Chapter 10
Mr. Adams’ office was irritating to be in. That was what Aria had thought when she entered, and that was what she still thinking now, even as she sat imperiously in his seat.
The leather was squishy and low, guaranteed to give her backache if she continued sitting in it, but she wasn’t doing it to be comfortable.
She tapped her fingers against the desk, pointedly ignoring the man crumpled on his knees in front of her that making small strangled noises like a cat being stepped on.
“Why are you so close to the Rothschilds?”, she asked, her eyes flame and fire piercing through his thick hide.
The man lifted his head tearily to look at her, showing her his punch-swollen face. Ugh. No. “Keep your face down and answer me!”, Aria said harshly.
Vicious satisfaction settled over her as he complied, letting out a sob in the process. If this was how Arthur felt every time he intimidated someone then it was no wonder the man still looked so handsome. His tears made her feel younger.
She probably seemed like some evil witch from the 1400s to him.
“I- I- I’ve worked with them for deca-“, he was interrupted by Aria suddenly standing up. The woman circled around his desk to stand directly beside him and he scrambled to crawl away from her, unable to stand up and run out. “M- miss Griffin, please!”
Aria furrowed her brows and sat back against the desk, trying and failing to mimic the aura Aston had exuded the day he boxed her in his study. Guess she wasn’t evil enough just yet. “Mr. Adams, we both have family to go to, I don’t know why you think wasting my own time would make yours go faster”.
“I’m telling the truth, I worked with them for decades!”, he said righteously, raising his head again. Aria pursed her lips in disgust, did he not realize how ugly he looked now?
She had hit his pressure points and proceeded to beat him up, but only on his face. He was too pudgy for her to get a good enough grip to beat him up completely, and she also wanted him unable to show his face to anyone for a few days.
Aria Griffin was many things. The griffin legacy. A disgraced heiress. The only person that could discipline Asher. Gentleness wasn’t a welcome characteristic in any of those.
“Alright. Keep it to yourself. I know where you live. I know where your family lives”, she said, pushing off against the desk and standing firmly, prepared to walk out of the office. “Never forget. My grandfather is Arthur Griffin”.
She heard the man let out another strangled noise at that. “Miss Griffin, I already told you-“
“Be quiet! If you aren’t telling me anything important then I don’t want to hear your voice. Rest assured, you won’t see tomorrow”.
Aria, of course, was bluffing. Her grandfather was still angry at her for foolishly giving in to sleeping with her stepbrother, even though she had firmly insisted she was drugged. She didn’t have nearly enough power to even find the man’s family, not to talk of ending his life. But it was best she kept that particular information to herself.
“I’ll confess!”, he squealed, like the pig he was. An evil smile crept up on Aria’s face. She definitely understood her grandfather’s aesthetic now.
“I’m listening.”
“I…I know where Liam’s mother is.”
Aria squinted. “Who doesn’t? She’s in Guatemala, probably sipping mai tais right now. Something I can’t do because you’re wasting my time. I give you three seconds Adams!”
“N-no! That’s not his real mother. Please, Mr Griffin hates me, keep me protected”, he whisper-yelled, crawling over to hold on to her legs. What the fuck. Had she scared him that badly? Although it seemed like he was more scared of her grandfather than her at that point.
“Why do you think I should believe you?”
“Because I know where his real mother is”, he said pathetically.
“I’ll bite. How?”, she asked, still completely skeptical about his nonsense.
“She’s my sister.”
Aria’s eyes widened.