17.

After hearing the story, Theo looked spectacularly unimpressed.

"I'd heard things about you back then. Somehow it's worse hearing it from your own mouth."

I rolled my eyes and jabbed him with my elbow.

"That's enough."

Theo rubbed his chin, thinking.

"Still, this Mercer guy doesn't seem to hate you all that much. Otherwise, why would he keep showing up whenever you're with me? We've caught him how many times now?"

I dug at the edge of a fingernail.

"Maybe he's waiting for another chance to humiliate me. He just hasn't found it yet."

Theo snorted.

"Let's find out."

"How would we—"

Before I could finish, something warm and damp touched my cheek.

I stared at him in shock.

He looked like he'd just gotten away with something.

My phone rang on the table.

An unfamiliar number.

We both knew whose it was.

Theo mouthed, You don't have to answer.

This was insane.

I didn't pick up.

My heart hammered in silence.

I let it ring until the call ended on its own.

He never came over.

Theo still looked thoroughly entertained.

"He's gone. I'll get out of your hair too. Let me know how it goes."

How the fuck was anything supposed to go?

18.

That night, I couldn't sleep.

I tossed and turned, thinking about that phone call.

What did Adrian mean by it?

I didn't know.

I couldn't work it out.

The metal bed creaked beneath me.

Then footsteps sounded in the hallway.

They came closer, one step at a time.

The sound of soles hitting the floor reached me with painful clarity.

For some reason, my heart started racing.

The footsteps stopped somewhere very close to me.

A ridiculous possibility crossed my mind.

I waited a few seconds.

Then I couldn't stand it anymore.

I got up and pulled the door open.

There he was, leaning against the wall.

I'd guessed right.

Adrian wore a long coat and smelled strongly of alcohol.

He held a cigarette between two fingers, just about to light it.

At the sound of my door, he stopped and looked over.

Emotions churned in his dark eyes.

The sight made my heart stumble.

We stared at each other for two seconds.

I tightened my grip on the handle and tried to slam the door.

Just before it closed, a hand caught the edge.

Adrian pushed without a word.

Harder and harder.

The toe of his shoe slipped inside.

The gap grew wider.

His face was expressionless, yet somehow he didn't seem cold.

He even reached up and loosened his collar.

I gritted my teeth and tried to shut him out.

Wait.

Since when was he this strong?

Adrian let out a breath.

He lowered his head, pressed close, and pushed his way inside.

I stumbled backward into the wall. My lower back hit the edge of a cabinet.

Pain made me suck in a breath.

"Fuck! What the hell is wrong with you?"

19.

Adrian had probably been standing there longer than Julian had spent tossing and turning.

Even?

Since Julian left his home, he hadn't stopped thinking about that word.

Even.

It sounded good.

All the love and hate could disappear like smoke.

If he was lucky, they might even be friends.

Maybe Julian would be willing to speak to him properly.

The temptation was enormous.

Watching that small figure disappear into the distance, Adrian had decided to try.

He'd bought the down jackets wholesale from a designer brand.

There hadn't been enough local stock for every rider in the city, so he'd had more shipped in overnight.

It had taken two or three helicopter runs.

Then he'd hired workers to remove the logos without stopping.

By the next morning, one had finally reached Julian.

Adrian told himself there was nothing unusual about giving a friend a winter coat.

That afternoon, he closed the company cafeteria for a day and gave everyone a meal allowance, telling them to order delivery instead.

He stood in his office, watching riders in matching jackets come and go downstairs.

They practically wore out the lobby doors.

The only person he wanted to see never came.

It didn't matter, Adrian told himself.

Friends didn't have to see each other every day.

He had his money quietly added to an existing government subsidy program.

His secretary looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.

She hesitated.

"Mr. Mercer, are you sure you want to put this much money into it?"

Adrian didn't look up.

"I have my own way of doing things."

"Right. Of course."

He'd behaved as if he were possessed.

Done one thing after another.

Then he saw Theo kiss Julian.

The spell broke.

Julian wanted to call things even?

He could fucking dream.

Julian had been the one to turn his world upside down after his mother died.

Julian had called him his brother.

Julian had curled up in his arms to sleep.

Julian had secretly kissed him.

Julian had whispered, "I like you."

All of it had been Julian.

Why did he get to decide they were done?

Adrian refused to let him have that.