adrien refused, Richard would release documents implicating senior members of the Voss organization in financial crimes and violent operations.
The message included a warning.
Come alone, or the people you love will discover what your empire is really built on.
Adrien forwarded the message to Margaret Ellis and the lead detective.
Then he called Maya.
“We're not going to the meeting without the police.”
Maya sounded relieved.
“Good. I'll coordinate with them.”
Clare entered the study while Adrien was reviewing the documents.
“What happened?”
He explained the threat without hiding the details.
She listened carefully.
“Are you afraid the documents are real?”
“Yes.”
“Are they?”
“Some of them may be. Others could be incomplete or deliberately misleading. I don't know yet.”
Clare sat opposite him.
“What will you do if they expose things you've done?”
Adrien looked at her.
“Cooperate with the investigation.”
“Even if it costs you the company?”
“Yes.”
She studied his face.
“That's a different answer from the one you would have given me a month ago.”
He nodded.
“A month ago, I would have tried to stop the documents from becoming public. I would have told myself I was protecting my employees, my family, and the people who depended on the company.”
“And now?”
“Now I understand that hiding wrongdoing doesn't protect anyone. It only gives the people responsible more power.”
Clare looked down at her hands.
“I want to believe you.”
“I know.”
“But I'm still frightened of what your world might do to Noah.”
Adrien moved closer.
“Then we will keep building a life that doesn't depend on my world.”
She looked up.
“You can't simply walk away from everything.”
“No. But I can change how I live, how I do business, and what I'm willing to tolerate.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Clare reached across the desk and took his hand.
“I don't need you to be a perfect man, Adrien. I need you to be an honest one.”
He squeezed her fingers gently.
“That's what I'm trying to become.”
Later that afternoon, Lily joined them in the garden. She had begun seeing a trauma counselor and was slowly returning to her university classes.
She carried two cups of tea and sat beside Clare.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“Why did you run toward me that night?”
Clare considered the question.
“I saw someone who needed help.”
“But you knew you could get hurt.”
“Yes.”
“Weren't you scared?”
“Terrified.”
Lily looked confused.
“Then how did you do it?”
Clare smiled sadly.
“Being scared doesn't always mean you should run away. Sometimes it means you have to decide what matters more than your fear.”
Lily stared at the tea in her hands.
“I keep thinking about how close I came to dying.”
“That's understandable.”
“And I keep thinking about how Adrien would have blamed himself forever.”
Clare looked toward the study window, where Adrien was speaking with Maya.
“He might have.”
“He would have. He thinks he has to protect everyone.”
Clare nodded.
“Sometimes people who love us become so afraid of losing us that they forget we need room to live.”
Lily smiled.
“You sound like you know something about my brother.”
“I know he worries too much.”
“He likes you.”
Clare almost spilled her tea.
“Lily.”
“I'm just saying.”
“Your brother and I are friends.”
“Of course.”
The teasing expression on Lily's face suggested she did not believe that for a second.
That evening, Adrien returned from a meeting with the police.
Richard's proposed meeting had been identified as a possible trap. Investigators would arrange surveillance and attempt to secure the evidence without putting anyone at unnecessary risk.
Adrien sat beside Clare in the garden.
“It's strange,” he said. “I spent years believing love was the thing that made a man vulnerable.”
Clare looked at him.
“And now?”
“Now I think refusing to love anyone is another way of being afraid.”
She smiled.
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It has been.”
He turned toward her.
“Clare, when this is over, I want to take you somewhere that has nothing to do with my family, my business, or my enemies.”
“Like where?”
“Anywhere you choose.”
She thought for a moment.
“A little café near the lake. Somewhere with ordinary coffee and no security guards.”
Adrien smiled.
“Done.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“You're not buying the café.”
“No.”
“Or the building.”
“No.”
“Or hiring someone to watch the parking lot.”
He hesitated.
Clare laughed.
“Progress, Adrien.”
He leaned closer.
“May I kiss you?”
Her smile softened.
“Yes.”
The kiss was gentle, tentative, and nothing like the dramatic gestures she had once imagined powerful men were capable of making.
When they separated, Adrien rested his forehead against hers.
May you like
For the first time, he did not feel the need to own the moment or control what came next.
He simply wanted to stay.
