Chapter 5 Adeline
Adeline POV
My room on the island is bigger than my entire apartment back in the city, and I spend twenty minutes in the shower, scrubbing my skin raw trying to wash away the shock and panic, also the electric jolt of Percy’s hand in mine. It doesn't work. No amount of hot water can rinse off the fact that the man I slept with three weeks ago is currently downstairs, about to be family.
I stare at my reflection in the vanity mirror as I hold up the simple black dress I chose to wear. It is a dress that will make me look anything other than the horny, vulnerable girl that let a complete stranger fuck her roughly in a cheap motel room.
A knock on the door makes me jump. "Adeline, sweetheart?" Mom coos from the other side. "Dinner is in five minutes, don't be late."
"Coming," my voice is even more steady. Good.
I take a deep breath in before I open the door and go downstairs.
The dining room was probably supposed to be minimal compared to the other rooms, but the chandelier that hangs above the table looks like it will buy a dozen luxurious homes.
Richard and Mom are already seated at the head of the table close enough that his hand is on her back and her hand on his forearm. It’s a display of intimacy that makes my stomach turn. And there, sitting across from the empty chair meant for me, is Percy.
He looks uninterested in his surroundings until he looks up and locks eyes with me. For a second, the mask slips, and I see the man that was also willing to fuck a complete stranger. The man that had us both moaning and sweating.
"Adeline!" Richard booms, standing up to pull out my chair. "You look lovely. Doesn't she look lovely, Percy?"
"Thank you," I say stiffly.
"Stunning," Percy says in a polite voice, but I hear the roughness in it. "Black suits you."
I finally look at him as I sit. He’s gripping his wine glass tight enough to shatter it.
"It’s my favorite color," I say with a snide smile. "It goes with everything, especially funerals."
Mom kicks me hard under the table. "Adeline is quite the fashionista, you know, all thanks to me."
"Well, let’s eat!" Richard signals the staff, and suddenly expensive plates that I have no taste for are being placed in front of us.
The first ten minutes are a blur. Richard telling some boring stories and my mother laughing too loudly. I focus on cutting my food into tiny pieces, but I can feel Percy’s heavy gaze on me.
"So, Adeline," Richard says, turning his attention to me. "Melissa tells me you’re starting an internship in January. Royal & Associates, correct?"
My knife screeches against the china plate, and I freeze and looked at Percy who look distracted from everything we are saying.
"Yes," I manage to say. "It’s a good firm."
"A good firm? It's the best!" Richard laughs. "You must be top of your class." He gestures toward Percy with his fork. "You know, Percy is a partner at a firm too. Maybe you two will run into each other in court one day."
"It’s a big city," Percy says curtly. "I doubt our paths will cross."
"Oh, don't say that!" Mom chimes in, reaching for her wine. "I think it’s wonderful you both went into law. You already have so much in common! See, Adeline? I told you this would be good."
I take a large gulp of wine, but I don't taste it. "Hmm."
"Speaking of common interests," Richard continues, clearly oblivious to the tension in the room. "Percy was just telling me about his Thanksgiving trip. He went on a motorcycle trip. Can you believe that? My own son, riding around on a bike like a common thug."
My heart hammers against my ribs. "Is that so?"
"Yes," Richard says. "Where did you say you went again, son? He wouldn't give me any details."
I look up to see Percy looking at me with a dangerous smirk as I plead with my eyes not to tell him the details, or my mother will put the pieces together.
Percy holds my gaze as he lies smoothly. "Just a small town up north, you wouldn't know it. It was nothing memorable."
Nothing memorable. The words sting even though I know it was to protect us.
"Nothing memorable?" I challenge, the words slipping out before I can stop them. "Sounds like a waste of a trip."
Percy’s eyes narrow slightly. "On the contrary. It was… enlightening. I like being on the road."
"I prefer to be off the road," I say coolly. "Less traffic."
Richard laughs in delight. "You two are already bickering like siblings. I love it, this is a sign that both our families were meant to be. It's fate."
Mom raises her glass in a toast. "To family."
"To family." Richard echoes, looking at us expectantly. It was then that I realized I couldn't do this. I couldn't go through with the lie.
"To family," Percy says flatly. Abruptly, I stand up from my seat.
"I’m sorry but I’m not feeling too well. The flight... well, I need some air."
"Adeline?" Mom starts to stand. "Are you okay?"
"I’m fine," I snap before I soften my tone. "I’m fine, Mom. Just a headache. Please, finish dinner. I’ll just be out for some air."
I turn and walk out before they can stop me.
The humid night air hits me, and I suck in a greedy lungful of air as I listen to the ocean rise and fall.
"Running away again, Ghost?"
I knew he would come after me. "Don't call me that, not here."
Percy steps into the light of the terrace. He’s taken off his suit jacket and undone the top button of his shirt, but he still looks too polished.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asks. He stops a few feet away from me.
"Tell you what?" I turn to face him. "That my mother is a gold-digger marrying your father? I didn't know who you were! You didn't tell me your name, remember?"
"I didn't know the woman my father was marrying had a daughter."
"Well, surprise," I say bitterly.
He runs a hand through his hair, and it makes him look more like the man from the motel, and I hate how much my body responds to it.
"Adeline, this is messy." He says my name for the first time, and it sounds wrong from him.
"It’s a disaster, Percy. Do you realize what happens if they find out? My mother will lose her mind. Richard will probably disown you. This will ruin everything for them."
"I know."
"So that night never happened. You never met Ghost. I never met Rider. We are strangers who just met in the driveway two hours ago."
He takes a step closer. "You think you can just turn it off?"
"I have to."
"You could barely pull it together at dinner."
"Because I didn't want to come here. I didn't want to meet you, and I certainly didn't want to find out that the one person who actually got me is the one person I can never have."