Chapter 37 : I Have A Family...!?

***Rosella...***

Adrian leaves everyone sitting around the huge table in stunned silence. Dr. Singh catches my eyes and I see the mirror image of surprise that must be covering my face.

But I can't meet the man's eyes.

The man who's known as Carson.

The man who is supposedly my father.

*I have a family!?* Tears threaten to break free. *I have a fucking family!?* Adrian knew that. He knew it all along and never bothered to tell me.

“Excuse me—” I rise from my chair, heat spreading under my skin as I shake with suppressed emotions.

“Rose—” Carson mimics me, rounding the table to my side.

Before I know it, he's standing beside me, eyes glistening and red.

I lock up, shock seizing my system. He raises a trembling hand to my cheek and the tips of his fingers brush my cheek in the tenderest touch imaginable. I flinch away.

*No, no, no. Father or not, I don't know him. I don't trust him.*

“I have to go.”

I'm out of the kitchen before anyone can stop me. Too much has happened in too little time. I can't cope. I won't be able to. I need to talk to Adrian. I have to!

What has planned to do with me? Hand me back to a stranger who's my father just because he announced in his steely baritone? *Is he out of his mind?* What proof does he have to claim that the stranger in the dining room is my father?

Before I can seek him out to drill him with my questions, he finds me. His long fingers curl around my upper arm in a painful grasp as his face wedge into my sight. He doesn't give me time to gasp, simply slams me and asks me spitefully, “you had to follow me, didn't you?”

His bloodshot eyes give me a pause. My mouth opens and closes in helplessness as I try to decipher the reason behind his stormy expression. He's seriously pissed, I'm sure about that. But with me or someone else, I have no idea.

Fortifying myself with my righteous anger, I plunder over his rage with my own. “Can you blame me? You keep pushing and running away. You announced that guy is my father then left without any further explanation. What was I supposed to do? Go with him!? A possible stranger that you might have paid to play as my father, like Balthazar did.”

Dropping my glare, I shove at his chest and try to jerk out of his grasp. Tears threaten to shatter my resolve and prove just how lost and hurt I feel. *This.* This is what he does to me. He makes me go mad, then succumb to it and crash hard. But I won't give him the satisfaction this time.

*Like you have a choice.* A tiny, infuriating voice sneers in the back of my head and my jaw clenches. I double my efforts to get away from Adrian.

*But the psycho just won't let go.* My eyes brim with moisture.

“Pearl… look at me.” His voice isn't spiteful anymore. It's *worse*. It's gentle, soft, coaxing, and everything which is going to ruin me.

*Shut up!* I wish I could scream.

I try to jerk my chin away when the fingers of his other hand force my head to tilt back and leave me with no choice but to meet his eyes. His dark, electrical eyes that still leave me breathless when I peer into them.

A quiet, desperate whimper escapes me when his eyes capture mine and hold me captive against my will. My resolve dissolves at the same time, taking down my anger and frustration with it.

I crumble into his arms and let him support all of my weight. And he does. He catches me and hoists me up in his strong arms, carrying me away from prying eyes and ears as I fall apart, sobbing with my face buried in the crook of his neck. My tears open the tightly closed places inside me and unaddressed emotions flood my chest, spilling out of my eyes.

I distinctly register the opening and closing of a door before I find myself sitting across Adrian's lap as he rocks me in his arms like a baby, his fingers splayed on the back of my head and spine to keep me pressed against his warm and hard body. I cry non stop, letting the ugly tears fall, hoping this would purge me for good.

Adrian chooses silence to sooth me… and it works. The cradle of his arms and body makes me feel safe and after I've spent all of my tears and my mind is blissfully bare of any troubling thought, I pull away to look at him but I make no move to get off his lap.

“Is it true?” I rasp through the clog in my throat.

He nods and rubs his cheeks against mine to wipe away the tears.

My chin quivers again, his confirmation and small act of affection proving to be too much for my fragile heart.

He pulls my head back up to hide in his neck. “Don't cry, Pearl. Please, don't.”

I nod slightly, biting my lip and drawing in deep breaths as he shifts me on his lap in a more comfortable position, so that I can sit pressed closer to his body and wrap my arms around his neck. The intimacy of our new position calms me, but it also makes me more aware of him. My slowly thumping heart speeds up. A new kind of ache begins to throb in my chest.

I try my best to ignore it and focus on more important things. “How long have you known?”

“I've suspected it for a long time but I confirmed it last night only, when the reports came out.” He watches me, silent in his scrutiny of my face.

I nod but don't bother to ask how he got my blood sample. I remember willingly allowing Dr. Singh to take it in the hotel, after the night he bought me at the auction.

Shaking off the rush of old memories, I stare back at him. As silence settles back, I trudge through my fog-obscured brain to find reasons why I shouldn't trust him. A wry smile tugs on my lips when a flurry of good reasons comes to my mind that warn me that time and time again, he's hurt me in ways I never thought were possible. If I still want to save the scrap of sanity I've left, then I shouldn't believe him and find a way to get away.

“What are you thinking?” He eyes my curled lips suspiciously then raises his left brow in question.

I unwrap my left hand from around his neck and lift it to his face so I can trace his eyebrow with my finger. “I have no reason to trust you. I know you're capable of faking reports. I also don't get why you chose today to tell everyone.” I muse out loud as my index finger drifts down the side of his temple, over the light peppering of stubble and stops at the corner of his mouth. “Is it because of what happened last night?”

He looks up from my lips just as I lift my gaze from his mouth. We both stare at each other. Both feeling caught in the moment. My heart stutters. My breaths scatter out of pace.

That breaks the spell. I exhale and he shifts me on his lap once again, only to settle me directly between his legs. The reason that caused his pupils to dilate so quickly presses hotly into my ass.

Either he doesn't realise that I know or chooses to ignore it, I don't know. But when he speaks again, his voice comes out deep and huskier, letting me know he's not so oblivious. *Of course.*

“Yes and no. I was determined to send you away after you rejected me—” He fixes me with a warning look and I grudgingly close my mouth. “—and then I received a call from Dr. Singh that your reports were ready and I could collect them anytime. I asked her about the drugs and she confirmed that it was the same one I had suspected, just a modified version, probably the first of its production because some of the chemicals had already dissolved in your blood, their effect nullified. A usual occurrence in experiments for finding the most suitable element. I was ready to send you back to New York despite your DNA match, but I was worried that Balthazar may try to steal you again. So I thought you'd be safe with Carson without me around to protect you. He's your father after all. He's been looking for you for years. Nobody knows that. But I have my ways...”

“And you're telling me all this because…?” I drawl, only half listening to him as I take a huge liberty and move my index finger to run across his bottom lip, savouring the wet softness.

“I want you to know that even if you don't want me, probably hate me, I still care about you. Can't help but love you. And that frustrates me and makes me want to hurt you back. Force you to see how much I want you — Stop.”

I startle out of the haze induced by his sultry words at his command, my eyes shooting up from his slightly parted lips to dark, hungry eyes that threaten to devour me with their live-wire intensity. My finger freezes on his lips.

Taking advantage of my distraction, he opens his mouth and wraps his sinful lips around my finger, sucking on it before biting down. *Hard.* I yelp, jerking my hand away to nurse the sharp pain by placing my finger in my own mouth.

Scowling at him as he tries to hide his dark smile, I blurt out, “I'm not ready to go yet. If you really care about me as much as you say then go tell your Carson to give me some time to wrap my head around all this.”

“Of course, I'm sure he'll understand.” He nods solemnly, then peers at me through narrowed eyes, all playfulness gone. “You will go with him, Pearl. If not today then tomorrow. You can't stay with me.”

His tone tries to warp my plans. But I temp down my panic and nod in return. “I know.” My voice is small but steady.

“Alright. Go find Gretcha, the chef. She'll give you a warm breakfast.” He says, lifting me up to put me on my feet as he stands. “I'll go talk to my guests and see them out.”

“Okay.”

He turns to walk away, but I capture his wrist, forcing him to first look at my hand on his then at me, cobalt eyes dangerously bright.

I fight for air as I gasp out, “find me after they are gone?”

*“Pearl...”* He says my name like a warning, but I assure myself with the clench in his jaw that he would find me and let him go.

*This is my last chance.* I have to tell him how I feel. I won't be able to live with the burden of unconfessed feelings if he sent me away before that.

With that determination, I leave the guest room we had slipped into to seek out the chef while finally I allow myself to mull over the information Adrian gave me.