UNRAVELED DECEPTION

Samantha's POV As Adrian guided me down one of the narrow halls from the ballroom, away from the wary glances and stifling atmosphere, I could feel my pulse pounding. His pace was relentless, as if he were attempting to flee his own wrath; his hold on my hand was strong but soft. Not for any of us, I knew tonight was not done. The way Victor had looked at me, the veiled threat in his eyes, stayed in my head and I could feel Adrian's boiling resentment slithering off him. Following the loud buzz of the party, the silence of the corridor seemed disturbing. When I at last pulled my hand free, he stopped to look at me. His teeth were clenched, his gaze keen enough to astound me. "Adrian, we need to talk," I replied, maintaining a calm voice while still feeling as though my heart were in my throat. He turned, raking a hand through his hair, his eyes black with resentment and something else—a vulnerability he was trying hard to hide. "We do, but not right here. Not with Victor prowling at every turn searching for means of access to your skull. "It's not just Victor, Adrian," I murmured as our secrets weighed down on me. "We are the ones. We have to decide what we are doing for Leo. His name soothed him, just little. Leo He inhaled, looking aside as if he were grounding himself, then turned back to meet me with a gentler but still agonizing look. Samantha, we travel through this together. But Victor knows too much; we cannot let him weigh over us. Then let's be honest with each other, I urged myself to speak what I had been suppressing. "Why didn't you share with me Elena?" Though fleeting, his eyes clearly showed the flutter of surprise. He retreated, allowing my inquiry to lie between us. "It was a long time ago," he murmured at last, his voice wary. "But I will tell you everything. Simply not here. I nodded, realizing in this chilly, deserted corridor we were both carrying more than we could have admitted. Once more, he reached for my hand, his fingers entwined with mine, this time more softly, almost as if he were terrified of what he would discover in my answer. Avoiding the wary looks of visitors still lingering at the ballroom's perimeter, we turned back toward the great exit. Outside, Adrian guided me toward the waiting automobile, the cool night air providing a respite. Though the silence in the car was unsettling, I felt curiously safe in his company since we would eventually be confronting whatever occurred next together. The city lights flowed in through the windows, creating shadows over the walls when we arrived at his penthouse. Adrian glanced out over the skyline, his hands in his pockets, his profile carved with the kind of determination that made me want to reach for him. He said gently, "I never wanted you involved in this." None of it, not with Victor, not with Elena. "Adrian, nothing you can shield me from. Not when we are already living this together. My pulse thumping, I moved forward to try to close the distance between us. He turned to face me, his eyes scanning mine as though he were hunting for an answer he wasn't sure he would come upon. "I apologize; I know as well. Though I intended to keep you and Leo safe, I now understand that suppressing things just made matters worse. His voice broke something inside of me, and before I realized it I was stretching up to cup his face and staring him in the eye. "Tell me the truth, Adrian," said Every bit of it. No more secrets, no more hiding, I said, my voice straying with the weight of my own anxieties. He paused, his jaw clenching as he battled his own barriers. Then, as if something inside him snapped, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply; his voice just a whisper. "Elena was a weapon Victor used to get to me—a manipulation, not just a mistake." He opened his eyes and saw regret mixed with wrath. "Once I thought I loved her, but now I see she was only a pawn in Victor's game—a means of control, a way to make me doubt myself." I swallowed, let his words sink in, and felt his past slamming over us. And going forward? Does she still have any influence over you? "No," he answered steadily and forcefully. Not anymore. She is here, though, and she will not stop until she has what she wants. She is Victor's weapon to enable him to have control of my empire. But we are not pawns, Adrian, my hand finding his. "We are more powerful taken collectively. If we stand together, Victor loses. His eyes softened, and for the first time that evening I could see hope glistening there. You are indeed correct. But that means we have to really trust one another. There are no more half-truths or keeping back. I nodded, my heart bursting with a mix of hope and will. Then, let's do this together. The words had hardly come out of my mouth when my phone buzzed, upsetting the delicate equilibrium we had discovered. My blood going cold, I looked down and saw the message on the screen. Unknown Number: "Think twice before believing him. Leo's safety hinges on this." My heart tightened, a new surge of terror slamming over me. Adrian felt my change in mood; his brow wrinkled as he reached for my hand. "What is it?" he inquired, seeming worried. I stopped; the words stuck in my throat. " Someone is threatening Leo here. They are aware of it. His face grew grim, his hand tightened around me as he considered the implication. " whoever it is, they are not going to get close to Leo. I will make sure of that. But Adrian, what if they are already quite near? I murmured, my anxiety at last gradually seeping through the barriers I had erected around me. Adrian's jaw tightened, his eyes ablaze with a ferocious protectiveness that stunned me. "We will battle this, Samantha, together. They are not going to touch our youngsters. His strong belief anchored me and gave me the will I required to meet the approaching threat. I could sense the will growing between us, a common resolve untenable for any danger to break. But as I stared into his eyes, I couldn't get rid of the impression that we were still on the brink of something far more perilous than we knew—something that, if we weren't careful, could rip everything apart. Finally whispering, he added, "No matter what it takes, Samantha, I'll protect you and Leo." There was no room for doubt in his voice, but the darkness in his eyes told me he still had conflicts he wasn't ready to face. The truth hovered between us, a precarious truce both of which knew could break with one action. And as we stood in the low light of his apartment, I saw that we were battling a past neither of which of us had completely fled, not only against Victor or Elena.