Chapter 24: Ashes and Evidence
Adrian
I don’t waste any time.
As soon as I throw on my jeans and drag a shirt over my head, I turn to Bianca—who is still lounging in my bed like she belongs there—and my patience snaps like dry crackling.
“What the hell did you give me Bianca ?" I yell at her .
She doesn’t even blink. “Don’t be so dramatic Adrian darling . It was just something to calm you down. You were spiraling.”
“Spiraling?” I bark. “You drugged me, Bianca. Don’t twist this into some Florence Nightingale fantasy. I don’t remember a damn thing after that drink.”
She sits up slowly, pulling the sheet around her like she’s the wronged party. “You weren’t exactly resisting.”
“You think that makes it okay?” I slam my hand against the wall, next to her head and she flinches—but only for a second before the smug mask returns.
“I did what I had to do. You were slipping away. I couldn’t just sit back and watch that black bitch take you away from the baby and I .”
“You never had me to begin with ." I snap. “We ended a while ago and it was never anything more then sex for me. Not that the sex was even that great to begin with. You’re delusional if you thought this would fix anything.”
"And don't you dare bring Selenes race into this, she could be green for all I care , it wouldn't make a difference. All I see when I look at her is the woman I'll give everything up for a chance to spend the rest of my life with her."
She stands now, stalking towards me like a predator, her voice silk over poison. “She isn’t right for you. You know it. You’re meant to be with someone who understands the life you live. Someone like me.”
“No,” I say, voice low and deadly. “I’m meant to be with someone I love and trust . You just made sure that will never be you, Selene is beautiful, intelligent, fantastic in bed and has already made me fall in love with her without even trying .”
Before she can respond, my phone buzzes again. Jonathan.
This time, I answer. “You said Selene flew to New York with John?”
“You tell me, man. You’re the one caught in bed with the devil.”
“I didn’t touch her,” I grit out. “I swear to God, Jonathan, I was drugged. She set this whole thing up.”
There’s silence on the line. Then a cautious, “You sure?”
“I’m not an idiot,” I hiss. “One drink. One. After that, nothing. I woke up and she was next to me, and there’s a video—she planned this.”
A knock sounds at the door, I throw it open and am surprised to see Jonathan.
I step aside and he steps in, taking one look at me—hair a mess, eyes wild, shirt half-buttoned—and exhales like he already knows this is about to get worse before it gets better.
“She’s still here?” he asks.
“In the bedroom,” I nod.
Bianca appears in the hallway doorway, robe tied loosely around her waist, all sugar and poison. “Oh, look who decided to play babysitter.”
Jonathan ignores her completely, stepping further into the suite. “You need to think about this logically, Adrian. If she drugged you, there will be traces in your system. Let’s get to the hospital now for some blood tests.”
Bianca laughs, and it grates on my skin. “Oh please. Now you’re going to try and spin this into some poor Adrian narrative?, he wanted to sleep with me.”
“You recorded us,” I say, stepping toward her. “You framed the shot with that calendar in the background. You planned this. What did you use to knock me out? Something from your last pharma gig?”
Her lips twitch. Just slightly. And that’s all the confirmation I need.
Jonathan catches the look too. “We need to go. Now.”
I grab my jacket and phone, and without another word, we leave her standing there, her smile slipping for the first time.
Down in the lobby, Jonathan walks beside me in silence until we’re out of earshot of anyone .
“She’s not just trying to sabotage you,” he says finally. “She’s trying to end your career. Your relationship. Everything. I warned you about her and you couldn't keep your cock out of her. ”
“I know.”
“Then you better be ready to play dirty,” he adds. “Because women like Bianca? They don’t back down just because they get caught, and you can bet that she will use the baby as leverage, that's if that baby is even yours . .”
I nod grimly, already scrolling through my contacts. I need a lawyer. A crisis manager. A blood test. A timeline.
. And a paternity test.
And then I need to find a way to get to Selene.
Because I won’t lose her over a lie.
Not like this. And certainly not to John Wickem.
because I can bet anything, that vulture is circling in after my woman .
Im terrified of what will happen between them, especially after that video. She thinks I left her place and went straight to sleep with Bianca . "FUCK," I yell . Everything is such a mess . I can't believe how the best thing I've ever had just slipped through my fingers .
I turn to my brother and ask him "Can you call Selene and please tell her what's happening ?, she won't want to speak to me after that video... hell I wouldn't want to speak to me if I didn't know what happened".
Jonathan agrees to try and get a hold of Selene, but thinks we need to run some tests so that we have proof for Selene. I arrange a visit to a lab to have my blood drawn and tested .