Chapter 3

Adrian drove away.

The butler warmly ushered me through the front doors.

"Miss Anna, don't mind Mr. Cross looking so cold all the time. Deep down, he's actually a very kind man."

Kind?

Circling back at this hour meant he was likely smoothing out that shipment for Julian.

I knew better than anyone what was hidden in those crates.

Aiding a criminal made him cut from the exact same cloth.

How could a man like that be called kind?

I walked inside, only to find a huge birthday cake sitting right in the middle of the living room.

My chest tightened painfully.

So he remembered that I hadn't gotten to eat my cake earlier.

I ate it anyway.

Throwing all etiquette out the window, I sat right in the center of the floor, shoveling huge spoonfuls into my mouth.

It wasn't sweet at all.

A little salty, actually. Maybe from the tears streaming down my face.

The butler couldn't see my front; behind me, he just chuckled warmly, murmuring, "Miss Anna really is adorable."

When Adrian returned, I had just finished showering and was heading downstairs for water.

Seeing him walk through the door startled me.

"You... you live here too?"

Adrian spread his hands. "Where else would I live?"

"I thought..."

"You thought you were a caged bird again, locked away all alone?" Adrian glanced at the demolished cake on the table, his mood noticeably brightening. "Are you dreaming? I paid a fortune to get you. It’d be a total loss if I didn't even get to see you."

After Adrian showered, I dutifully grabbed my duvet and padded into his bedroom.

Adrian was half-dressed. Turning around and catching sight of me, he yelped, "Whoa! What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?!"

I was genuinely confused. "Aren't I supposed to sleep with you?"

Adrian slipped on his silk robe, leaving the front loosely open to reveal his toned chest.

"Are you that eager to marry me?"

"Even without marriage... aren't we supposed to sleep together?"

Silence hung in the air for a solid minute.

Trained to read every micro-expression, I caught a flicker of raw heartache in Adrian's eyes.

I didn't understand what he was pitying, just as I didn't understand why he took such a losing bargain for me in the first place.

He was supposed to be a far more terrifying monster than Julian.

In our underworld, backstabbing was everyday business, yet nobody ever dared cross Adrian Cross.

Even a snake as venomous as Julian had to trade massive favors just to move product right under his nose.

After a long pause, he gestured for me to come over.

I walked over, climbed onto the bed, and blankly began to spread my legs.

The pain I braced for never arrived. Instead, a warm blanket was wrapped snugly around my shoulders.

Adrian pulled me into his arms and murmured softly, "Anna, nobody can force you to do anything you don't want to do."

Anna.

That was the third time tonight I had heard my own name.

Before this, it had been ten years since anyone called me that.

Julian only ever called me "babe."

I even doubted he ever cared to remember what my real name was.

Babe, get over here.

Babe, again.

Babe, get rid of them for me.

Babe...

The word was always followed by an order. I only had to follow his instructions like a machine.

Yet after "Anna," the words were: Nobody can force you to do anything you don't want to do.

What kind of feeling was this?

It was as though a cold metal machine had sprouted real flesh and blood. For the first time, I felt the warmth of my own pulse.