Chapter 69
The door clicked shut behind Rico, his footsteps fading down the marble corridor. The silence that followed felt unbearable — thick, and hard to breathe in, lingering long after the chaos.
Lucia straightened from where she’d been frozen outside the office. She had heard everything. Every word. Every tone.
Rico’s voice cut through the silence behind her.
“Bitch.”
The word came out sharp, spat with venom. He didn’t even bother to lower his voice as he brushed past her, the smell of his cologne mixing with the sting of humiliation. Lucia flinched but said nothing. She watched him walk away, his stride angry, and heavy with something close to guilt.
She took a shaky breath, gathered herself, and pushed open Adrian’s office door.
Inside, Adrian was still standing exactly where Rico had left him — beside the desk, one hand resting against it, his face covered with anger. The only movement was the faint ticking of the clock on the wall.
Lucia stepped in quietly, closing the door behind her. She didn’t speak right away. She just looked at him, searching his face.
When she finally found her voice, it came out softer than she intended.
“You bought that dress,” she said, her tone fragile but curious. “So expensive… but why?”
Adrian didn’t look up immediately. He turned slightly, his eyes still fixed on the desk as though weighing his answer.
Lucia took another step forward. “And why did you tell Rico to return everything in his possession?”
That made him look at her. His eyes met hers — steady, piercing, controlled. “Were you eavesdropping, Lucia?”
Her heart stuttered. She swallowed hard. “No, I— I was just passing by and I heard—”
Adrian’s silence cut her excuse short. He didn’t say anything, just walked past her, his expression distant, and sat down. The chair creaked softly under his weight.
The air between them thickened. Lucia fidgeted, unsure what to do with her hands. She clasped them together in front of her, forcing herself to speak again.
“Won’t this cause a problem?” she asked finally. “Telling him to return everything like that… won’t it make him suspicious? Won’t it make Rico know that you already know something?”
Adrian leaned back slowly, his eyes distant. “That’s what I want.”
Lucia frowned. “What?”
“I did it deliberately,” he said, his tone calm but heavy. “I want to see how far he’ll go when he feels cornered. Rico’s the kind of man who only shows his hand when he’s pushed. He’s dangerous when provoked, but that’s exactly when he slips.”
Lucia felt her pulse quicken. “You’re… baiting him?”
Adrian’s lips curved slightly — . “In a way. I know how Rico operates. I trained him myself. He thinks he’s unpredictable, but he isn’t. Not to me.”
Lucia was quiet for a moment, taking it all in. “But what if he reacts violently? What if he does something reckless?”
Adrian’s gaze lifted to her, calm as ice. “Then I’ll know I was right about him.”
Lucia exhaled, shaking her head slowly. “Mr Adrian, this isn’t a game.”
“I know,” he said quietly. “It’s survival. I can't just sit and watch things go wrong under me”
That answer chilled her more than any threat could. He spoke with such quiet conviction that it left no room for doubt.
Adrian’s fingers tapped the edge of the desk once, a habit he had when he was thinking. “If this leads me to the truth about Miguel — about what really happened to him and to this company — then I’m fine with it.”
Lucia’s heart twisted at the mention of Miguel. Her eyes softened. “You really cared about him, didn’t you?”
Adrian’s gaze shifted slightly, his tone gentling. “Miguel was my right hand. He treated this company better than some men treat their own blood. He never once stepped out of line. His death…” He trailed off, the word catching like a shard of glass in his throat. “His death was… undeserved.”
Lucia’s voice wavered. “Then why now? Why help me suddenly with Miguel’s case after months of ignoring it?”
Adrian hesitated. For a long moment, he didn’t speak. He looked away, his jaw working slightly, the faintest tremor in his composure.
“He deserves justice,” he said finally. “That’s all.”
But they both knew that wasn’t all.
There was something else in his eyes — something unsaid, something that made her chest tighten.
Lucia studied him quietly, her voice softer now. “You could have left it alone. You have enough on your plate. Yet you’re taking risks… with Rico, with the company. You don’t take risks unless it means something.”
Adrian didn’t answer.
“Why are you doing this, really?” she pressed. “Why help me?”
He looked at her then, — and for a brief second, the guard slipped.
The silence stretched, heavy with what he wasn’t saying. His eyes flicked from hers to her lips, then back again, and he quickly looked away.
When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter, and lower. “Because Miguel was loyal,” he said. “And because you remind me of him. Honest. Stubborn. Always asking why.”
Lucia smiled faintly, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “That’s not it.”
He didn’t respond. His silence said more than words could.
She could feel it — the unspoken weight between them. The air felt charged, almost trembling like there was this pull between them.
Lucia took a small step closer to his desk. “You don’t have to do this alone,” she said softly.
“I’m not,” he replied, his voice still even. “You’re here. I mean you came for this right?”
Her breath hitched slightly. The way he said it — simple, matter-of-fact — hit deeper than it should have.
Adrian stood then, moving around the desk, his presence filling the space between them. He stopped close, close enough that she could catch the faint scent of his cologne — cedar and smoke. His expression remained calm, but his eyes were softer now.
Lucia’s heart was racing.
He reached for a file on the edge of the desk but didn’t immediately pick it up. For a second, his hand lingered too close to hers. She could feel the warmth radiating off him, and it unnerved her.
“Lucia,” he said quietly, his tone soft but gentler than before, “I need you to be careful from now on. Don’t go anywhere alone. Don’t trust anyone unless I say so.”
Her voice trembled. “really, why that?”
His jaw tightened. “Especially not Rico.”
Lucia nodded slowly, her fingers twisting together. “And you?” she asked before she could stop herself. “Can I trust you?”
Adrian met her eyes again. “You already are.”
Her breath caught. She didn’t know what to say. There was something in his tone — something that made her pulse thrum harder in her throat.
He finally turned away, breaking the moment, and sat back down behind his desk. He was trying to hide the tension he himself couldn’t ignore.
Lucia hesitated for a few seconds, then slowly walked around to stand in front of him.
“Mr Adrian,” she began, her voice low and trembling with emotion, “I don’t know what all this means yet, or how deep it goes. But thank you. For everything. For not giving up on Miguel. For… believing me when no one else did.”
He didn’t respond right away. He just looked at her — his eyes scanning her face as though memorizing it.
Lucia’s throat tightened. She reached out, hesitant at first, then placed her hand lightly over his.
The contact was soft, uncertain, but it felt like electricity.
Adrian froze. For a second, he couldn’t breathe. It was ridiculous — he’d been in rooms with men who held guns to his head, and he’d never once lost his composure. But one touch from her and he felt like his chest might give out.
Lucia’s eyes shimmered. “Thank you, Mr. Adrian,” she whispered, her voice breaking slightly.
Adrian blinked, as though the sound of it pulled him back. He inhaled slowly, forcing his heartbeat to be steady. Then, almost too quickly, he withdrew his hand.
“It’s fine,” he said, his tone clipped, almost dismissive — but his voice wasn’t as steady as he wanted it to be.
Lucia’s hand dropped to her side. For a second, she just stood there, the air heavy between them again. She wanted to say something else — to ask him if he felt what she did, if she wasn’t imagining this pull between them — but the words refused to come.
So she just nodded instead. “Okay.”
Adrian didn’t look at her. He turned to the window, his expression set back into that practiced calmness. “Get some rest,” he said quietly. “Tomorrow, we are setting out somewhere.”
Lucia hesitated a moment longer, her heart still beating too fast. Then she turned and walked to the door.
She paused before opening it, her hand lingering on the handle. She wanted to say something, anything — to break the silence that now felt like a wall between them — but she couldn’t.
So she just opened the door and stepped out.
The hallway was empty.
As soon as the door closed behind her, she leaned against it, her back pressed to the cool wood. Her eyes fluttered shut as she exhaled shakily, her chest rising and falling.
She rubbed at the space over her heart as if trying to calm it. “What are you doing, Lucia?” she whispered to herself.
Because she knew.
She was starting to feel something — something she shouldn’t — for a man like Adrian.
A man who was too controlled, too unreadable, too dangerous.
And yet, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop herself from falling.