Chapter 26 IMPOSSIBLE CHOICES
POV: Selena
The car door slammed shut behind me, and only then did I realize I was shaking.
Not a small tremor. Not nerves.
My whole body shook like it was trying to tear itself apart from the inside.
“Breathe,” Adrian said from the driver’s seat. “Selena. Look at me.”
I tried. My chest burned when I pulled air in, like my lungs were full of broken glass.
“I can’t,” I whispered. “He knows about my mother.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened. He drove faster, eyes fixed on the road, hands steady on the wheel even as everything else fell apart.
“I know,” he said. “That’s why we’re not going home.”
The city lights blurred past the windows. Every shadow felt like a threat. Every red light felt like a trap.
“You said public places were safe,” I said, my voice cracking. “He followed us anyway.”
“Thornton doesn’t care about safe,” Adrian replied. “He cares about control.”
My fingers dug into the seat. “What if he hurts her? What if he’s already—”
“He hasn’t,” Adrian said sharply. “I would know.”
“How?” I demanded. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Because the moment he touches your mother,” Adrian said, “he loses leverage. And Thornton never gives up leverage.”
That didn’t make me feel better.
That made me feel hunted.
We drove in silence for several minutes. My phone buzzed again. Unknown number.
I didn’t answer.
“I can’t do this,” I said suddenly. “I can’t destroy my family just to prove I’m right.”
Adrian glanced at me. “You’re not destroying anything. He is.”
“I don’t care who’s responsible,” I snapped. “If my mother gets hurt, none of this matters.”
He pulled into a secure underground garage and cut the engine.
“Listen to me,” he said, turning fully toward me. “You don’t have to choose.”
I laughed, sharp and humorless. “Everyone keeps saying that. But there is always a choice. And it always costs something.”
“Yes,” he said quietly. “And I’m saying I will pay that cost with you.”
I looked at him then. Really looked.
His face was tense, eyes dark with something fierce and unyielding. Not obligation. Not politics.
Determination.
“What are you proposing?” I asked.
“We bring your mother here,” he said. “Tonight.”
My breath caught. “To the estate?”
“Yes.”
“That puts her closer to danger,” I said.
“It puts her under protection,” he countered. “Security you can’t buy. People Thornton can’t touch without consequences.”
I shook my head. “She won’t understand. She’ll be terrified.”
“She’ll be alive,” he said.
Silence pressed in around us.
“I don’t want her anywhere near your family,” I whispered.
“That stopped being an option the moment Thornton learned her name,” Adrian replied. “Selena, please. Trust me.”
Trust.
The word scared me more than any threat.
But the alternative scared me more.
“Okay,” I said finally. “But if anything happens to her—”
“It won’t,” he said. “I swear it.”
My mother arrived just before midnight.
I watched her step out of the car, clutching her purse like a lifeline, eyes wide and uncertain as she took in the size of the estate, the lights, the guards.
“Mija?” she called. “What is this place?”
I rushed to her, wrapping my arms around her before she could ask more questions.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I know this is scary.”
She pulled back, cupping my face, worry etched deep into her features. “Are you in trouble?”
I hesitated.
“Yes,” I said.
Her mouth tightened. “What kind?”
Before I could answer, Adrian stepped forward.
“Mrs. Alvarez,” he said respectfully. “I’m Adrian De Luca.”
She looked at him, then back at me.
Something shifted in her gaze.
She saw it.
The way I stood closer to him without thinking. The way my body relaxed when he spoke.
Her eyes softened, then sharpened.
“Oh,” she said quietly.
We led her inside, explaining in pieces. That there was danger. That powerful people were involved. That this was temporary.
She listened without interrupting, her hand never leaving mine.
“I raised you to be careful,” she said when we finished. “But I also raised you to be brave.”
Tears burned my eyes. “I didn’t want you dragged into this.”
She smiled sadly. “You didn’t drag me. You protected me.”
Her gaze flicked to Adrian again.
“And you,” she said. “You care for my daughter.”
Adrian didn’t dodge it. “Yes.”
Rosa studied him for a long moment, then turned to me.
“Mija,” she said softly. “You’re in love with him.”
My heart stopped.
“What?” I choked. “No. Mama, it’s not like that.”
She squeezed my hand. “I know that look. I wore it once.”
I opened my mouth to deny it.
Before I could, footsteps echoed behind us.
“Adrian,” a cool voice said. “Your father wants to see you. Alone.”
Victoria De Luca stood in the doorway, her expression polite and sharp all at once.
My stomach dropped.
Adrian stiffened. “Now?”
“Yes,” she replied. Her gaze flicked to my mother, then back to me. Measuring. Judging.
“How touching,” Victoria added. “Family reunions in the middle of scandals.”
Adrian hesitated, looking at me.
“I’ll be back,” he said quietly.
I nodded, fear curling tight in my chest.
As he walked away with his mother, Rosa leaned closer to me.
“This world,” she whispered, “it eats people alive.”
“I know,” I said.
She squeezed my hand. “Just don’t let it take your heart too.”
I wasn’t sure I still had control over that.
In the study across the hall, voices rose.
I couldn’t hear words clearly, but I recognized the tone. Anger. Pressure. Authority.
Rosa sat beside me, silent but alert.
“They don’t like you,” she said calmly.
“I don’t like them either,” I replied.
She smiled faintly.
Minutes passed. Then more.
Finally, the door opened.
Adrian stepped out, his face hard, his expression unreadable.
Victoria lingered behind him, eyes cold as glass.
“This arrangement cannot continue,” she said, addressing no one and everyone at once. “You are risking everything.”
Adrian didn’t flinch. “I’m choosing what matters.”
Victoria’s gaze landed on me. “Be careful what you inspire, Miss Alvarez. Men like my son destroy worlds when they believe they’re in love.”
She turned and left.
Rosa exhaled slowly. “She’s dangerous.”
“Yes,” I said.
Adrian crossed the room and stopped in front of me.
“We’re not backing down,” he said. “No matter what they threaten.”
I searched his face. “Even if it costs you your family?”
He didn’t hesitate. “I’ve already lost them once.”
My chest tightened.
Somewhere in the distance, a phone rang.
And I knew, deep in my bones, that this war was only beginning.